Austin or San Francisco (Portland, Cleveland: sales, real estate market, rent)

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by lindseyrepp143

Hi All,

We just moved here from February from Seattle, so we're still newbies, however my husband got a very nice offer from a company located in Redwood Shores (about 10 miles from San Fran), which would allow us to live very comfortably (although buying a house is out of the question for now).

If you could choose which city to live near, which would it be?

lived 10 years in san francisco
13 in houston.
if you go to texas you can get a house.
if you go to san francisco
wear some flowers in your hair
stephen s
san diego ca

[twange]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

You can't even compare the two cities. Maybe Austin vs Columbus, Ohio

I beg to differ. The only things these two cities have in common is:

1.) both have a large college campus
2.) both are state capitals
3.) similar populations

I don't think it has nearly the vibe or energy that Austin does. It has fairly crummy weather and a stale economy. That's why I just left Ohio. I think the better comparison might be Portland, Oregon, which has been covered extensively on this forum.

[imaterry78259]

Let me tell you something-Austin vibe an energy comes from the college student there. What in Austin to do for the over 35 set. Austin is not in the same league as SF but does have some similar Cali things like-Holistic medicines-New Age center, Austin is the south largest swinger community, and do have a lot of music fest

[jwb123]

What in Austin to do for the over 35 set

Lots of activities for your children, outdoor activities (golf and every other sport imaginable, boating, hiking), great restaurants, festivals, good shopping from mainstream to eclectic and niche. Country activities & lifestyle in an urban & suburban setting...

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I think you are probably just living in the wrong part of Austin. Perhaps you aren't the suburb type, so get the heck out of Steiner!! Now that I have been here awhile, and have learned more about it - I wouldn't choose to live in Steiner.

Could you give some suggestions as to which areas would be an affordable yet still "cool" place to live in and around Austin? I don't have kids and although I would like to be able to purchase something, I worry that too close to the Austin city area would be almost as unaffordable as San Francisco.

I loved SF but it is just out of my price range and I'm done with renting.

[libbykt]

My husband works in Redwood Shores and we live nearby in San Mateo. I lived in the city of SF when I was single in my 20's, moved away and then back here to the peninsula for a couple of years, and now that we have a family I am just waiting patiently until we can move to Austin.

Do you want to live in SF? There are very few neighborhoods that I would consider to be family friendly, taking into consideration things like rental homes that come with parking spaces, which are often difficult to come by.

One of our main reasons for planning a move to Austin is that I don't want to put my son in public school around here. I'm not sure how important that is to you, but for me it's one of the appealing things about Steiner Ranch.

[lindseyrepp143]

Libbykt,
My husband would be working in Redwood Shores as well - I posted a question over in the SF forum, but perhaps you would give me the 411 on family-oriented neighborhoods near Caltrain that can take him to Oracle.

Still going back and forth. Mostly worried about uprooting the kids again, and of course we like our home. Looking at the bigger picture makes me think of: being near family (Seattle), near a really huge city, being closer to the ocean/mountains, and overall the adventure of living in a new city.

[gigi927]

I think you've gotten some great varying input here from a lot of posters. Here is my two cents, having lived for 4 years in the SF Bay Area (2 years in the city itself; 2 years in Mountain View) and living in Austin.

San Francisco is a fantastic city - my favorite place to have ever lived - and under the right set of circumstances I would move back in a heartbeat. The "right set of circumstances" being defined as having enough income to own a comfortable home and to send my kids to private school. Don't be "over" owning a home. There are significant life and tax benefits to home ownership. And I wouldn't say renting is the ideal situation for kids - but that's just my personal opinion. And as far as public schools you won't get the top end schools that you have in Steiner.

If you do purchase in the Bay Area expect major sticker shock. Don't expect to get anything near what you have in Steiner anywhere near Redwood Shores. What you bought in Steiner would probably run you well over 4X to 7X cost in the Bay Area (speaking generally and probably conservatively).

Redwood Shores is the burbs. It's not a city. Figure out if that's okay to you. If we were to move back, I would only do it if we could afford to live in a very high end area of downtown SF or in a high end suburb like Palo Alto. Even with both myself and my husband working with no kids and both making over 6 figures, we couldn't afford it then and certainly couldn't afford it now with me staying at home.

Figure out how far your husband will have to commute. Commutes are not to be trifled with in the Bay Area.

A lot of the Bay Area is pretty materialistic. Figure out if that's an environment you are okay raising your kids in. It is not an LA kind of materialistic, but more of a - let's spend $80 on a bottle of wine, let's take 7 weeks off of work to go travel, let's always buy a luxury vehicle, let's have the newest and greatest gadgets and technology. It's not a negative if you can afford it, but if you can't, it can be frustrating.

The income thing that Austin Guy mentioned is really not exaggerating. Make sure you understand that while the salary he's been offered may look enticing, even $100K doesn't go far in the Bay Area, especially if you are a stay at home mom.

It sounds to me like you had a very specific set of expectations about Austin and about Steiner Ranch and that is the source of your discomfort. Someone else suggested looking elsewhere in Austin, and I'd say that is a great suggestion unless the job opportunity is something he just can't pass up and you are willing to make a lot of other tradeoffs. San Francisco is very diverse and a very vibrant city, but just make sure that you aren't setting your expectations too high about what you get there either. Parents are parents whether they're here or in San Francisco and they're going to talk primarily about their kids. Good luck in your decision.

[libbykt]

Well, to be honest, anyplace that is far enough away to commute by train, I wouldn't want to live, unless it were in the city and it sounds like you don't want to be in the city. If you live in San Mateo, Burlingame, San Carlos, Belmont, or Redwood City it makes more sense to drive. I personally wouldn't want to live in any of the suburbs further out that may be less expensive and easier to travel by train. If you're going to do that, you may as well stay where you are in Steiner.

All of the towns that I mentioned have cute little downtown areas, but they are very distinct from San Francisco. We are actually going to look at a (rental) house in Redwood Shores today. I like the area, although there really isn't anthing ther but a lot of condos and single family homes. A grocery store in a strip mall, and lots of parks, and long, flat sidewalks easy to walk a dog and stroller. Man, my life's priorities have changed in the last couple of years.

[jessdine]

Love SF but we just left because we never could buy a house. We both had GREAT jobs and it was still tight. You can't really safe to buy a place. Now Redwood area might be differant but I would ask around. We were over the Golden gate in Marin and commuted into the city.

Originally Posted by lindseyrepp143

Hi All,

We just moved here from February from Seattle, so we're still newbies, however my husband got a very nice offer from a company located in Redwood Shores (about 10 miles from San Fran), which would allow us to live very comfortably (although buying a house is out of the question for now).

If you could choose which city to live near, which would it be?