Recommended places to live (late 20s, single) - working near San Jose Airport? (Santa Clara: apartments)

[gosteng]

Please give me recommended complexes or zip codes to live near the San Jose Airport. I'd prefer my commute to be less than 20 min driving one way (public transportation is out of the question as I prefer driving everywhere). I think a budget of around 1500-1600/mo is reasonable to start my search, but can go higher if needed for a 1br+1ba (can even go upscale studio if needed and really don't need anything bigger than 800sq ft). I'm in my late 20s, single, male, have always lived in the suburbs and do not want to live in the city, and do not have pets. I'm not one to go to restaurants or a bar just for the fun of it. I'll be new to the area so I don't imagine going out at night to bars and such unless with my co workers. Rather I play a lot of tennis so I can imagine playing a lot on weekends to have some social life.

In terms of the areas, I'm thinking San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View, and Cupertino. However, San Jose has so many zip codes, it's hard to narrow it down. If outside of these cities, it might be further of a drive than I want. However, feel free to recommend areas as well.

I'm making the move end of this month so I'd appreciate your help, thanks.

[Freezer41]

Boynton Brooks Apartments
416 Boynton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95117

Lived there for a while pretty nice.

[gosteng]

Originally Posted by Freezer41

Boynton Brooks Apartments
416 Boynton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95117

Lived there for a while pretty nice.

thanks, will definitely check it out!

Are there parts of San Jose near the airport where it's not as safe (borderline ghetto)? Would like to cross apts off in these areas.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by gosteng

thanks, will definitely check it out!

Are there parts of San Jose near the airport where it's not as safe (borderline ghetto)? Would like to cross apts off in these areas.

I don't think there are any bad areas near the airport. A fair amount of the immediate vicinity around the airport is not residential, though.

[gosteng]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

I don't think there are any bad areas near the airport. A fair amount of the immediate vicinity around the airport is not residential, though.

what about south of the airport? or better yet, are there zip codes in san jose or areas in san jose that i should avoid? many of the apartments i'm researching seem to be south (approx 10-15 miles) of the airport.

edit: found this thread which is exactly what i was looking for http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-j...-san-jose.html

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by gosteng

what about south of the airport? or better yet, are there zip codes in san jose or areas in san jose that i should avoid? many of the apartments i'm researching seem to be south (approx 10-15 miles) of the airport.

edit: found this thread which is exactly what i was looking for http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-j...-san-jose.html

Most of the posts on that thread are quite accurate. East San Jose is not as dangerous as some posters make it sound. It is nicer than it used to be when I moved here in 1996...but it is still not a desireable area and I doubt you'd want to live there.

Most people in SJ live south of the airport because there isn't much housing north of it. To the east you have a lot of industrial and office parks. To the west, you have Santa Clara, which is nice in a suburbanish kind of way, but typically a bit more expensive than SJ. You might actually prefer living in Santa Clara. I think Santa Clara is also a better run city than San Jose, so that helps in terms of not having to worry as much about city services being cut. (EG. I hear Santa Clara has a nice pool for residents).

To the South of the airport you run into a pretty urban area, (North San Jose, Japantown, downtown). I personally like this general area because I like more urban living and older buildings with charm. But since that's not your thing, you probably won't like this area (covering zip codes 95112, 95113, and possibly parts of 95110). This area also has its dumpy pockets to watch out for (they are pretty obvious). There are some newer apartment buildings in this area along North First Street that you might like, but I think they are pretty pricey.

Further south, but still not far from the airport, you can find nice neighborhoods with charm like Willow Glen & the Rosegarden (95125 and 95126). But these neighborhoods do have their dumpy pockets/apartments.

Further to the south, the decent zip codes with minimal dumpy pockets would be 95136, 95120, 95118, and 95123. Personally I would rather live close to work, but most people would consider the commutes from these zip codes to be reasonable (95120 and 95123 being the farthest).

Just a general note, most of the South Bay is suburban in character, but it's fairly dense suburbia compared with your typical American suburb. That's sort of a bad thing because you get the disadvantages of urban living (living somewhat close together and small yards, traffic) and none of the advantages (Not dense enough for good transit...which means you still have to drive everywhere in all that traffic).

[gosteng]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Most of the posts on that thread are quite accurate. East San Jose is not as dangerous as some posters make it sound. It is nicer than it used to be when I moved here in 1996...but it is still not a desireable area and I doubt you'd want to live there.

Most people in SJ live south of the airport because there isn't much housing north of it. To the east you have a lot of industrial and office parks. To the west, you have Santa Clara, which is nice in a suburbanish kind of way, but typically a bit more expensive than SJ. You might actually prefer living in Santa Clara. I think Santa Clara is also a better run city than San Jose, so that helps in terms of not having to worry as much about city services being cut. (EG. I hear Santa Clara has a nice pool for residents).

To the South of the airport you run into a pretty urban area, (North San Jose, Japantown, downtown). I personally like this general area because I like more urban living and older buildings with charm. But since that's not your thing, you probably won't like this area (covering zip codes 95112, 95113, and possibly parts of 95110). This area also has its dumpy pockets to watch out for (they are pretty obvious). There are some newer apartment buildings in this area along North First Street that you might like, but I think they are pretty pricey.

Further south, but still not far from the airport, you can find nice neighborhoods with charm like Willow Glen & the Rosegarden (95125 and 95126). But these neighborhoods do have their dumpy pockets/apartments.

Further to the south, the decent zip codes with minimal dumpy pockets would be 95136, 95120, 95118, and 95123. Personally I would rather live close to work, but most people would consider the commutes from these zip codes to be reasonable (95120 and 95123 being the farthest).

Just a general note, most of the South Bay is suburban in character, but it's fairly dense suburbia compared with your typical American suburb. That's sort of a bad thing because you get the disadvantages of urban living (living somewhat close together and small yards, traffic) and none of the advantages (Not dense enough for good transit...which means you still have to drive everywhere in all that traffic).

thanks for the zip codes for san jose. it helped a ton and now understand what areas to generally avoid. there seems to be a good selection of good apartments in certain areas of san jose and will be checking out 6 or so.

however, i'm looking at places in mountain view and santa clara and selection seems very limited. or perhaps these apartment reviews i'm reading are overly negative, but i do take these into account. sunnyvale seems more open in terms of vacant apartments.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by gosteng

thanks, will definitely check it out!

Are there parts of San Jose near the airport where it's not as safe (borderline ghetto)? Would like to cross apts off in these areas.

There's a neighborhood across the airport called Rosemary Gardens.. it's fine if you are in a house there, but the apartments on and east of N. First are really sketchy and the area has a lot of transients because of all the flophouses and motels. The Santa Clara side near SCU is nicer, in my opinion.

[gosteng]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

There's a neighborhood across the airport called Rosemary Gardens.. it's fine if you are in a house there, but the apartments on and east of N. First are really sketchy and the area has a lot of transients because of all the flophouses and motels. The Santa Clara side near SCU is nicer, in my opinion.

thanks. i'm now looking at apartments in the west san jose/cupertino area. i went apartment hunting all day friday mostly in sunnyvale and i was not impressed in general especially the area bounded by the 101, 82, lawrence expressway, and north of fremont ave (north of 280). not impressed at all, perhaps one or two better looking areas if that.

if you or anyone has heard of the sonara condos located east of the airport on technology drive, how is that area as well as the property itself?

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by gosteng

thanks. i'm now looking at apartments in the west san jose/cupertino area. i went apartment hunting all day friday mostly in sunnyvale and i was not impressed in general especially the area bounded by the 101, 82, lawrence expressway, and north of fremont ave (north of 280). not impressed at all, perhaps one or two better looking areas if that.

if you or anyone has heard of the sonara condos located east of the airport on technology drive, how is that area as well as the property itself?

I looked at one of the Sonora condos as a potential rental, it was nicely outfitted and the grounds are quite pretty. There was some noise transmission between the floors but less than other apartments I've been in.