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My husband is in the process of pursuing a career at Tesla. He currently works at Ford as an Engineer and it appears he would be able to work in a similar position at Tesla. Based off of a lot of comments and reviews on the company, I'm feeling less optimistic about him working for Tesla. Many reviews are saying that the work environment is unpleasant and the amount of time spent working is insane, to the point where employees have said they never get a day off and work 12+ hours a day. Also that the salary is not high enough for the cost of living in the Bay Area. I'm unsure if I should believe these reviews, and if I should continue our quest to live in the Bay Area as well as have my husband work for Tesla.
Some of my questions for those who are familiar with Tesla and the Bay Area are:
-What do you know about Tesla?
-Is Tesla the best opportunity for him in the field of Engineering or should he consider other companies?
-If he does take the job at Tesla, where would you recommend living?
-Any other information about your thoughts on working/living in the Bay Area would be appreciated.
If you want to move to the Bay Area anyway, why not take the job? If he doesn't like it, then look for another one. But, looking for the next one in the area will be so much easier once you are already here.
Need to know what town he'd be working in, to give you a good answer on where to live. Also need to know your housing budget for rent or max price to buy, and if you need to be in a good school district.
Thanks for the encouragement! He believes he would be in Fremont, we're unsure of his salary because he's still in the beginning stages of the interviewing process but we believe if we wanted to buy a house right away we'd be around the $400k mark. His brother and wife live in Oakland so we'd have the possibility of staying with them for a while until we find a place we'd like to live.
We don't have kids but are planning on starting a family so a good school district would be important. We're coming from Ann Arbor, Michigan. We absolutely love Ann Arbor, being in a college town and the uniqueness of the city. Big focus on local, organic food and great restaurants. So we'd love to be able to live in or near a city like that.
I think the SF, Oakland forum would be better for you than the SJ forum, since you have friends/family in Oakland and will be working in Fremont. Fremont is considered East Bay, whereas San Jose would be South Bay.
You want to minimize commuting. It really is a bear in the Bay Area. (I lived there most of my life, just recently moved to Redding). For quality of life, live close to where you work, and do your driving out of the area during off-peak times.
Fremont is a decent place to live. I like how it's up against the foothills. There are a lot of parks, good schools, too.
Thanks for the encouragement! He believes he would be in Fremont, we're unsure of his salary because he's still in the beginning stages of the interviewing process but we believe if we wanted to buy a house right away we'd be around the $400k mark. His brother and wife live in Oakland so we'd have the possibility of staying with them for a while until we find a place we'd like to live.
We don't have kids but are planning on starting a family so a good school district would be important. We're coming from Ann Arbor, Michigan. We absolutely love Ann Arbor, being in a college town and the uniqueness of the city. Big focus on local, organic food and great restaurants. So we'd love to be able to live in or near a city like that.
$400k is a pretty tough purchase point with Bay Area real estate right now. I can't really speak to school districts, but the closest you are likely to get to Ann Arbor would be Berkeley, home to UC Berkeley. But even here you are not going to find a Big 10 college town atmosphere. Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco all have great restaurants with a focus on local, organic food. Restaurants are somewhat more mixed in other parts of the Bay Area, but the focus on local and organic is pretty widespread.
As others have mentioned, commuting is rough in the region. I assume that his workplace would be the Tesla factory in Fremont, which unfortunately is not close to BART, our regional transit system. If your husband is an experienced cyclist, he could probably BART to Fremont and bike to the factory for a reasonable commute if you find housing near a BART station (I don't know the particular route one would take from Fremont BART to Tesla, so I can't vouch for it). Fremont is a little sleepy for me, personally. A driving commute from Oakland or Berkeley would be perfectly feasible, but aggravating. I would also consider living near BART in Oakland or Berkeley and having a second car with monthly parking at Fremont BART that your husband could use to get from the station to work.
You don't mention your line of work, but consider also the possibility that you would be commuting to different areas. If you find work in San Jose or the peninsula, then you should probably look at Palo Alto as a possible location. If you find work in San Francisco or Oakland, then Oakland and Berkeley would likely be more manageable.
More generally, the Bay Area is a good place for engineering jobs. While software engineering and electrical engineering are probably significantly more in demand here, there are certainly ample opportunities for other types of engineering. The cost of living here is high, and the largest reason for that is the high cost of housing. Tesla has had some pretty explosive growth, and compensation should be high there, in both salary and equity (employee stock purchase plan and/or restricted stock unit grants).
I would also be careful about committing to purchasing a house until you have a handle on different parts of the region and an understanding of what you like here. Where you live will make a huge difference in your lifestyle here.
Thanks TheCityTheBridge, I'm actually an elementary school teacher and could teach in either general or special education. I'm not as concerned with my possible commute, I figure if we move out there during the spring/summer I could have enough time to gather my bearings and possible substitute in the area to get a feel for the school districts before committing to one.
My husbands parents live in Berkeley and his brother in Oakland so we have family in both areas and love them. Only thought was that the commute would be tough for him to go to Fremont. If he was driving and not taking BART how long would you guess the commute would be in that area? My sister-in-law says she loves San Jose and would like to move there eventually so we were leaning towards places like Pleasanton/Dublin because it's close to San Jose but housing prices are a little better. We're unsure if we'll rent or buy depending on what salary he is offered and what we get for our house. I definitely don't want my husband to have to commute for half his day, he has an hour commute both ways to Ford right now and hates it. It's hard for us to decide what would be better living in a city we like or cutting down on his commute and having to drive a bit further for restaurants/activities. Also, we want to make sure to be in a good school district, that way I could possibly get a job there.
My daughters boyfriend (they live together) works for Telsa. The owner is Elon Musk of PayPal fame, and takes care of his people. My biggest fear for you would be will they still be there in 10 years, or will the big ones drive them out. I was born in Pleasanton, and just moved away 2 years ago. Parts of Oakland and Bezerkley are nice, but it's a long ways from Warm Springs where Tesla is. It sits in South Fremont, or North Milpitas. There's nice areas in Fremont, but is a very culturally diverse area of the bay. P town is nice, or anything in the tri valley, but it can be warm in the Summer. Castro Valley, and some parts of Hayward are okay too.
As a carpenter I worked at PayPal on a construction project before E Bay bought them in the late 90's. All the food is free in the cafeteria including beer? Elon's philosophy is people will perform at their best when treated right. This was the way it was at most dot coms. I can't speak for expectations of your husband, and I'm sure he'll make his own impact there. You want to teach in the Pleasanton, or Livermore School districts. Not that I'm biased, but because they're some of the wealthiest in the area and very little poverty that brings trouble. Other districts have low income areas were a newbie may get stuck.
Thanks TheCityTheBridge, I'm actually an elementary school teacher and could teach in either general or special education. I'm not as concerned with my possible commute, I figure if we move out there during the spring/summer I could have enough time to gather my bearings and possible substitute in the area to get a feel for the school districts before committing to one.
My husbands parents live in Berkeley and his brother in Oakland so we have family in both areas and love them. Only thought was that the commute would be tough for him to go to Fremont. If he was driving and not taking BART how long would you guess the commute would be in that area? My sister-in-law says she loves San Jose and would like to move there eventually so we were leaning towards places like Pleasanton/Dublin because it's close to San Jose but housing prices are a little better. We're unsure if we'll rent or buy depending on what salary he is offered and what we get for our house. I definitely don't want my husband to have to commute for half his day, he has an hour commute both ways to Ford right now and hates it. It's hard for us to decide what would be better living in a city we like or cutting down on his commute and having to drive a bit further for restaurants/activities. Also, we want to make sure to be in a good school district, that way I could possibly get a job there.
Berkeley, the further of the two, is about 35 miles away. During peak commute, that would probably be about an hour each way. Pleasanton is certainly closer, but I don't know a lot about the commute on 680 to Fremont. I can't imagine it would be more than ~30 minutes, typically. There is also BART access in Dublin/Pleasanton, which is very helpful if you want to spend a day in SF without dealing with parking.
Like the poster below, I would suggest looking at Fremont, Castro Valley, and Hayward, as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrWillys
My daughters boyfriend (they live together) works for Telsa. The owner is Elon Musk of PayPal fame, and takes care of his people. My biggest fear for you would be will they still be there in 10 years, or will the big ones drive them out. I was born in Pleasanton, and just moved away 2 years ago. Parts of Oakland and Bezerkley are nice, but it's a long ways from Warm Springs where Tesla is. It sits in South Fremont, or North Milpitas. There's nice areas in Fremont, but is a very culturally diverse area of the bay. P town is nice, or anything in the tri valley, but it can be warm in the Summer. Castro Valley, and some parts of Hayward are okay too.
As a carpenter I worked at PayPal on a construction project before E Bay bought them in the late 90's. All the food is free in the cafeteria including beer? Elon's philosophy is people will perform at their best when treated right. This was the way it was at most dot coms. I can't speak for expectations of your husband, and I'm sure he'll make his own impact there. You want to teach in the Pleasanton, or Livermore School districts. Not that I'm biased, but because they're some of the wealthiest in the area and very little poverty that brings trouble. Other districts have low income areas were a newbie may get stuck.
Tesla is certainly looking like a good long-term bet right now, but even if it were gone in ten years I think part of your consideration should probably be the work alternatives if Tesla does not work out. I know that in some technical fields right now employees in the Bay Area have to chase off potential employers with a stick. If your husband would be in that boat, then the conditions and viability of Tesla are a non-issue, I would think. If that's true, then you may find that your salary and benefits expectations are calibrated to the Michigan scale and need to be significantly bumped up. I am close to a number of people with technical skills who are earning 50%+ (sometimes +++) more than they would be in a different job market because of the demand in the region now. In other words, don't be afraid to ask for something that you never thought possible.
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