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Old 11-20-2007, 01:02 PM
 
609 posts, read 2,234,139 times
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You could always travel on El Camino Real and get to Mountain View downtown etc. or go the other way.

I used to live in Sunnyvale. Nothing much there to boast about but it is commutable to SF on the north and Santa Cruz on the south. Oh yeah, the public library is not that bad either.
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Old 11-20-2007, 03:07 PM
 
3,229 posts, read 6,255,556 times
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Sunnyvale is a great family community. It has near perfect weather and good schools. Sunnyvale has a lot of stores like Trader Joes,Borders,Target,Sports Authority,Toys R Us(Unlike SF where the nearest one is in San Mateo),the new 55,000 sq. ft. Whole Foods just down El Camino in Mountain View and of course Frys. Four major malls are 7 to 9 miles away,just close enough for convenience without the traffic hassle of living right next to one.

Westgate Mall

Valley Fair Mall San Jose

Stanford Shopping Center

Santana Row


There is a new deluxe AMC theater just built on Wolfe road in Cupertino.

AMC Theatres

You have easy access to San Francisco on weekends. It is an easy 45 minute drive on the 280 to the city on weekends or you can park at Daly City Bart and take the train downtown.

There are a lot of diverse ethnic dining and shopping options in or close to Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale has a huge number of authentic Indian restaurants. There is the big Asian Mall with the 99 Ranch Market and Joyluck for Dim Sum on Wolfe Rd. in Cupertino. For Japanese Food there is the Mitsuwa Supermarket on Saratoga just south of the 280 Freeway or the Nijiya market in Mountain View. Then there are all the Korean Bar B Que places on El Camino in Santa Clara. There are a lot of kid friendly places in Sunnyvale too like El Pollo Loco or Carl's Jr.

EL POLLO LOCO

All sorts of little kids attractions are close too.

Golfland


Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose: Your Children's Museum in Silicon Valley
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Old 11-21-2007, 02:04 PM
 
38 posts, read 138,406 times
Reputation: 32
Capoeira--Thanks for the info! Many of the things you have listed are places that I already frequent or would if they were close by. I'm just trying to make sure it's not on the way out, so to speak. Sounds like it has more than enough going on in and around it to be happy to live there. Between your comments and Sonarrat's last comment, I'm starting to think it may not be bad after all.

One last thing--I know the traffic in CA is miserable, I've been out there quite a few times. How would you rate the traffic in Sunnyvale? Better or worse than San Jose? Palo Alto/Stanford? Thanks!!! : )
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Old 11-21-2007, 08:17 PM
 
Location: Born + raised SF Bay; Tyler, TX now WNY
8,337 posts, read 4,579,257 times
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I never thought Sunnyvale was any more boring than any of the other 'burbs in the Bay Area. In fact, I thought it was quite a nice little place. Has a light rail line and El Camino Real going through it, the latter of which has a myriad of nice places along it. If it weren't for the speeding-ticket-nazi cops there, I'd classify it as one of the nicer places in the Bay Area.
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Old 11-21-2007, 09:28 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,055,970 times
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Traffic on 101 is bad from Mountain View to Palo Alto and from Santa Clara south, but Sunnyvale is usually spared the worst of it (though not always!).
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Old 11-24-2007, 07:18 PM
 
3,229 posts, read 6,255,556 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lookingtoleaveNY View Post
How would you rate the traffic in Sunnyvale? Better or worse than San Jose? Palo Alto/Stanford?
My experience with Sunnyvale traffic is limited to weekends and midday weekdays,so these comments do not apply to the rush hours. I think Sunnyvale has much better traffic than Palo Alto. Sunnyvale has good roads in a grid system. There is always an alternate route available if you take the time to learn the roads. Sunnyvale has much easier access to the 280 freeway with 4 ways to get there(the 85,Mathilda,Wolfe Rd and the Lawrence Expy.) 280 is a great alternate to the 101,it is a very scenic and stress free drive.
For Palo Alto the main access to the 280 is Page Mill Rd.,which probably has tons of traffic from HP. Palo Alto seems to have much more weekend traffic than Sunnyvale with attractions like Ikea and the big mall. The traffic in Sunnyvale is worse near the 101 and lighter on the 280 side of town. The southern part of Sunnyvale is also the more desirable part to live. Sunnyvale connects to Santa Clara,Cupertino ,Mountain View etc. like one large suburb. I suggest getting an area map that covers all the roads from Palo Alto to San Jose to get a feel for how these areas are all connected.

Global Graphics Map Products

San Jose has worse traffic than Sunnyvale. It is a much larger city and has all the freeway interchanges like the 101/880,280/880/17 Etc. Sunnyvale also has much better traffic than places on the peninsula like San Mateo where all their downtown traffic seems concentrated on 3rd and 4th.


Sunnyvale is a great place to live. You have easy access to San Francisco,San Jose and are only 32 miles from Santa Cruz.
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Old 11-24-2007, 11:50 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,055,970 times
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Huh.. I had no idea Sunnyvale stretched that far south towards 280. It looks like Homestead Road is the dividing line between Sunnyvale and Cupertino.
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Old 11-25-2007, 06:09 AM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
14,317 posts, read 22,295,587 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lookingtoleaveNY View Post
My husband and I are most likely relocating to CA this summer. We are looking into Sunnyvale. I have read many posts touting it as a boring place to live. We have young children, so most nights we are more than content to hang out as a family. We are not theater-goers, art-lovers, clubbers, etc. We are just a couple of 30 yr old people who did enough partying in our teens and twenties that we are happy to settle down and enjoy our kids. Given this information, how boring would it seem to us? Most of my days consist of housework, shopping, going to the park, school activities, etc. Does it sound like Sunnyvale could be a good fit? Is there a family-feel to it at all, or mostly computer geeks (no offense, my husband is one) running around? Thanks for your two cents in advance.
Sunnyvale is a dated community. The place lacks character. Seems like the city council and the city planners don't know what to do with the development in that city. They seem to be torn between trying to maintain the old farmer/orchard tradition and the necessity to modernize. The downtown area is a joke, with a mall that has been a disaster to plan. Incredible.

It is a quiet community however and a nice place to raise a family. It's centrally located so you can shop anywhere. Plenty of parks, soccer for the kids (AYSO), quiet. If you're buying a house, make sure you're in the Cupertino School district. If you want to put your kids in private school, Sunnyvale has an exceptional school in St. Cyprian Elementary. You don't have to be confined to Sunnyvale for all your outside activities, and its central location is one of its strong points.
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Old 11-27-2007, 11:54 PM
 
342 posts, read 1,921,561 times
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500 people die of boredom in Silicon Valley every year.
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Old 11-28-2007, 12:19 AM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,286 posts, read 51,739,844 times
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It should be just fine for a family, especially considering what you've said... also remember it's not surrounded by a wall, so you can drive to the "excitement" rather easily. Seriously, Palo Alto is about 5 miles away, San Jose maybe 8 miles, San Francisco 35-40, etc. So if you're hankering for a night on the town, it doesn't take long to get somewhere! On a day-to-day basis, Sunnyvale should suit your needs well... plenty of basic shopping is nearby, and the kids will LOVE Great America, as I did while growing up on the Peninsula. It's not where I'd live as a single, child-free young(ish) woman, but it's a very nice place to raise a family.
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