Sunnyvale, CA or Boston, MA ? (living, best, cost, state)

[armt]

Hello,

I am thinking about relocating but I cannot choose one place between these two. If you could tell me pros/cons based on my priorities, I would really appreciate it.

I come from IT and currently live in small to mid size town in midwest. I have 2 kids and these are my criterion-

1. Good schools (elementry,middle )
2. Good IT job market (decent jobs to keep independent house and cars)
3. Possibly good weather but can sacrifice if Boston schools are better than Sunnyvale/Cupertino.


Thanks !

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by armt

Hello,

I am thinking about relocating but I cannot choose one place between these two. If you could tell me pros/cons based on my priorities, I would really appreciate it.

I come from IT and currently live in small to mid size town in midwest. I have 2 kids and these are my criterion-

1. Good schools (elementry,middle )
2. Good IT job market (decent jobs to keep independent house and cars)
3. Possibly good weather but can sacrifice if Boston schools are better than Sunnyvale/Cupertino.


Thanks !

Why don't you wait and see where you get the better job offer and then decide based on that. The rest is mainly subject to varying POV's.

[zitsky]

Sunnvale has all the things you're looking for. Now we can debate how good the Sunnyvale schools are compared to Mountain View, Palo Alto etc. One thing you'll like about the Bay Area is there are people from all over the world. Sure Boston has immigrants too but maybe not as many as Silicon Valley.

[Talosun]

Originally Posted by armt

Hello,

I am thinking about relocating but I cannot choose one place between these two. If you could tell me pros/cons based on my priorities, I would really appreciate it.

I come from IT and currently live in small to mid size town in midwest. I have 2 kids and these are my criterion-

1. Good schools (elementry,middle )
2. Good IT job market (decent jobs to keep independent house and cars)
3. Possibly good weather but can sacrifice if Boston schools are better than Sunnyvale/Cupertino.


Thanks !

No doubt about it. Sunnyvale is one of the best places to live and "bad attitude" Boston is one of the worst!

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by Talosun

No doubt about it. Sunnyvale is one of the best places to live and "bad attitude" Boston is one of the worst!

I lived in Sunnyvale for 8+ years and it is a fine place to live if one can afford it. I've not lived in Boston so I can't compare. I imagine that the winters can be a challenge, but there are certainly challenges to Bay Area living as well. Which is why I told the OP that it may be best to let the job offer(s) decide.

[nagleepark]

Originally Posted by armt

1. Good schools (elementry,middle )

If schools are your first priority, California is not so good.

Yes, there are highly rated schools around Sunnyvale BUT they are very competitive and expensive (either in housing or rental prices to get into good public ones or tuition for good private ones). There are also many low rated schools. So, yes, you can BUY your way into a good school even though the overall public school system is poor.

If you insist on highly rated schools, Sunnyvale is probably not for you. However, if you would just prefer highly rated schools and are willing to make the best of whatever is available to you and find other benefits to moving to Sunnyvale, Sunnyvale is probably the right place for you.

My point is that Sunnyvale is not a children's education mecca. People move to Sunnyvale for the tech jobs (which it is a mecca for), not because it has great schools.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Cupertino schools are supposed to be amazing.

IT jobs are there. The weather is perfect, IMO.

Check out schools here:

GreatSchools.org Search

[jade408]

California on the whole has pretty crappy schools. Especially when compared to housing costs. You need to have top tier income to live in a place with an excellent school district.

Generally speaking, when it comes to the Bay Area housing market, if you want location, schools, housing quality be prepared to pick 2/3. It takes a million dollars to get a basic house in a pretty good school district in easy commuting distance of silicon valley. Saving money means adding 45+ minutes to your commute each way.

Renting is cheaper, and still pricey. I have a friend, married with kids, each makes over $150k at Fortune 100 companies, with plenty of savings, and they had trouble finding housing. Each place they looked at had a dozen or more similar couples competing for the same rental. They ended up finding a 4 bedroom townhouse for $4500 a month after a month of searching.

Things are pretty competitive here and the cost of living is high. Compared to other high cost metros, the Bay Area is different as everything in the metro is ver expensive, unless you are willing to make huge safety sacrifices (i.e. Regular gunfire). There is no regular priced housing for people with average incomes, so you have to make do. Even well paid people need to make sacrifices.

To afford a regular middle class lifestyle here, with good school, a family sized home, and a reasonable savings rate you need roughly $250k in income. This doesn't mean you can't make it work on less, but be prepared to lower you expectations considerably on house size, home condition, proximity to work, school quality, car type, vacation frequency.....

[brucepf]

Originally Posted by Talosun

No doubt about it. Sunnyvale is one of the best places to live and "bad attitude" Boston is one of the worst!

Ever spend any time in Boston? If not why waste the OP's time with a useless post? If you have then why not elaborate as too why "bad attitude Boston is one of the worst" and help the OP make a decision.

[tocoto]

the public schools in many Boston suburbs like Brookline, Newton, Lexington, Concorde, Acton are very good. In general, Boston is a very safe area with lots to do. Sunnyvale, Cupertino and the silicon valley are extremely car oriented suburbs if you like that style of living.