Live in SF, Work in Cupertino (San Jose, San Francisco: apartments, home, to buy)

[inspiredfella]

Hi There,

I plan to move to the bay area next month and am trying to figure out where to live. I am 25, single guy. I was considering living in SF - my employer has a wi-fi and power plug equipped shuttle that goes from SF (Apple Shuttle). I am cheap, so I would try and find a shared apartment (I can't afford anything more than 1K).

I was wondering if it makes sense for me to stay in SF, or if you would recommend staying in Cupertino .... I am hoping to not have to buy a car

** Correction: Title should be "Live in SF, Work in Cupertino".

[humboldtrat]

That's about an 80 mile round trip each day and that can get old in a hurry. Also, rents in San Francisco tend to be a little more than out in the suburbs. $900 - $1000 should get you a decent studio (which you don't have to share) in the suburbs such as Cupertino.

[blofeld9999]

Interesting thread. I'm starting at Apple in December. I'm a single 29 year old male.

I used to live in Cupertino back in 2001/2002 when I was a student with Apple. I was literally a mile away from the Apple Campus in the Valley Green apartments (which are terrible BTW - don't stay there). It was very boring, I sometimes went to San Jose on Saturday afternoons - but I would prefer Palo Alto or San Francisco itself.

I think I will try to aim for South San Francisco this time, but I have to find out where exactly the Apple shuttle goes first. Maybe San Mateo or something would be a good compromise, close enough to San Francisco - while only being a half hour from Cupertino.

My friend who works at Apple recommends the San Francisco option. You can do work on the bus if you have a laptop. I think it will also be a good way to meet other Apple employees who may not be on your team.

humboldtrat is right - it is a long trip. But since you are single and I presume do not have very many friends in the Bay Area - I think San Francisco would be a place where there are more social activities. My impression of the South Bay when I lived there, was that it was mainly single guys, and families. I could be wrong though.

[bigdave01]

That is such a long commute. Maybe you should look into downtown San Jose, Palo Alto, or Mountain View.

[SCexplorer]

I'm starting too at Apple in Dec. and was looking at living in SF. Did any of you decide to live in SF and try out the commuter bus. It almost seems like your work day starts once you get in the bus since you get internet access because you mostly check your email for an hour anyways in the morning. Do you know if these buses have a bathroom?

[sonarrat]

To blofeld: South San Francisco has nothing in common with San Francisco. It's just one of the sleepy suburbs that lie to the south of the city.

[hsw]

As a car guy and workaholic, I wish I had a daily commute from SF to Menlo's SandHill Rd...or to Cupertino....the 280 fwy btwn SF and Menlo is one of most enjoyable drives in world on perhaps fastest, most scenic urban fwy on planet

If not a car guy but trying to advance career, would live near where more likely to bump into smart, fast-rising executives and engineers....PaloAlto is best place from that standpoint....

SF's PacHts is home to several senior SandHill VCs/private equity guys....but most of the tech titans (and VCs) live in PaloAlto or Woodside or Atherton, not in SF

[blofeld9999]

Thanks for the info, sonarrat. I did not know that South SF was just as sleepy at the rest of the suburbs. :-)

I'm focusing my apartment search near Van Ness north of Market. I miss living in the city - been living in suburbs for the last 5 years.

SCexplorer, it doesn't look like these buses have bathrooms. This is the company that operates them: Our Fleet.

[gizmo980]

LOL at the title typo... I'll go ahead and fix that for ya. But hey, don't you want LOVE in San Francisco too?

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by hsw

As a car guy and workaholic, I wish I had a daily commute from SF to Menlo's SandHill Rd...or to Cupertino....the 280 fwy btwn SF and Menlo is one of most enjoyable drives in world on perhaps fastest, most scenic urban fwy on planet

I just have to bump this because I had a chance today to drive on 280 during rush hour between South San Francisco and San Jose. (When I have to do this trip, I normally take 101 because it's much more direct, but I took the 'scenic route' this time). It probably would have been enjoyable, if it was not for the thin wisp of fog off of the Crystal Springs Reservoir and the surrounding creeks combined with BLARING sun which lit it up like a giant fluorescent light bulb. You get sun on 101 too of course, but that was a new experience, especially since everyone around me was still doing 80+ and I couldn't see in front of my face.