Relocating to Mountain View from Maryland

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

East San Jose. Anything near McLaughlin or King, between Alum Rock & Tully = lock your doors and drive away as fast as you possibly can (it improves quite a bit in the hills).

Mean World Syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sonarrat]

I wouldn't rent an apartment there (or anywhere) sight unseen, but there are no major centers of crime like Middlefield Road in RWC or Grimmer & Blacow in Fremont.

Mean World Syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorry, but I say what I say from extensive experience in the area.

[Luke9686]

Mountain View has no real bad areas. However, I would not rent a place sight unseen like someone mentioned. I wouldn't do that anywhere.

I also agree with the mean world syndrom. Even thought some of east S.J. is the less desirable area, it is not as bad as many make it out to be. My small town in Iowa of 200,000 has worse parts than east S.J. Just use common sense.

[Alexus]

Originally Posted by sapph

I'm married. Wife doesn't work. Gross income will likely be between 60-70K. Currently make 52K and current rent is about 800 - one bedroom. Job is in Mountain View 'off of 101'. Would prefer a short commute, but currently commute about 60 minutes, so I can handle it.

Long story short, can I expect to find a decent one bedroom apartment within 60 minutes of Mountain View for under 1K?

When considering places to live in Mountain, remember that the strip between Hwy 101 and Central Expressway is not considered a good area. The strip between Central and El Camino is a little better. The area from El Camino to Hwy 280 is much better and gets more affluent and pricey the closer you get to 280 and beyond.

So generally, if you are looking to live near 280, up and down the peninsula, this is considered the affluent part. 101 and surrounding areas are not affluent, less pricey, and have more crime.

[sapph]

How does that apply west of San Antonio when Central Expressway turns into Alma St?

In any case, areas between Hwy 101 and Central Expressway east of San Antonio and west of the intersection have now been marked.

Google Maps

[Alexus]

You're getting into Palo Alto territory at that point, which is all expensive. The dividing line in PA of course is 101.

Same distinction applies to Sunnyvale as well as Santa Clara.

[sc101]

70k is consider below average income for a single person in South Bay area, and you said that's for both you and your wife? I can't change the riduculous inflation here and how deceiving the salary will look versus quality of life you're really getting, but take my advice and think hard. I have been here for 14 years, single, making $130K and still feel poor.

[sapph]

Really? I've done several cost of living index calculations, and they all seem to point to 70K as the required salary to maintain my current standards of living.

Additionally, apartment prices in Mountain View don't seem that much more expensive than where I live now.

Perhaps you live above your means?

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

Mean World Syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great find krudmonk! Let 'em eat cake