Moving from Philadelphia to work in Cupertino (San Jose, San Francisco: rent, home)

[rob376]

I am moving in the next few months from Philadelphia, PA to California. I will be working in Cupertino for roughly 30 months. My biggest decision as of right now is where to live! Since I am only going to be in the area for 2-3 years I would like to get the most out of it. Basically I am looking for any advice on where to live around this area. I am a 25 year old male, very active, outdoors, gym, and would like an active social scene of some sort around. I would prefer to live somewhere I would enjoy and have a commute of 30-mins to an hour as opposed to living right next to work. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[crescent22]

Los Gatos

[silverkris]

What's your budget and rent expectations? Suffice to say that it's going to be a lot more expensive here than what you're used to paying in Philly, so that might have to be factored into location. I take it you will be working for Apple?

Los Gatos, as mentioned above, is really expensive, it's a rather upscale town, whose population tends to be older and more family-oriented.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by rob376

I am moving in the next few months from Philadelphia, PA to California. I will be working in Cupertino for roughly 30 months. My biggest decision as of right now is where to live! Since I am only going to be in the area for 2-3 years I would like to get the most out of it. Basically I am looking for any advice on where to live around this area. I am a 25 year old male, very active, outdoors, gym, and would like an active social scene of some sort around. I would prefer to live somewhere I would enjoy and have a commute of 30-mins to an hour as opposed to living right next to work. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

You really need to let us know your rent budget. The rents here are horrific. I grew up in Philly. I know it's not a super cheap town like some places, but the cost of living there is definitely cheap compared to here. See the other thread in this forum where a poster is getting her rent on a 1BR jacked up to $1620 per month....and $1620 for a 1BR is not that unusual...you can pay even more than that pretty easily.

Rent going up... to move or not to move??

[gizmo980]

As the others said above, we definitely need to know your budget first - also how far you're willing to commute. Without knowing those factors, I'll just throw out my first thoughts... Mountain View (vibrant downtown, lots of outdoorsy types), Campbell (cute, convenient, and less expensive than neighboring towns), Palo Alto (very expensive but hip), and downtown San Jose (eh, read the other threads on that). And if you don't mind a really long commute, Santa Cruz or San Francisco would be the most "fun" places to live IMO.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

You really need to let us know your rent budget. The rents here are horrific. I grew up in Philly. I know it's not a super cheap town like some places, but the cost of living there is definitely cheap compared to here. See the other thread in this forum where a poster is getting her rent on a 1BR jacked up to $1620 per month....and $1620 for a 1BR is not that unusual...you can pay even more than that pretty easily.

Rent going up... to move or not to move??

Yep... that's my thread, and I'm still reeling from the idea of paying that much! And I'm a long-time Bay Area resident, too (on & off since 1983). So I can only imagine the sticker-shock of a newbie, especially since I know Philly well - being that I'm originally from DC, and my mother is a Philly native. It's not exactly CHEAP there, but it's still nowhere near Bay Area prices.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by rob376

I am moving in the next few months from Philadelphia, PA to California. I will be working in Cupertino for roughly 30 months. My biggest decision as of right now is where to live! Since I am only going to be in the area for 2-3 years I would like to get the most out of it. Basically I am looking for any advice on where to live around this area. I am a 25 year old male, very active, outdoors, gym, and would like an active social scene of some sort around. I would prefer to live somewhere I would enjoy and have a commute of 30-mins to an hour as opposed to living right next to work. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Are you working for Apple? If so, I'd recommend living in SF and taking the free Apple shuttle to work every day. Yes, it is further than 30 minutes from work and yes, SF is very expensive. However, its really the only place I'd recommend living when you're in your mid-20s and single. Honestly, I like living in Mountain View now, as I'm in my mid-30s, married and have a young baby. However, I'd be bored out of my mind if I had done this 10 years ago and the dating life in the Silicon Valley does suck for guys. There's a reason why they call it Man Jose.

SF is a different story, especially if you live somewhere like the Marina, Pac Heights or Russian Hill. Very vibrant social scene, lots of attractive women and probably more like minded people to yourself.

[ccm123]

I would pick Los Gatos, or Mountain View, both have nice Downtown areas with good nightlife.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Yep... that's my thread, and I'm still reeling from the idea of paying that much! And I'm a long-time Bay Area resident, too (on & off since 1983). So I can only imagine the sticker-shock of a newbie, especially since I know Philly well - being that I'm originally from DC, and my mother is a Philly native. It's not exactly CHEAP there, but it's still nowhere near Bay Area prices.

Yep...I know it was your thread. Rents and home prices here are absolutley unfair. We have overly strict land use regulations and selfish NIMBYs to thank for that (although I will concede land here is somewhat limited).

DC is more expensive than Philly, I think...but it's still cheaper than here...DC is relatively flat, so it's easier for that metro area to sprawl out than it is for the Bay.

Philly has always been relatively reasonable compared to the other major East Coast cities. Higher than average nationally, but not crazily so. The city proper has its share of issues (very corrupt, Detroit-like city government). But overall the Philly metro area is a pretty good value for what it offers. (That said, I will never move back there. I am a weather wimp...and I hate that hard edge they have on the East Coast).

[tsx39]

If cost of living and commute isn't an issue, I'd go with Palo Alto. I like Campbell, too, and as others have said, it's not quite as spendy as nearby places, and the commute to Cupertino isn't bad at all.