Where to live, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Fremont? Please help. (Los Angeles: apartment complex, rentals)

[Adal78]

Hi, our family of 4 plus 2 dogs is relocating to Silicon Valley husband will work in Cupertino. We are looking for a rent around $2,500 for a 3 bedroom house with a yard (do not care about the size, but we need 3BR and some yard space), could pay a little more if we can get our daughter in a TOP elementary school.

As far as I understand, Cupertino and Sunnyvale are expensive. San Jose is cheaper but I am concerned about the gang activities and crime, Fremont (south) seems to have a good school district but I understand the commute in rush hour is very bad.

We live in Beaverton, OR my husband commute is 10 minutes, we enjoy an excellent recreation district, my daughter can enjoy swimming, ballet, gymnastics classes at very low cost, and there is also a p/t preschool that is very inexpensive. We have a great library system, lots of parks and hiking places. Very, very low crime, no gangs, very few vandalism, car theft. I am sad to give up all of that and I am looking to find a place where we can get some of the nice things Beaverton has, our main priority are top schools (Great schools ranked 10 or 9), safety and then commute time. I want very good schools but I don't want my husband driving for 2 hours (back and forth), our baby and daughter will miss him a lot.

Please let me know your opinions of good places to live around Cupertino.

Thank you,

[ippi76]

Why not Santa Clara or Milpitas? I believe the schools there are pretty good, at least as good as Fremont but probably not on Cupertino levels. Also very safe and an easier commute than coming from Fremont.

[gracieanna]

I'm moving to San Jose in six months, and I've worked near San Jose for 12 years. I can't speak to the quality of schools but in my research I was thrilled to find that it is one of the safest large cities in the entire U.S.

By far MOST of San Jose is relatively safe, and the alleged gang presence is virtually non-existent. Don't believe the hype. It is NOTHING like Richmond, CA or Oakland, CA or Los Angeles, CA, etc. -- Especially in West San Jose which is close to the Cupertino area.

I think you should consider many parts of San Jose as a viable option.

[needmyespresso]

I don't mean to be negative but just finding a sfh that accepts dogs (especially 2) will be very challenging. The rental market here is crazy expensive and landlords have the upper hand picking their tenants.
Sad to say, most landlords I have dealt with do not want dogs.
However a lot of apartments do accept them now, you just have to put down a little extra for the deposit. West SJ, or Campbell area, would also be a good place to look. Parts of Cambrian , especially the part that borders Los Gatos, is a nice area with great schools too.

[80skeys]

The commute from Fremont to Cupertino will probably take on average 45-60 minutes during rush hour.
During light traffic it would be about 30 minutes.

Of the towns around Cupertino, Santa Clara and San Jose are the cheapest and there are lots of safe, nice, pleasant neighborhoods in both.

[madhaus at burbed]

San Jose is a very large city, and by large I refer to size as well as population. The part closest to Cupertino is "West San Jose" and much of it is in the Cupertino school district. And you will pay rents accordingly. A lot of WSJ has housing costs close to Cupertino itself.

School district and city are not related here. You must confirm school district in anything you look at. The Cupertino district is all of Cupertino plus a piece of every one of the five cities that border it. Those cities are San Jose (the contiguous part is mostly in CUSD), Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Saratoga, and Los Altos. If you cannot afford Cupertino, you can't afford the latter two either.

Lower your expectations as far as school quality goes compared to where you came from. 24 years of Prop 13 have bled the schools dry. The wealthy districts add on more parcel taxes. The middle and lower income districts cannot do so, because parcel taxes require a 2/3 vote to pass.

I live in Sunnyvale with Cupertino schools, and according to Zillow, the estimated rent on my small 4/2 would be over $3000 a month. There isn't much for rent around here. Start looking at Craigslist for rentals and see what you can find. If you are considering a place, you can find out the school district by entering the address into this US Census site.

[never-more]

Originally Posted by gracieanna

I'm moving to San Jose in six months, and I've worked near San Jose for 12 years. I can't speak to the quality of schools but in my research I was thrilled to find that it is one of the safest large cities in the entire U.S.

By far MOST of San Jose is relatively safe, and the alleged gang presence is virtually non-existent. Don't believe the hype. It is NOTHING like Richmond, CA or Oakland, CA or Los Angeles, CA, etc. -- Especially in West San Jose which is close to the Cupertino area.

I think you should consider many parts of San Jose as a viable option.

Have you been to the East Side? That is where most of the gangs are.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by never-more

Have you been to the East Side? That is where most of the gangs are.

"East Side" is still a very general term. There are plenty of areas on the eastern side of SJ that are safe and desireable places to live. Even SJ's most exclusive gated community, the Silver Creek Valley Country Club, is on the east side of town. I think the poster you quoted was just saying that the gang stereotype of SJ is over-hyped.

I lived in the South Bay my entire life and went to school on McLaughlin Ave. in the heart of the East Side. In all that time I have only personally known one gang member that I associated with on a semi-regular basis. Typically if you don't associate with the gangster sort of lifestyle, you can easily avoid those types of people.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by madhaus at burbed

Lower your expectations as far as school quality goes compared to where you came from. 24 years of Prop 13 have bled the schools dry. The wealthy districts add on more parcel taxes. The middle and lower income districts cannot do so, because parcel taxes require a 2/3 vote to pass.

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Prop 13 was in response to double digit annual property tax increases and the Serrano Decision that diverted local tax dollars to the State to allocate for schools statewide.

It was one thing to pay high taxes for the local school... quite another to pay high taxes and see the money leave the district.

Prop 13 is the one saving grace property owners have for the simple reason that it adds predictability to taxes...

As you mentioned... additional assessments only require 2/3 voter approval for most things... many districts... some poorly preforming districts have had much success in getting voter approval... like Oakland CA where the budget divided by number of students is inching closer to 15k per student.

It is important to mention that school infrastructure DOES NOT require a 2/3 voter approval... 55% yes and it is a done deal...

[fridaygal]

I just moved here from Beaverton (where I still own a home) 4 weeks ago to work in Cupertino, CA. The weather here is awesome but note of caution, if you're coming from North Beaverton (Bethany area, since schools are important to you), be prepared for a HUGE culture and sticker shock in terms of available homes at affordable prices. For reference point, I have visited homes that I didn't think was livable (old, green carpets, mold, electrical outlet that doesn't fit the wall socket) - duplexes with yard that are 2 bedroom 1 bath for 2000/mth. 1 bedroom 1 bath (with inside washer and dryer) in a nice, more modern apartment complex in downtown Cupertino current runs around 1900-2400/mth.

Even though I don't have kids, I have been looking at areas with good schools around Cupertino because by default, I know the location, even if in a different town is, still close to Cupertino. If you're looking for 8 -9 schools, you may want to do a search on Craigslist on "cupertino schools". You'll find Sunnyvale, San Jose West and Cupertino in your search results. The "cherry chase" area in Sunnyvale also has pretty good schools. The rental price for 3 bedroom house with yard usually starts at 3K. Most of Mountain View (where I'm living now) and Los Altos have great schools too and it's reverse commute - takes around 15 mins to Cupertino. The quality of schools in Sunnyvale, San Jose and Santa Clara varies a lot so you should confirm with the school district. Another method I use in house hunting (renting now but am planning to buy in the future) is via Redfin which shows the ranking of the schools too.

Hope this helps - feel free to let me know if you have more questions relating to Beaverton vs. the Bay area!