Pleasanton or Saratoga? (San Jose, Fremont, Sunnyvale: section 8, rentals, home)

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

As for traffic, in my experience if you think your husband may turn into a commuter - the 85 is horrible. So Saratoga to Sunnyvale would be bleak. I would also live on this side of the bay, over Pleasanton, if the chances are that most o f his industry is on this side b/c he made not stay at the company he's in forever, and need to return to working in the office. I wouldn't want to commute from Pleasanton to SV. My husband has employees who do and they spend a lot of commuting and that's on the train.

if I had 1.9 million I'd go for Mountain View. I know you won't get a mansion for that there, but you can get a respectable home; or the very west end of Sunnyvale. Isn't the Mountain View/Los Altos School district supposed to be good?

Agreed on the commuting/traffic issue. 85 northbound in the mornings is pretty terrible (the direction if you live in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino and work in Mt. View or Palo Alto, say going to Google). OTOH, if you live in Palo Alto, Mt. View, and commute to points south, either on 101 or 85, you will have a pretty livable commute.

If you're talking about MVLA (Mountain View- Los Altos) Union High School District, the two high schools there are very, very good. They pay the highest salaries for teachers in this area.

Elementary schools - Los Altos Elementary schools are all good, Mt. View-Whisman will depend on the neighborhood or particular area of Mt. View.

[BayArea32]

Pleasanton and San Ramon are getting a large influx of Indians who are priced out of Fremont, though both towns are still mostly white. Lots of Chinese origin out here too, but I think Indian dominates slightly. Dublin tends to have more Filipinos, some Blacks, and fresh-off-the-boat indians and Chinese living in townhomes and apts. Danville and areas north are still mostly white and Jewish. Livermore is white and Hispanic. Schools are best in Pleasanton, San Ramon/Danville, followed by Dublin and then Livermore. Pleasanton has the best downtown, followed by Danville and then Livermore (Dublin is all strip malls while San Ramon is mostly suburban lifestyle plazas)

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Agreed on the commuting/traffic issue. 85 northbound in the mornings is pretty terrible (the direction if you live in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino and work in Mt. View or Palo Alto, say going to Google). OTOH, if you live in Palo Alto, Mt. View, and commute to points south, either on 101 or 85, you will have a pretty livable commute.

If you're talking about MVLA (Mountain View- Los Altos) Union High School District, the two high schools there are very, very good. They pay the highest salaries for teachers in this area.

Elementary schools - Los Altos Elementary schools are all good, Mt. View-Whisman will depend on the neighborhood or particular area of Mt. View.

Some of you are obsessing over the commute issue. The OP has said it is not an issue because her husband works mainly from home or when he goes to the office it is NOT during commute time.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

Some of you are obsessing over the commute issue. The OP has said it is not an issue because her husband works mainly from home or when he goes to the office it is NOT during commute time.

As other posters have mentioned - that condition could change so it is a factor that is worth at least some consideration.

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by silverkris

As other posters have mentioned - that condition could change so it is a factor that is worth at least some consideration.

That is true.

[bzmomofthree]

But with SV's current rental situation, if someone can comfortably afford ~$1M plus and they don't wish to be moving for several years, I say shop wisely for areas in the South Bay/Peninsula that are highly likely to sell rather quickly (like Saratoga under $1.9M). And make sure to get a mortgage that would be covered by current rental rates if they ever needed to convert their home to a rental, which should be fairly easy to do here in SV with such high demand for rental homes, low interest rates and the buyer(s) putting 20%+ down. Many desirable homes / neighborhoods here have monthly rental rates of $5K+, which makes renting in SV a very tough decision for many .

I too would check out parts of Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Of course I would also add Campbell, Redwood City, Menlo Park.....oh my . There really are quite a few cities I would look at and not rule out if I were looking to buy or rent right now, depending on the available inventory, my timetable and of course MY own personal finances .

Posters definitely need to do their own due diligence before buying and know what their comfort level is!

>> I too wish we can rent first and then move but for personal reasons, we have decided to just buy now.
We are hoping that since we are looking at good school district neighborhoods, it won't be such a bad investment in the long run.

I like MV but there seems to be no houses on the market with 4 bdrms and 3 baths within our budget.
Campbell and Redwood City are not in consideration because its school district rating is not so good.
So we are currently looking at Pleasanton, Palo Alto(unlikely due to the budget), Los Altos and Saratoga.

I was unaware of the commute problem on 85 northbound in the morning Anybody with experience, would you say that is still better than commuting on 680 from Pleasanton to Sunnyvale?
**My husband just mentioned that he might need to go to the office more often than he originally thought due to team meetings

[bzmomofthree]

I love Pleasanton too!! The schools seem great there and the houses!!! After looking at some houses well under our budget limit with 5-6 bdrms and great big lots with pools, it is really hard looking at houses half the size with no or very limited lawn space in the PA and Los Altos area We are currently living in a pretty big house with 5 bdrms and a pool and a large play area.
If it weren't for my husband working in Sunnyvale, I would move to Pleasanton in a heartbeat..
HOWEVER I am heeding the comments made here about the commuting hell on 680
Looking hard in the south bay area now...

[nagleepark]

Yes, 85 northbound can be bumper-to-bumper, even as late as 10 AM. It isn't always, though. I see it everyday as I take 280 northbound and get off on 85 southbound. I see the ramp backed up onto 280 freeway and I can see the opposite side stuck in bumper-to-bumper.

The 680 southbound turns into the 280 northbound which I take every workday. At 10 AM, the 280 is usually clear but occasionally an accident will cause a big backup.

The 85 northbound is definitely a lot worse than 680 southbound but it is also a lot shorter. If I were going to Sunnyvale, I'd just take surface streets and not bother with 85 northbound. I'd only bother with the 85 northbound if I was going to Mountain View or Palo Alto.

Going home on the 280 southbound/680 northbound is a totally different story, though, unless you wait until way after rush hour. I breeze to work in the morning but it's a total mess going home with backups from nearly one accident per day. Sometimes, it's jammed up until 7 PM with accidents, emergency vehicles and traffic jams.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

Yes, 85 northbound can be bumper-to-bumper, even as late as 10 AM. It isn't always, though. I see it everyday as I take 280 northbound and get off on 85 southbound. I see the ramp backed up onto 280 freeway and I can see the opposite side stuck in bumper-to-bumper.

The 680 southbound turns into the 280 northbound which I take every workday. At 10 AM, the 280 is usually clear but occasionally an accident will cause a big backup.

The 85 northbound is definitely a lot worse than 680 southbound but it is also a lot shorter. If I were going to Sunnyvale, I'd just take surface streets and not bother with 85 northbound. I'd only bother with the 85 northbound if I was going to Mountain View or Palo Alto.

Surface streets such as.. Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. Imagine that, they made a street just for your commute pattern.. but Lawrence Expressway is the real solution. It's super, super busy, but it moves.

[nagleepark]

Yes, Lawrence Expressway.