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Old 06-14-2011, 04:46 PM
 
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I was wondering how feasible it would be to live without a car in San Jose. I will be working in Mountain View and was thinking about taking the caltrain to work. What areas would be best for this (was looking for an apartment or room), and is San Jose a pedestrian friendly city?
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Old 06-14-2011, 05:01 PM
 
Location: Northern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by advice_needed View Post
I was wondering how feasible it would be to live without a car in San Jose. I will be working in Mountain View and was thinking about taking the caltrain to work. What areas would be best for this (was looking for an apartment or room), and is San Jose a pedestrian friendly city?
San Jose has a fairly dense downtown core surrounded by suburban sprawl. There are things to do in the downtown area - restaurants, clubs, sporting events at HP Pavillion, museums, etc. There is a light rail systen around the downtown area to the Caltrain station and elsewhere including neighboring towns including Mountain View. http://www.vta.org/schedules/lr_inte.../lrBusMap.html

BTW, I see you wanted to live in SF. The weather in SF is usually cool from the fog and wind. San Jose is much warmer and sunny most of the time.
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Old 06-14-2011, 05:10 PM
 
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Is the downtown area close to the caltrain station or near could I use the light rail to reach it, and where would you recommend to live in the area?

Also I am still trying to decide if I wanna live in SF and commute down to Mountain View or go from San Jose.
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Old 06-14-2011, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Northern California
3,722 posts, read 14,724,505 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by advice_needed View Post
Is the downtown area close to the caltrain station or near could I use the light rail to reach it, and where would you recommend to live in the area?

Also I am still trying to decide if I wanna live in SF and commute down to Mountain View or go from San Jose.
The Caltrain station is close to the downtown area (within walking distance - but not the best area to walk through) and next to the HP Pavillion (Sharks hockey team). Light rail runs from the caltrain station into downtown (around W. Santa Clara St and N. Market St.). San Jose State University is nearby the downtown area. I can't recommend apartments in the downtown area. I'm not that familiar with the apartment situation there.
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Old 06-15-2011, 04:29 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
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Default Caveat about going carless

Do keep in mind even though you may be able to go back and forth on public transit between work and home, for a lot of other trips - such as shopping, recreation, entertainment - you may still need a car.

Unfortunately the greater San Jose area and much of the SF Bay Area (except for built-up urban areas of San Francisco and Oakland) is pretty much dispersed and built to the needs of the automobile.
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Old 06-15-2011, 09:30 PM
 
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
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Originally Posted by humboldtrat View Post
The Caltrain station is close to the downtown area (within walking distance - but not the best area to walk through) and next to the HP Pavillion (Sharks hockey team).
Nothing wrong with that area in terms of safety. The Alameda/Santa Clara St. are increasingly going upscale.
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Old 06-17-2011, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
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I don't know. You can do the commuting via Caltrain easily, but doing other things like grocery shopping would be a bigger hassle. I personally wouldn't want to live in this area without a car.
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Old 06-17-2011, 03:57 PM
 
30,896 posts, read 36,958,653 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by advice_needed View Post
I was wondering how feasible it would be to live without a car in San Jose. I will be working in Mountain View and was thinking about taking the caltrain to work. What areas would be best for this (was looking for an apartment or room), and is San Jose a pedestrian friendly city?
I live and work in downtown San Jose and walk to work every day. I can get all the basic service right downtown. But I still keep my car to visit friends who live in San Jose's surubran sprawl as well as throughout the Bay Area.

If it were me I'd live near my job in Mountain View. I firmly believe one of the keys to a happy life is a short or non-existent commute.
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Old 06-18-2011, 09:36 PM
 
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Originally Posted by mysticaltyger View Post
If it were me I'd live near my job in Mountain View. I firmly believe one of the keys to a happy life is a short or non-existent commute.
For the average Silicon Valley engineer that would mean you need to move every 2 years.
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Old 06-18-2011, 11:38 PM
 
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Originally Posted by kdog View Post
For the average Silicon Valley engineer that would mean you need to move every 2 years.
Yeah, that is the problem with auto-dependent sprawl. But I think it's best to get as close to that ideal as is feasible.
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