Areas of San Jose? (and houses vs condos) (San Francisco, Santa Clara: apartments, for rent)
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I'm considering moving to San Jose area with a new job opportunity and I'm trying to understand the geography and social situations in the various areas. By way of a bit of background, i'm 26, single and quite outdoorsy (I do a lot of climbing for example). Please forgive this list of questions, but I'd really appreciate some experienced advice :-)
- Which area constitutes "downtown" san jose? I've heard this is the most lively in the area in terms of bar and club scene. I'm not mad on partying, but i'd like to meet people as I won't know anyone to start with so being somewhere with any kind of social scene would be cool.
- What areas should really be avoided? (i.e. are not safe)
- How clogged are the 17 & 87 north and 101 west + east roads in the morning? Are they rammed with commuter traffic?
- Given around $2500-$3000 +/- a month for rent, where should a guy like me be looking to live in the south bay? I'm from the UK and I'm a little confused by the idea of "single family home" vs "condo"; from what I can see they offer very different styles of living, and I'm not sure why one needs a family to want a house... is it the norm' that areas with houses are pure family zones?
- How "out of the way" are places like Campbell and Los Gatos in actual practice? That is to say, are they their own self-contained communities or do they interact with San Jose a fair bit? It's tough to get a feel for that on the map.
Though "downtown" San Jose does have a bar and club scene, I'm not sure it's more lively than downtown Los Gatos, or Santana Row. I know of folks who live in San Jose that head to downtown Campbell for nightlife occasionally.
In general, I'd stay away from East San Jose. For that matter, I'm not all that comfortable in the area east of Japan town in San Jose (say 10th and above).
I'm not sure about commuter traffic (I live west) but those are definitely the commute corridors.
The south bay is pretty much one big conglomerate city. You often can't tell you've left San Jose and entered Campbell, or Los Gatos.
Agree with the above, I am also from the UK and you wont really find that downtown San Jose has the same 'vibe' as a Uk city ( I am from Liverpool and it was a great night out) downtown SJ hmmm. For the real city feel you would need to be in San Francisco.
As charmed says Los Gatos and Campbell are lively and would be my preference for a night out. They are well connected into San Jose .
Lots to do here outdoors and we love it , we live not far from Santa Teresa county park and do lots of walking/cycling etc .
Traffic can be bad yes especially if you are travelling on your own (ie cant use high occupancy lane) I work in Cupertino in no traffic I can be there in 25mins, in traffic can be up to an hour. So you either leave early or late.
Rent is expensive and yes you are correct in your estimations on cost, although you could get a one bed apartment for cheaper than $2500, I live in a 2 bed 2bath and pay $2400 in south san jose.
I haven't really felt unsafe since living here but the unwritten rule is avoid a lot of the east areas , I have been to them and haven't had any problems but if there is trouble that is usually where it appears to be.
If you want a lively area to live in San Jose then look at Santana Row, you can rent apartments there and its the place for bars etc, we wanted to live nearer to the parks so live about 10 miles away. I would get an apartment though initially and not a house if you are on your own. You can find lots with nice swimming pools and gyms.
Where will you be working? that will have a consideration on your location. If you are an outdoor person you will love it here for climbing I am sure there are lots, Yosemite is 3-4hrs drive away.
If you want a lively area to live in San Jose then look at Santana Row, you can rent apartments there and its the place for bars etc
But:
One doesn't have to be coming from a European city to know a phony wannabe-Euro getup when they see one, with the requisite plastic people that congregate in such a place. It might be lively, but so is Disneyland.
- If you bring up Google Maps downtown San Jose is the area roughly bounded by the 280 freeway to the south, 87 to the west, 880 to the north, and 101 to the east. The south-west corner of that area where highways 280 and 87 meet is the "core" downtown where the high-rises are. The rest of it is mainly residential.
- For the most part San Jose and Santa Clara county are generally very safe, compared to other large cities in the U.S. I'm not sure what you are used to in the U.K. That being said, as already mentioned the area east of downtown where the cheapest homes are is considered to be the most unsafe area. However, there can be pockets of "bad" areas in other parts of the city.
- Regarding traffic patterns in this county, in general the morning rush-hour goes from south to north, and east to west. In the afternoon it is the reverse. This is because most of the large job centers are in the north part of the county, not downtown San Jose. Bring up Google Maps again and look at highway 101. If you trace 101 from the northern edge of the airport all the way to Palo Alto, that is a huge jobs corridor. Also, the area bounded by 101, 880, and 237 is called the "Golden Triangle". This is where many of the big Silicon Valley companies have their headquarters...Intel, Cisco, etc.
- The term "single-family home" in California usually refers to a detached structure that has one household, which can mean either a single person or a family. The owner of the property also owns the land the structure is on. Usually these types of homes have a front and back yard which families with children often prefer. There are also attached single-family homes, also called townhomes, which share the same characteristics but will have shared walls on at least one side with another home. They will often have very small yards or no yards at all. In this area condos and apartments essentially refer to the same thing. Condos are purchased and apartments are rented. In your price range you can afford to rent an apartment or a home, depending on size and location of course. It's up to you what you want, whichever lifestyle more appeals to you.
- Places like Campbell and Los Gatos are not out of the way at all. Depending on traffic conditions you can drive from one end of the county to the other end in under 30 minutes. Most places are reachable by bus or the light rail trolley. In fact, downtown Campbell has a light rail station. They are separate cities but as mentioned you can't often tell when you leave one city and enter another. For example, the most popular indoor mall here (Vally Fair) is actually located on the border of Santa Clara and San Jose. Some of the stores are in one city and some are in the other even though it's the same mall.
One doesn't have to be coming from a European city to know a phony wannabe-Euro getup when they see one, with the requisite plastic people that congregate in such a place. It might be lively, but so is Disneyland.
Disneyland is great :-) ! yes agree with some of the plastic people though, haven't seen as many as some other places but that is certainly where they flock.
One doesn't have to be coming from a European city to know a phony wannabe-Euro getup when they see one, with the requisite plastic people that congregate in such a place. It might be lively, but so is Disneyland.
True, but sometimes it's also nice to see a bit of Hollywood in the Silicon Valley. Compared to the plethora of developers I typically see around the other parts of the valley, its nice to see a bit of eye candy once in a while. It makes me miss my SoCal days!
Agree with the above, I am also from the UK and you wont really find that downtown San Jose has the same 'vibe' as a Uk city ( I am from Liverpool and it was a great night out) downtown SJ hmmm. For the real city feel you would need to be in San Francisco.
As charmed says Los Gatos and Campbell are lively and would be my preference for a night out. They are well connected into San Jose .
Lots to do here outdoors and we love it , we live not far from Santa Teresa county park and do lots of walking/cycling etc .
Traffic can be bad yes especially if you are travelling on your own (ie cant use high occupancy lane) I work in Cupertino in no traffic I can be there in 25mins, in traffic can be up to an hour. So you either leave early or late.
Rent is expensive and yes you are correct in your estimations on cost, although you could get a one bed apartment for cheaper than $2500, I live in a 2 bed 2bath and pay $2400 in south san jose.
I haven't really felt unsafe since living here but the unwritten rule is avoid a lot of the east areas , I have been to them and haven't had any problems but if there is trouble that is usually where it appears to be.
If you want a lively area to live in San Jose then look at Santana Row, you can rent apartments there and its the place for bars etc, we wanted to live nearer to the parks so live about 10 miles away. I would get an apartment though initially and not a house if you are on your own. You can find lots with nice swimming pools and gyms.
Where will you be working? that will have a consideration on your location. If you are an outdoor person you will love it here for climbing I am sure there are lots, Yosemite is 3-4hrs drive away.
Cheers
Tilz, thanks very much for the perspective of a fellow brit. I'm currently living in the southwest of the UK, and whilst I don't live in the biggest city in the world (smaller than liverpool), its big enough that there are things do to do and places to go, so I hope the campbell / los gatos areas would be similar based on what you said.
I'd be working in the north, near 392 on the 101, and could put up with some commuting, but people seem to recommend keeping that to a minimum, which seems reasonable! I suppose if you live south of San Jose and are commuting to cupertino then it must be reasonable to commute from say, campbell to just north of the 101? Or would that be about the same as you?
I'd be working in the north, near 392 on the 101, and could put up with some commuting, but people seem to recommend keeping that to a minimum, which seems reasonable! I suppose if you live south of San Jose and are commuting to cupertino then it must be reasonable to commute from say, campbell to just north of the 101? Or would that be about the same as you?
Assuming you mean exit 392, aka San Tomas Expressway, that's not a bad commute from Campbell. It's around 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and what part of Campbell. No need to get on a freeway. Just take San Tomas all the way up.
Assuming you mean exit 392, aka San Tomas Expressway, that's not a bad commute from Campbell. It's around 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and what part of Campbell. No need to get on a freeway. Just take San Tomas all the way up.
Good to know, thanks!
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