<p>The bus system here is pretty bad and there are not many good restaurants around palo alto. So do you think having a car is a must at Stanford?</p>
<p>No not really. In fact freshmen aren't even allowed cars officially (unofficially you can ask an upperclassman). You can get to San Fran using the CalTrain which isn't so bad really (that's how I go there).</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to do. If you really want to explore the Bay Area you definitely need a car. If you just want to make monthly visits to San Francisco then Caltrain will do.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind a car is only good for outside the campus transportation. Inside the campus everybody bikes b/c usually it's faster.</p>