What are the best places to live in the bay area based on my interests? (San Jose: daycare)

[elena_fae]

Hi

I am a single professional mom with a one year old.

I'm relocating from north Europe, but I'm American from the midwest.

About me:
- loved NYC and Paris, but both are too fast for me now that I have a child.
- earn around 115-120K per year in tech (but have substantial daycare costs)
- love to eat fine foods (foodie), drink wine, have great conversations...
- not into drugs, loud music.. or crime
- love artsy, intellectual folks..
- love culture, history, nature and diversity
- not religious, but want access to some sort of spiritual community.. maybe unitarian
- I appreciate access to good public transit but don't mind driving when necessary
- I need to be in a place where it is easy to meet sane people (as I am single and won't know anyone..)

I recently visited San Jose and loved it, but I don't want to judge a book by its cover. ANy recommendations on where I should live or what I should avoid?

[bigdumbgod]

Willow Glen, Los Gatos, Mountain View would do...depends on how much you want to spend and how much you care to drive.

[gone down south]

The question is - where will you be working? Especially with a kid, you don't want huge commutes every day.

[zitsky]

I would just move to San Francisco and be done with it. It's not as fast paced as NYC or Paris. SF has a lot of what you're looking for. I used to live in Chicago. I really didn't like San Jose. It was much too slow paced for my taste. If you liked San Jose, you might like Mountain View.

[gr8west]

[LEFT]

- love to eat fine foods (foodie), drink wine, have great conversations...

anywhere in Silicon Valley

- not into drugs, loud music.. or crime

exclude East Palo Alto and some heavily Hispanic areas of San Jose

- love artsy, intellectual folks..

anywhere in Silicon Valley

- love culture, history, nature and diversity

available from anywhere in Silicon Valley

- not religious, but want access to some sort of spiritual community.. maybe unitarian

available from anywhere in Silicon Valley

- I appreciate access to good public transit but don't mind driving when necessary

San Jose, San Francisco

- I need to be in a place where it is easy to meet sane people (as I am single and won't know anyone..)

meeting people in bars, streets, concert halls, etc. is easier in San Francisco, but if you are outgoing, and like hiking, biking, sports it wouldn't be difficult to meet similarly minded people everywhere in Silicon Valley.
One you get used to driving, you understand that Silicon Valley is pretty small, you can get from anywhere to anywhere in 30-60 min, so it doesn't really matter where you live. I knew people who lived in SF and were constantly driving to SJ and v.v.[/LEFT]