San Mateo County: Foster City....I just might move there (San Jose: appointed, transplants)

[faithmillennium]

Recently, I interviewed for a job located in Foster City, CA. Currently, I reside in northeastern New Jersey. As a typical northern New Jerseyan, I am engulfed in NYC culture and nightlife. I used public transportation and bicycles as my means to commute either to the work or to the shore. Due to NJ proximity to other major cities, it was to take weekend trips to PA, MA, and DC fairly easy. The decision to relocate to northern California will be a major decision. Thus I am seeking suggested areas that would fit my lifestyle.

To my understanding, San Mateo County is EXPENSIVE. The cost of living is very higher (higher than the NYC area). So I am keeping in mind to negotiate a higher salary and decent relocation package if an offer is made. With that being said, I am looking to rent either a studio or 1 bedroom apartment within the $1800 - $2300 range. The location must be these needs:

• Access to PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - I use to live in southern CA, so I am aware CA is a car culture state. Getting a drivers license would be on my to-do list. At the moment, I need to live in an area where PT is accessible and reliable

• Vibrant Culture and Nightlife - I want to live in an area with a young professional demographic. NYC has a multicultural population that influences its active art, music, restaurant and club scenes. I want to reside in an area with a similar vibe

• Upcoming Neighborhoods - I grew up in East Orange/Newark, NJ. These areas are considered to be inner cities. Sometimes their reputation proceeds them. However, in the past decade, they have seen a recent regrowth surge. These cities have maintained their character while getting a facelift. I want to live in a similar area.

San Francisco and Palto Alto are way out of my budget. Thus, I am looking to the San Fran Metro (Oakland, Hayward, Redwood, South San Fran etc). I do not mind living in an "inner city." Not all inner cities are bad areas. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Besides San Francisco, what are the other local attractions? How far is Napa Valley, Seattle, and Portland?


BTW: My family is from the Caribbean (specifically Haiti) is there a vibrant Caribbean community in NoCal? Are there any Dominicans, Jamaican, or Haitian communities out there?

[Oakformonday]

I would suggest Oakland but the commute to Foster City would be awful. Especially if you want to bike and use public transport. So, San Mateo would be a good option. I don't know if your budget is high enough though. Look on Craigslist to see what is available. There is a train in San Mateo that goes down to San Jose. I think it has a stop in Foster City or maybe near it. Look it up here: caltrain.com

I don't think there is much of a Haitian presence here but that is off my radar. I do know they tend to stick to the east coast of the US.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by faithmillennium

My family is from the Caribbean (specifically Haiti) is there a vibrant Caribbean community in NoCal? Are there any Dominicans, Jamaican, or Haitian communities out there?

I am not aware of any Caribbean community here. There may be, but if so, it's very small. I suggest you search for Caribbean restaurants and if you find one, call and ask the owner.

[faithmillennium]

In the NYC area, the average rent for 1 BD/Bath ranges between $1900 - $2300. What is the typical rental rate in the area?

[roadwarrior101]

Honestly, if you're looking for a vibrant area, your only real choices are SF or Oakland (maybe Berkeley). But, you mentioned that SF is out of your budget. Oakland/Berkeley would be quite the commute, but a lot of people do it.

The peninsula cities (San Mateo, Burlingame, San Carlos, Palo Alto, Mountain View) are all nice but I wouldn't consider them to be vibrant, by your standards. They tend to be suburban, with small downtown areas, concentrated around the Caltrain corridor.

Now, I lived in downtown Mountain View for several years and enjoyed it. It was when I was newly married, so I liked to be able to walk to a wide array of diverse restaurants. But, I wouldn't exactly call the nightlife there exciting. Sure, its fine to go out with my wife or meet a friend for happy hour. But, its not the bar/club scene.

You really have a limited set of locations in the Bay Area for that, confined to SF/Oakland areas. So, you really need to decide what it is you're willing to give up: 1 - Cost of living (in which case you can go for SF), 2 - Commute (where you can go for Oakland) or 3 - vibrant nightlife (in which case any of the nearby Peninsula towns would suffice).

[18Montclair]

For Foster City, Id say rents for 1bd is probably well over $3000.

Trulia says the median apt rent in Foster City is currently $4550 but thats for all not just 1bd
https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/F...ty-California/

[butercup]

Public transit along the BART and Caltrain corridor is decent (aside from commute times Caltrain only runs once every 60-90 minutes so it's less than ideal) but I hope you like biking because there is almost no public transit IN foster city. If your potential employer has a shuttle from Caltrain or BART that might be doable, but otherwise it's not very feasible to take public transit to get to work in Foster City. There are very few Caribbean restaurants in the area - Back a Yard is a nice small Jamaican chain, the closest one is in East Palo Alto/East Menlo Park, but there is very little Caribbean influence on the peninsula (I'm from south florida and REALLY miss the food!) I haven't seen one iota of a Haitian community in the 6 years I've been here. As others have said, the commute from the east bay is brutal and getting worse - if you were in Oakland or Hayward your only real public transit option would be a commuter bus which would be stuck in the same traffic.

Your budget is low for a one-bedroom in the San Mateo area, I can't speak to SSF. People don't tend to recc East Palo Alto / East Menlo Park but it might be worth looking into, since you don't mind grittier neighborhoods.

Honestly, from rereading your post, you want Oakland. But spend some time on Google maps with the public transit option and really understand what you'll be getting into. I think a lot of transplants from your area are really disappointed with the SF Bay area - it doesn't have nearly the transit that NYC metro does, and we don't really have those less expensive housing options within a decent commute time.

[18Montclair]

If there were a ferry from Jack London Square to Foster City, that would be perfect for you.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by faithmillennium

Recently, I interviewed for a job located in Foster City, CA. Currently, I reside in northeastern New Jersey. As a typical northern New Jerseyan, I am engulfed in NYC culture and nightlife. I used public transportation and bicycles as my means to commute either to the work or to the shore. Due to NJ proximity to other major cities, it was to take weekend trips to PA, MA, and DC fairly easy. The decision to relocate to northern California will be a major decision. Thus I am seeking suggested areas that would fit my lifestyle.

To my understanding, San Mateo County is EXPENSIVE. The cost of living is very higher (higher than the NYC area). So I am keeping in mind to negotiate a higher salary and decent relocation package if an offer is made. With that being said, I am looking to rent either a studio or 1 bedroom apartment within the $1800 - $2300 range. The location must be these needs:

• Access to PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - I use to live in southern CA, so I am aware CA is a car culture state. Getting a drivers license would be on my to-do list. At the moment, I need to live in an area where PT is accessible and reliable

• Vibrant Culture and Nightlife - I want to live in an area with a young professional demographic. NYC has a multicultural population that influences its active art, music, restaurant and club scenes. I want to reside in an area with a similar vibe

• Upcoming Neighborhoods - I grew up in East Orange/Newark, NJ. These areas are considered to be inner cities. Sometimes their reputation proceeds them. However, in the past decade, they have seen a recent regrowth surge. These cities have maintained their character while getting a facelift. I want to live in a similar area.

San Francisco and Palto Alto are way out of my budget. Thus, I am looking to the San Fran Metro (Oakland, Hayward, Redwood, South San Fran etc). I do not mind living in an "inner city." Not all inner cities are bad areas. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Besides San Francisco, what are the other local attractions? How far is Napa Valley, Seattle, and Portland?


BTW: My family is from the Caribbean (specifically Haiti) is there a vibrant Caribbean community in NoCal? Are there any Dominicans, Jamaican, or Haitian communities out there?

Portland is about 11 hours drive, Seattle 14 hours. By air, Portland is an hour and 45 minutes, Seattle 2 hours 15 minutes. Napa is about 90 minutes if no traffic.

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by faithmillennium

Recently, I interviewed for a job located in Foster City, CA. Currently, I reside in northeastern New Jersey. As a typical northern New Jerseyan, I am engulfed in NYC culture and nightlife. I used public transportation and bicycles as my means to commute either to the work or to the shore. Due to NJ proximity to other major cities, it was to take weekend trips to PA, MA, and DC fairly easy. The decision to relocate to northern California will be a major decision. Thus I am seeking suggested areas that would fit my lifestyle.

To my understanding, San Mateo County is EXPENSIVE. The cost of living is very higher (higher than the NYC area). So I am keeping in mind to negotiate a higher salary and decent relocation package if an offer is made. With that being said, I am looking to rent either a studio or 1 bedroom apartment within the $1800 - $2300 range. The location must be these needs:

• Access to PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - I use to live in southern CA, so I am aware CA is a car culture state. Getting a drivers license would be on my to-do list. At the moment, I need to live in an area where PT is accessible and reliable

• Vibrant Culture and Nightlife - I want to live in an area with a young professional demographic. NYC has a multicultural population that influences its active art, music, restaurant and club scenes. I want to reside in an area with a similar vibe

• Upcoming Neighborhoods - I grew up in East Orange/Newark, NJ. These areas are considered to be inner cities. Sometimes their reputation proceeds them. However, in the past decade, they have seen a recent regrowth surge. These cities have maintained their character while getting a facelift. I want to live in a similar area.

San Francisco and Palto Alto are way out of my budget. Thus, I am looking to the San Fran Metro (Oakland, Hayward, Redwood, South San Fran etc). I do not mind living in an "inner city." Not all inner cities are bad areas. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Besides San Francisco, what are the other local attractions? How far is Napa Valley, Seattle, and Portland?


BTW: My family is from the Caribbean (specifically Haiti) is there a vibrant Caribbean community in NoCal? Are there any Dominicans, Jamaican, or Haitian communities out there?

You would have to take BART to either Richmond or to Antioch/Pittsburg/Concord where you would find rent in the 1.8k -2.3k range.

Here is a map of BART stations