Moving from NYC to the peninsula with job in redwood city. (San Jose: apartment, rental)

[ayoitzrimz]

Hi Everyone!

I am on the cusp of accepting an offer in redwood city CA. Coming from NYC even I was amazed at the rental prices in redwood. What do people who work there do? Where do they find affordable housing? What is the minimum household income in your opinion to live a comfortable life (define comfortable: a small house for a DINK couple with a dog so even a small yard would be nice, and being able to afford the basics such as a dinner out once a week, a movie, etc. We are not big spenders but prefer not to put all our income towards housing of course).

Right now, I pay $1600 for a 1250 sqft 2 BR apartment in a second floor of a private house. That in NYC is considered a steal if it was in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, etc. Alas we had to go to Staten Island which means 1-1.5 hours daily commute to midtown door-to-door. Just so you get a reference of where I'm coming from.

So, what can you tell me about living near enough to redwood city to keep my commute to under an hour on average and living in a nice suburban neighborhood? Willing to consider both driving and public transit since we have a car but take public transit daily here.

Also, pet friendliness in that area? demographics? any jewish communities? We assimilate pretty well into most neighborhoods (lived in 2 predominantly italian neighborhoods here as well as a chinese neighborhood) so we are not concerned with a thriving jewish community but it would be nice to know there is some population in the area.

Thanks!

[ayoitzrimz]

Note: I was looking at some areas by Fremont but from experience I know that having to cross a bridge / tunnel as part of your commute is a recipe for disaster with the way they can bottleneck in the event of an accident or something.

[humboldtrat]

There's no way getting around it, housing is expensive in the Bay Area. I would look at Redwood City, San Carlos or the Redwood Shore section of Redwood City (where Oracle and Entertainment Arts are located). It's just about all nice middle to upper middle class suburbia. A commuter train caltrain.com runs between San Francisco and San Jose. A 1 bed apt runs about $1700 - $1800 a month in the area. Cheaper housing is possible outside the Bay Area with a long commute but as you mentioned, crossing bridges ($5 toll one way) can have lousy traffic congestion.

There is a Jewish community in the area. Beth Jacob | Home is in Redwood City. There is a Jewish Community Center in Foster City and one in Palo Alto. Fitness Center, Swim Lessons, Camps, Preschool, Jewish Life: PJCC

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

How much were you spending on commuting in NY? Why don't you add that to what your rent was. I'm guessing around $200 each per month = $400. Add that to your $1600 and now you're at $2000.

You would have so much more time to play if you moved right to Redwood City. That would be my vote.

Another option would be to move to another town along the Caltrain line. You could even live in downtown San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale - all the way up to Redwood City.

http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekdaytimetable.html

Looks like it takes about 45 minutes from Santa Clara station to Redwood City station. Santa Clara is nice and safe, pretty, suburban. I'm thinking you might enjoy living right in downtown SJ, though, if you were going to bother with commuting - might as well be somewhere more fun.

But, seriously, if you lived right in Redwood City, you'd have hours more to play every day. Commuting is no fun.

[never-more]

$1800 is enough to rent in Redwood City. Best part about is that your pretty much midway between both San Francisco and San Jose and their amenities. Living close to work, you'll have a lot of time that's normally being spent on commuting. Welcome to the Bay.