East Bay named one of the NYTimes Top Places to Visit in 2016 (San Jose: mall, selling)

[WizardOfRadical]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

And the East Bay is awesome. There's a reason more people live there than any other section of the Bay Area. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely worth recognition.

Yeah the reason is that it has the most open space, and it is the cheapest part of the bay.

Most people *begrudgingly* move to the East Bay when they can't afford to live in SF or Marin, or can't afford to live near their Silicon Valley office.

Don't get me wrong, I know all the 510/925 homers who dominate this forum *want* to live there, but most people would choose SF over Oak or Palo Alto over Walnut Creek, if they could afford it.

[Oakformonday]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Yeah the reason is that it has the most open space, and it is the cheapest part of the bay.

Most people *begrudgingly* move to the East Bay when they can't afford to live in SF or Marin, or can't afford to live near their Silicon Valley office.

Don't get me wrong, I know all the 510/925 homers who dominate this forum *want* to live there, but most people would choose SF over Oak or Palo Alto over Walnut Creek, if they could afford it.

I hate to encourage you but you come across as a severely negative person. I believe you were displaced from Oakland and are now clearly a bitter person living in SJ. Sorry bud.You're not alone. Just shut up and live your new life. I don't like San Jose but I would never go to their page and bash them. Get a f'n life.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Oakformonday

I hate to encourage you but you come across as a severely negative person. I believe you were displaced from Oakland and are now clearly a bitter person living in SJ. Sorry bud.You're not alone. Just shut up and live your new life. I don't like San Jose but I would never go to their page and bash them. Get a f'n life.

Dont fret him. He's either Fantastic reincarnate or just an extremely disgruntled hater, either way, yawns.

The South Bay has it's pluses, but it will never really make these kinds of lists, because it's not really urban/hip enough to warrant the sort of attention a Brooklyn or Oakland get, for their thriving artistic and hipster communities, their revitalized and burgeoning cores that are literally a stone's throw from Manhattan and San Francisco.

I will give major kudos to the South Bay for doing very well in the Michelin Star ratings for restaurants. I have long felt that there is an anti-East Bay bias because Berkeley alone should have 3-5 star rated restaurants but doesnt have any. Oakland has the only star-rated restaurant, 2-stars for Commis on Piedmont Av.

Other than that tho, San Jose doesnt have an Adams Point-Grand Av-Lakeshore Av type area, nor does it have a Downtown Berkeley-Gourmet Ghetto type area, nor does it have a Rockridge or a Piedmont Av, a Solano Av, Park St(Alameda), and it certainly doesnt have the waterfront that the East Bay has, which combined with the diversity and grit and high faluten combination found in the 510 all makes for an extremely interesting and fascinating area, hence the area being recognized twice in the past 5 years, by this annual ranking from the NYTimes of places their readers should see in the next 12 months.

The Bay Area is very lucky really. SF is a world class, urban destination beyond reproach, best city environment on the West Coast by far, and now the East Bay has finally been getting the attention we all knew it deserved because of it's own urban charms and amenities.

As far as the affluent choosing where to live, Wizard wants us to feel bad because workers are paying $2 Million for a house in the East Bay vs $4 Million for a house on the Peninsula? Hahahahaha what a laugh.

They dont even have many homes on the Peninsula that look like the newly built cookie cutter mini mansions in brand new subdivisions the 925 crowd is looking for. Lots of affluent folks actually LIKE THAT.

Places in the San Jose Metro Area(Santa Clara/ San Benito_) with an Average Family Income of $150,000+, 2014
Los Altos Hills, CA $364,595...2,493 families
Monte Sereno, CA 333,621...1,039 families
Loyola, CA $320,421...1,009 families
Los Altos, CA $262,823...8,493 families
Saratoga, CA $243,356...8,978 families
Stanford, CA $226,849...1,146 families
Palo Alto, CA $224,333...17,161 families
Los Gatos, CA $211,168...8,103 families
Cupertino, CA $180,781...15,914 families
Lexington Hills, CA $179,770...607 families
Mountain View, CA $150,890...18,205 families
San Martin, CA $150,399...1,486 families


Places in the Oakland Metro Division(Alameda/ Contra Costa) with an Average Family Income of $150,000+, 2014
Diablo, CA $388,847...258 families
Piedmont, CA $332,023...3,151 families
Orinda, CA $270,736...5,251 families
Norris Canyon, CA $249,411...284 families
Alamo, CA $241,271...4,618 families
Blackhawk, CA $236,785...2,928 families
Reliez Valley, CA $220,549...1,038 families
Lafayette, CA $209,556...6,830 families
Camino Tassajara, CA $209,250 538 families
Moraga, CA $202,226...4,325 families
Danville, CA $201,709...11,896 families
Acalanes Ridge, CA $200,223...329 families
Kensington, CA $187,481...1,522 families
Shell Ridge, CA $184,324...334 families
San Miguel, CA $181,953...948 families
San Ramon, CA $165,897...19,261 families
Clayton, CA $165,259 families...3,286 families
Pleasanton, CA $161,959...19,983 families
Castle Hill, CA $163,196...336 families
Pleasanton, CA $161,959...19,983 famiies
Saranap, CA $157,013...1,463 families
Sunol, CA $153,816...274 families
Berkeley, CA $151,523...20,053 families

In 2015, Pleasanton, Danville, San Ramon etc are very desirable places by any standard. It just so happens that the corridor from Palo Alto to oh Cupertino is one of the few areas in the country that is socio-economically more well off.

It's not by coincidence that the Lower Peninsula and East Bay constitute the 4 top spots in the entire State of California according as far as standard of living according to this report:
A Portrait of California 2014

The Lower Peninsula and East Bay are also 2 of the Top 5 Clusters of Elite Zip Codes in the nation:

Largest Contigious Clusters of Elite Zip
Codes defined by at least 7 in 10 adults have a
College Degree and the Average Income
exceed $120,000
1 Washington DC
2 East Manhattan
3 San Jose
4 Boston
5 Oakland
6 Bridgeport
7 Newark
8 Chicago
9 North of Los Angeles
10 Long Island
11 West Manhattan
12 Trenton
13 Philadelphia
14 San Diego
15 South of Los Angeles

Washington: A world apart | The Washington Post

"San Jose" is the entire lower Peninsula beginning at around Palo Alto and "Oakland" is the East Bay Hills and the 680/24 corridor.

Both areas are very elite at the end of the day, both are excellent places to live and many people of considerable education and wealth are happily habitating in either, regardless as to what Wizard wants so desparately to be the case. lol

[sav858]

Does anyone else find it bizarre that some SoCal transplant govt worker jocks the wealth and prestige of a region they are neither from and of an industry they are not a part of?

[Oakformonday]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Dont fret him. He's either Fantastic reincarnate or just an extremely disgruntled hater, either way, yawns.

The South Bay has it's pluses, but it will never really make these kinds of lists, because it's not really urban/hip enough to warrant the sort of attention a Brooklyn or Oakland get, for their thriving artistic and hipster communities, their revitalized and burgeoning cores that are literally a stone's throw from Manhattan and San Francisco.

I will give major kudos to the South Bay for doing very well in the Michelin Star ratings for restaurants. I have long felt that there is an anti-East Bay bias because Berkeley alone should have 3-5 star rated restaurants but doesnt have any. Oakland has the only star-rated restaurant, 2-stars for Commis on Piedmont Av.

Other than that tho, San Jose doesnt have an Adams Point-Grand Av-Lakeshore Av type area, nor does it have a Downtown Berkeley-Gourmet Ghetto type area, nor does it have a Rockridge or a Piedmont Av, a Solano Av, Park St(Alameda), and it certainly doesnt have the waterfront that the East Bay has, which...

I cut your message just for space but great info. I have friends that live there and dated someone for a few years so I spent many weekends down in San Ho. Have you ever been to Willow Glen or Rose Garden? WG has a great commercial district similar to one of ours - beautiful tree lined neighborhood too with gorgeous unique homes. The downtown entertainment district is nice. Loads of restaurants and bars. Although not technically SJ, Campbell and Los Gatos are really cute as well. My only issue with SJ is that it is too sprawling for my taste. I prefer more compact cities. Although, they do have an extensive light rail system and BART is inching away to downtown. Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that maybe I should have said that I prefer living in Oak than SJ. Both places are great and fit the bill for different lifestyles! And, I certainly would not go on their board and complain about, IDK, how awful it must be to sit in your car all day on 87. LOL

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Oakformonday

I hate to encourage you but you come across as a severely negative person. I believe you were displaced from Oakland and are now clearly a bitter person living in SJ. Sorry bud.You're not alone. Just shut up and live your new life. I don't like San Jose but I would never go to their page and bash them. Get a f'n life.

...and more sad than that is that he's not even FROM or even LIVING in the Bay Area (San Jose is a bit of a stretch). Not sure why he spends so much time and mental energy here with nothing noteworthy, helpful, or even interesting to add. (and the next time he writes "whatcha' smoking sherm''? ) I'll might have to tear my hair out. Lame and tired. But I'm sure he'll come out swinging and hurling like he does, mocking my 925 area code...lol

[tanglenet]

My wife and I were just talking tonight how we have no desire to move back to SF. We much prefer Oakland where we have lived for almost 20 years.

[kgbnsf]

Originally Posted by tanglenet

My wife and I were just talking tonight how we have no desire to move back to SF. We much prefer Oakland where we have lived for almost 20 years.

We lived in the City for over 10 years, then moved to Alameda to buy a house as it was more affordable. Eleven years later, we are still in Alameda, onto a new house, even though we could have moved back to the City long ago. We prefer to live in Alameda and visit SF. I hope those that want to get a chance to live in the City do, but its ridiculous to claim everyone wants to live in the City, Marin or Peninsula as one ignorant poster does. I like being more in the geographic center of the Bay Area. It makes visiting the rest of the state easier.

[04kL4nD]

I wonder when San Jose will make the list? Maybe once it develops something with character and refinement that people would actually consider booking airfare/lodging because it would be worth visiting. Too bad San Jose's biggest selling point these days in Santa Row- a glorified mall that SJ boosters trumpet endlessly. There's a 30+ page in the SJ forums about how boring San Jose is and it's pretty sad, actually.

[WizardOfRadical]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I wonder when San Jose will make the list? Maybe once it develops something with character and refinement that people would actually consider booking airfare/lodging because it would be worth visiting. Too bad San Jose's biggest selling point these days in Santa Row- a glorified mall that SJ boosters trumpet endlessly. There's a 30+ page in the SJ forums about how boring San Jose is and it's pretty sad, actually.

San Jose already gets tons of visitors a year. You have to wonder about a list touting the East Bay and Saint Louis as top places to visit in 2016. But alas, even the NYT has declined in quality in this Kim Kardashian/Donald Trump era.