Conundrum Relocating... North Bay vs South South Bay??? (San Jose, San Francisco: sales, home)

[Dan Draper]

Professional Male Relocating to Bay Area...
But I have a conundrum & need some help ...
I'm in sales & will be traveling a territory...
My company is allowing me to choose...
North Bay or South South Bay Areas?

(1) South South Bay (south of San Jose down US-101 thru Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Holister and all the way down to Salinas, Watsonville, and Monterey)

...or...

(2)North Bay (Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties). Petaluma seems to be a nice central location and Ive heard it’s where “American Graffiti” was filmed.

I'm 45, Single, Straight (but not narrow) and relocated often in my career so my CONUNDRUM is...

1) North or South South Bay?
2) And if North or South, Where?

I've learned much from this forum.
Need to decide in the weeks ahead.
Appreciate any input you can help me with.
And would delight in a North vs. South War!!!

Dan Draper


Mad Men on Productivity - YouTube

[jade408]

"South South Bay" isn't very urbanized. You would definitely see agricultural Californias roots. Lots of outdoor stuff to do and easy access to actual swim-able beaches.

North Bay has more cities and larger suburbs so you'll find more people and more day to day stuff to do. Also closer to SF.

[mayorhaggar]

It's gonna depend on what you want out of your surroundings, you've said absolutely nothing about that. We can't pick for you, it would have to be based on your preferences.

But I'd say both are fairly similar, just on different ends of the Bay Area. For the South Bay, Santa Cruz is pretty cool, lots of college kids and it has kind of a middle class feel. SC is kind of suburban and sprawly but is pretty small and doesn't feel like beige dull suburbia like San Jose does. Between Santa Cruz and Monterey is a lot of farmland without much going on. Monterey is really wealthy and honestly kind of boring to me, plus it's really chilly whereas Santa Cruz tends to be quite a bit warmer despite being right on the ocean (well, the bay). Morgan Hill/Gilroy are bascially suburbs of San Jose. Overall the Monterey/Santa Cruz area is tied to San Jose and not very much to San Francisco. I haven't been to Hollister but it looks pretty remote.

The North Bay is more spread out whereas Santa Cruz/Monterey are in a line down the coast on Highway 1. Lots of wineries and farms all around Sonoma and Napa County, lots of funky small cities like Petaluma and Sebastopol and so on spread around here and there. There isn't much on the coast, just little towns like Bolinas here and there. Santa Rosa is a pretty big bedroom community sort of town. Marin is a lot of wealthy towns in the south and more rural and suburban areas in the north. The North Bay is definitely tied to San Francisco, not really much relation to San Jose at all.

If you wanted to spend more time hanging out in San Francisco, I'd pick the north bay, Marin is right over the bridge. Also if you wanted to be near wineries I guess. You might like Santa Cruz though, I think you'd have to visit and see. It has warm weather and surfing which you can't really get elsewhere at the same time in Northern California.

[Dan Draper]

Thanks for your responses. Realize I didn't say enough about myself and what I'm looking for. Part of my CONUNDRUM is, I'm not 100% sure either.

I'm 45, single, Anglo from the Mid West, straight (but not narrow), lived in Asia on and off for quite a few years and speak Japanese. Although I've lived in major cities most of my life, I know either choice will be somewhat suburban. Don't know why but from what I've read about Petaluma, it sounds like it may be nice.

Initially I liked what I'd learned about Santa Cruz, however it's not central enough for the commuting I'll be doing. I don't surf, like trail running and mountain biking. I like a bit of culture, PEET'S COFFEE, and although I hate the term, if you saw me on the street, you'd call me a "YUPPIE".

I would like to be able to spend some time in SF which makes the North Bay attractive. My office will be to San Mateo, but only once or twice a week at most.

I tend to make friends pretty quickly, have a couple of social networks that are pretty easy to break into, but pretty much, I guess I'm looking for a quiet, cool little town that wont bore me to death, and I believe boredom isn't a place, it's a state of mind. Which leads me back to North Bay vs. South South Bay.

Again, appreciate all your input & look forward to hearing your responses.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Dan Draper

I guess I'm looking for a quiet, cool little town that I can drop my hat & work from. Which leads me back to North Bay vs. South South Bay.

South Bay. Check out Campbell. Also on weekends I would rather drive to SF from Campbell/South Bay than deal with the traffic jams on the bridges trying to get in and out of the city.

Welcome to Downtown Campbell

City of Campbell, California (http://www.ci.campbell.ca.us/RDA/HistoricDowntown.htm - broken link)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The North Bay will give you a better territory than the misnamed "South South Bay" which is someone's euphemism for hinterlands adjacent to the South Bay. Unless you really want a hinterland / exurban / rural area rather than real burbs and being a bit closer in, the North Bay will be your ticket.

[gone down south]

Depends on what you're selling, those are two very different markets.

[mkl654321]

I grew up in Marin, so maybe I'm biased, but:

Marin: pros, very nice natural setting, proximity to SF, fair amount of culture/ cons: horrific cost of living, traffic on 101 (the ONLY viable traffic artery)

Sonoma: pros, lower cost of living, quiet, wine/ cons, not easy to get to SF, lack of cultural opportunities, still pretty costly for a place that's basically Kansas with wineries

Napa: pros, wine, proximity to Sacto as well as SF (and to the Sierra/Tahoe; not close by any means, but you'll beat the Bay Area people to the ski slopes), nice pastoral landscape/ cons, cost of living insanely high for what you're getting, no large towns

South of South Bay: Gilroy/Hollister/Morgan Hill/blah blah: Pros, if you like artichokes or garlic/ cons, flat, hot, boring farm country with a brutal, combative commute into San Jose, the result of which is..........San Jose (did I mention flat, hot, and boring?), cost of living much higher than it should be to live in Northern Mexico

Santa Cruz: pros, on the ocean, best climate in Northern CA, university town, so has culture that belies its size/ cons, you are surrounded by certifiably insane people, and they are running the city government, too, Death Race 2011 commute to San Jose on Hwy 17, fog

Monterey: pretty much the same as Santa Cruz but the rich have choked off access to the ocean (and dealing with the fog and the winter rains but not being able to get to the beach is terrible)

[Dan Draper]

Originally Posted by gone down south

Depends on what you're selling, those are two very different markets.

Gone Down South... Could you tell me a little bit more about the financial demographics? Income levels? I've looked at home prices but that doesn't always reflect incomes.

[Dan Draper]

Originally Posted by mkl654321

I grew up in Marin, so maybe I'm biased, but:

Marin: pros, very nice natural setting, proximity to SF, fair amount of culture/ cons: horrific cost of living, traffic on 101 (the ONLY viable traffic artery)

Sonoma: pros, lower cost of living, quiet, wine/ cons, not easy to get to SF, lack of cultural opportunities, still pretty costly for a place that's basically Kansas with wineries

Napa: pros, wine, proximity to Sacto as well as SF (and to the Sierra/Tahoe; not close by any means, but you'll beat the Bay Area people to the ski slopes), nice pastoral landscape/ cons, cost of living insanely high for what you're getting, no large towns

South of South Bay: Gilroy/Hollister/Morgan Hill/blah blah: Pros, if you like artichokes or garlic/ cons, flat, hot, boring farm country with a brutal, combative commute into San Jose, the result of which is..........San Jose (did I mention flat, hot, and boring?), cost of living much higher than it should be to live in Northern Mexico

Santa Cruz: pros, on the ocean, best climate in Northern CA, university town, so has culture that belies its size/ cons, you are surrounded by certifiably insane people, and they are running the city government, too, Death Race 2011 commute to San Jose on Hwy 17, fog

Monterey: pretty much the same as Santa Cruz but the rich have choked off access to the ocean (and dealing with the fog and the winter rains but not being able to get to the beach is terrible)

MKL...

Appreciate your input. Been leaning to North Bay as the South commute up to San Mateo looks like it could be a long one. Only will be heading to office one or twice a week, but seems NB, although not a hop skip & a jump, may be a little easier.

You seem to know the North Bay well. What's your take on Petaluma?