Considering a promotion in Sunnyvale... questions about the area (San Diego: sales, rent)

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Verio

I'm considering a promotional opportunity out in Sunnyvale that is around 115k.

That's a pretty good salary for one person around here. Yes, people will say how they've got much bigger salaries, but that's pretty much just the Tech industry. Other industries are lower.

1. My first question is, we currently rent for about 1500/mo for our house + 300 for utilities.

$1500 in Sunnvale will get you an older 900 square foot two bedroom apartment with no frills, or a nice 1 bedroom apartment.

Can I find anything close to that within commuting distance to Sunnyvale?

not that I'm aware of.

2. What sort of public infrastructure is there like in the surrounding area? My wife is a Public Health professional, but the area we currently in, doesn't have much interest in any Public Health services.

There seems to be lots of hospitals and things like that. Such as Kaiser, Palo Alto Medical Group

3. How are the school districts?

I've been told Cupertino (about 5 miles from Sunnyvale) has the "best schools" whatever that means. I don't have kids.

4. I know 115k sounds like a lot of money (it does to me at least, at age 27), but will I be living paycheck to paycheck out there?

Not quite that bad ...

The thing that makes the cost of living so high here, is the housing. Anything having to do with housing, apartments, real estate is super expensive.

Also expensive is vehicle maintenance, which includes mechanical work and registration/smog/fees, etc.

Thirdly is the gas which is at $4.00 now.

Everything else - food, restaurants, clothing, utilities - seems about the same cost as the rest of the country.

So basically, $115k is a good salary, especially for a 27yo. If it was just you, or you and your wife, it would be perfectly good. But with kids, there's more costs and possibly you need > 900 sq ft which might start eating into your take home pay

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The only thing that isn't stressful about Silicon Valley is the great weather.

I don't find any stress here. Weather is great. Work is good. Sunnyvale and surrounding communities are very nice and tranquil. Nothing to complain about.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

A GS 14 is good for Gov but the pay still doesn't measure up to what private industry pays in the Valley for similar skills/knowledge.

Sorry but I have 10 years in IT (as a system administrator) and I don't make more than $115k. Yes there's people making $150k, but I don't know any of them which means there's lots of us who don't.

[Nell Plotts]

Symantec's home office is in Mountain View, they have offices world wide. The ones I know about are in Eugene & Beaverton, Oregon.

I am confident that there are other internet security firms in the Valley.

[RebekahOwen]

Your big culture shock will be the work hours. In Texas folks work their 40 hrs/week and go home on Friday. Here it's very common to work 60 hours, weekends, on call, etc.
My buddy/client worked at Symantec in the IT/Security hocus pocus and was often on split shift, on call, called in at night and weekends.
The thing I love most about being here is that the windows are always open and there aren't bugs, we are close to everything and there is always something happening, the culture is more open and accepting - like the sky is the limit. I was in Dallas and it felt very rigid and controlled.

[mixxalot]

I have also been looking at places for rent and purchase in the area. Look to pay at least 2000-3000 for a house and 1500-2000 for a condo or 2 bedroom apartment! Nice parts of SV are super EXPENSIVE! You need to make at least 150-250k to live well here.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by RebekahOwen

Your big culture shock will be the work hours. In Texas folks work their 40 hrs/week and go home on Friday. Here it's very common to work 60 hours, weekends, on call, etc.
My buddy/client worked at Symantec in the IT/Security hocus pocus and was often on split shift, on call, called in at night and weekends.
The thing I love most about being here is that the windows are always open and there aren't bugs, we are close to everything and there is always something happening, the culture is more open and accepting - like the sky is the limit. I was in Dallas and it felt very rigid and controlled.

I agree with everything she wrote. Part of the reason the culture is more open is the large international presence, which I like.

mixxalot posted that to "live well in SV you need to make at least $150k". I would move the figure a little lower. If you're single, or single+significant other, then I personally think Living Well = $125k+ for your household income. This would include renting a nice $1800+ apartment.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

I don't find any stress here. Weather is great. Work is good. Sunnyvale and surrounding communities are very nice and tranquil. Nothing to complain about.

My life is pretty low stress, too. But I have no kids, no commute, and a reasonably low stress job that pays all my bills with money left over for savings. But I know my situation is the exception. Things get a lot more complicated, especially when kids and schools enter the picture.

[Verio]

Originally Posted by RebekahOwen

Your big culture shock will be the work hours. In Texas folks work their 40 hrs/week and go home on Friday. Here it's very common to work 60 hours, weekends, on call, etc.
My buddy/client worked at Symantec in the IT/Security hocus pocus and was often on split shift, on call, called in at night and weekends.
The thing I love most about being here is that the windows are always open and there aren't bugs, we are close to everything and there is always something happening, the culture is more open and accepting - like the sky is the limit. I was in Dallas and it felt very rigid and controlled.

Thank you for the information. It would be nice to be able to have the windows open without wondering if a scorpion was going to come say Hi! or Fire ant hills come out of nowhere in the backyard.

Hopefully with the longer hours there are increased perks. I've heard about some of the unbelievable perks some of these SV companies give... out here there is no motivation to stay longer than 40.

[Sebastian K.]

I'm currently making in the mid 80's out in Texas, where the COL is very low. I'm considering a promotional opportunity out in Sunnyvale that is around 115k. I currently have a family of four (a wife and 2 small children). The wife is almost done with her Masters program, but does not have any professional experience.

1. My first question is, we currently rent for about 1500/mo for our house + 300 for utilities. Can I find anything close to that within commuting distance to Sunnyvale? I wouldn't mind a 45 minute commute.

2. What sort of public infrastructure is there like in the surrounding area? My wife is a Public Health professional, but the area we currently in, doesn't have much interest in any Public Health services.

3. How are the school districts?

4. I know 115k sounds like a lot of money (it does to me at least, at age 27), but will I be living paycheck to paycheck out there?

This would be a great career progression opportunity for me, but I don't want to bankrupt my family by doing it.

Thoughts??? Thanks!!

I'm in the Information Security/Industrial Security field.

1. You will not be able to buy a house, houses cost a minimum of $800,000, if you're lucky, and $115 is not a lot of money per year to support yourself. Also most houses in the South Bay are teardowns (sorry people in the South Bay, it's true I live there) You will be paying off the house for the rest of your life with high payments (well over $2600 a month). Even apartments cost $1700 at the minimum.

2. There is good health care such as Kaiser, that is the one of the only pros of living here, Kaiser is what I go with, and if you move here, go with them.

3. CUPERTINO SCHOOLS ARE NOT EXCELLENT!!! The schools there are AVERAGE and don't be fooled into thinking that they have good schools, they don't. Please don't be fooled into it, the test scores mean nothing, students get Fs on their report card just like any other school. I know a kid that goes to a middle school in Cupertino, and he told me there are some kids that are smoking there (and they're only 13!).

4. 115K isn't a lot of money in the South Bay. Trust me, the housing will cost you the majority of your salary until you can barely support yourself.

The South Bay is NOT a family area, other than Great America there is NOTHING in the South Bay. There are weekends where I wonder what to do because there is nothing to do. 115 K isn't a lot of money, even with 200 K is equal to 100 K OR LESS in Texas. The only thing to do is to travel 40+ minutes to Santa Cruz or San Francisco. Also, the demographics show that the white population is a minority ESPECIALLY IN CUPERTINO. I would rather move to Texas than stay here. If you want to live in Cupertino, don't do it, I know people that live there, that HATE IT! What I said is completely true and I don't want to make the South Bay look bad, but there's no other choice, there is nothing good about it.

DON'T COME TO CALIFORNIA, STAY IN TEXAS!

If you want to have more questions, give me a message, I would love to answer them. I'm here to help you, so you won't do the wrong move.

For others, take my advice on not moving to the South Bay. If you want to live in California, go to San Diego, it is simply awesome.