Moving from MIAMI to Bay area, jobs in PA and S. Clara, where to find vibrant place to live? (Los Angeles: apartment complex, rentals)

[Catana]

We are a young couple, no kids, who just got jobs in Palo Alto and possibly Santa Clara/west SJ area. I have only been to San Fran before for a few days and have never seen any other cities in the bay area. We will be moving from Miami and have to find a place long distance, it's so difficult without seeing the area first but we have no choice. We can commute to jobs 30 minutes or more if worth it. We don't necessarily love Miami but are used to a vibrant and lively city with good nightlife, pretty scenery, warm weather etc. etc. Looking for a place to rent probably somewhere in the peninsula, we would like SF but I think it would be too far to commute?
Which area/city offers good walkability, restaurants, some nightlife, and things to do? We are looking for a nice/luxury apartment complex but more importantly vibrant walkable urban area that's is not sleepy and boring.
Does it exist anywhere in the peninsula?

[hsw]

PA itself is closest version on Peninsula...but scarce newer upscale rentals...and grub and nightlife are nothing great (though grub is far superior to anything in FL)

Many w/o kids choose to live in SF; a casual 30-45 min drive to PA or Menlo; newer upscale rentals in SF tend to be in Soma area, not pleasant/safe for walking (many prefer to drive around SF, a very car-centric town w/secured garages and valet pkg everywhere relevant) but close to good grub (and excellent cocktails) in Ferry Bldg area (and close to fwys for Silicon Valley commutes)

SF is not a nightlife town like Manhattan...many (esp in financial industry) arrive at office at <<6AM (as work NYC mkt hrs); tech industry has many workaholics; many are types who enjoy a good dinner, but not much into late nt drinking...and who use wkend daytime for outdoor activities like jogging, biking...or sports car driving up in the many Peninsula mtns

[bellalunatic]

Originally Posted by hsw

...and grub and nightlife are nothing great (though grub is far superior to anything in FL)

I have nothing to add, as hsw know the peninsula well, however, you WILL miss Cuban diners and GREAT Cuban food...sigh...it's probably the only food really missing in the SF Bay Area....I miss it alot.

[Catana]

SF to PA 35min drive??? Is it realistic? I thought it's more then 35 miles plus the heavy traffic? We don't want to drive more then 45 min total time, plus may have another job west of Santa Clara area, so is living in SF realistic?

Looking online I couldn't find any nice/newer apartments in PA, what's the next best thing? Nightlife is not quite as important as just a nice area with things to do, walkable, restaurants etc.

I don't think i will miss the Cuban food having SF nearby , actually food in Miami is a hit or miss (more miss then hit), but I'm afraid I will miss the beaches, South Beach, the Keys, cruises, and all the modern highrises with ocean views (they look good but most are still empty and don't actually have enough infrastructure around them).

I have this image in my mind of some of the areas in peninsula being small older sleepy towns, with no much to do (I did some Google street views), I SO hope it's not all true?
Thanks for all the info!

[Stacy From Cali]

No way do you want to live in SF if you are looking for a reasonable commute to Santa Clara. My hubbs did this one year, and it took him an hour driving (during non-commute times) or about 1.5 hours using public trans (Caltrain). In fact we were recently put in a similar position job-wise and decided this time we are just moving to Santa Clara, because living in SF is awesome but the commute south is too life-stealing.

The South Bay is pretty suburban and spread out. In this way it resembles cities like Los Angeles. Ditto the pennisula to a certain extent. Perhaps some of the towns there were small and sleepy at one point, but now they are more overpriced and gentrified because of the tech boom. However the downtown areas do tend to be smalltownish when they exist at all (Palo Alto and Mountain View are examples). Live on the peninsula or south and then go to SF on the weekends...

The one thing I miss about SoCal is the beaches! But the beaches in NorCal are stunning and awe-inspiring in their own way.

[sonarrat]

Coming from San Francisco, 35 minutes will get you to Burlingame, on a good day. Palo Alto is an extra 25 minutes.

[Catana]

SF will be too far then, too bad
I can't find any nice/newer rentals in Palo Alto, which town would be the next best choice then? How about Mountain View or Santa Clara ? are they walkable with things to do? or are there better choices?

[jshwon]

Originally Posted by hsw

...... newer upscale rentals in SF tend to be in Soma area, not pleasant/safe for walking (many prefer to drive around SF, a very car-centric town w/secured garages and valet pkg everywhere relevant) but close to good grub (and excellent cocktails) in Ferry Bldg area (and close to fwys for Silicon Valley commutes)

You say SOMA isn't a safe area? I know there are alot of newer lofts around that neighborhood but is it still in transition environment wise?

[Stacy From Cali]

Originally Posted by Catana

SF will be too far then, too bad
I can't find any nice/newer rentals in Palo Alto, which town would be the next best choice then? How about Mountain View or Santa Clara ? are they walkable with things to do? or are there better choices?

Well it depends what you want to do. Hopefully someone else will chime in here because I do not live in Santa Clara (yet...I will soon), but from the research I have done it strikes me as not that walkable outside of some scattered restaurants and Central Park/the Library. San Jose has a walkable downtown but from what I can tell by looking online its a bit on the seedy side. Mountain View has a cute downtown but its smallish and surrounded by suburbia. Ditto Palo Alto.

Maybe one solution for you guys is to live near Caltrain so that you can walk to the train and then escape into San Fran without having to take a car. That is what we are planning to do (although the train ride from Santa Clara station is pretty long as I mentioned before).

There is some cool stuff if you don't mind driving though. Santa Cruz (and thus the ocean) is only about 45 minutes away and the drive is beautiful. Monterrey/Big Sur is close enough for a day trip, as are Napa/Sonoma. There are redwood groves in driving distance. Plus there is lots of really great food in the area...oh man...I can't wait for the food.

[Catana]

Thanks for the info Stacy. We are also planning on living near Cal train but from experience I know that many times we just won't feel like commuting too long to find something to eat or do some small shopping; so it would be nice to be near an area where we could walk, grab something quick to eat etc.
Now I'm also looking into Sunnyvale, looks like it's one of the biggest towns but don't know anything about it, I wonder if a larger population means more things to do, better shopping etc? Hope someone has an anwer

We would prefer an area that's newer, more urban, more upscale vs. older and charming, small town feel. Still confused