Palo Alto/MV/Sunnyvale (San Jose, Santa Clara: cheap apartments, low crime, neighborhood)

[piggy84]

My wife recently landed a job in Palo Alto, very near to Page mill road and El Camino. I currently work at San Jose near 1st street.
We totally make about 6K per month after taxes and we have our own cars

What is the best place in terms of convenience and finances?
We looked at apartments in Palo Alto. Decent 1-bdrm of about 600-650sqft is a ridiculous figure of 2000-2050$. Is this rate correct?

But another thought is staying at Mountain view for probably abt 300$ lower (is it right?) and still very near to office?

Or maybe Sunnyvale which is another 100$ lower, but the commute is the highest for my wife...

[Azmordean]

Palo Alto is nice but insanely overpriced in my opinion. $2000 for 1br there actually isn't bad, I've seen closer to 2500 in a lot of parts of PA.

Mountain View is a bit cheaper and still quite nice. I live in Mountain View myself and pay in the neighborhood of 2500 for a 2br which is about average. 1br would be a bit less, more like 1800-2k in most places.

Sunnyvale, as you mention, is cheaper still. The further east you go, the cheaper it gets. The west side of Sunnyvale is close enough it probably still would not be a terrible commute for your wife. Your commute will be somewhat reverse, though the vagaries of traffic are unknowable at times .

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Sunnyvale is about in the middle for both of your commutes, don't you think? And price-wise it's not bad, compared to Palo Alto. I moved from Santa Clara in Nov, and I'd recommend Santa Clara, too, but her commute would be much longer than yours. Sunnyvale would be the better compromise, and it's a nice safe city.

Unless either or both of you could take Cal-Train? Then you could look at the Lawrence station in Santa Clara, which is right on the far west side of Santa Clara. And the train is pleasant.

[80skeys]

I've been living in Sunnyvale for three years. I like it. It's very "central" as far as getting to Milpitas or San Jose, and getting up to Mountain View and Palo Alto.

[piggy84]

We have more or less given up the idea of Palo Alto and have decided on either MV or Sunnyvale. Even though Sunnyvale is abt middle, we would prefer a little up north since her commute would be lesser since she would be going with the traffic and I would be going against the traffic.

I was looking at some apts in MV first. I see the apts around California St, Latham st etc are relatively cheaper compared to the rest. Is there any particular reason?

I saw some older threads regarding a similar question, but they are 5-6 years older (Are there areas to avoid in Mountain View? (Atherton: cheap apartments, crime) - City-Data Forum and Areas to Live in Mountain View - Mountain View Forum - TripAdvisor). I get the general feeling that these areas are little more unsafe. Is it right?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I don't know. I always assumed/heard that Mountain View was like Santa Clara or Sunnyvale as far as low crime. I just moved from Santa Clara, lived there for 10 years.

I use spotcrime.com to check out an address for crime.

When I put in Mountain View, CA with no particular address, there was very little crime. When I put in California Street, Mountain View, CA, a ton of stuff showed up all over the city. So, this may not be the best site to use lol! But look for a crime statistics site, if you don't get any posters from Mountain View to answer you.

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

I've been living in Sunnyvale for three years. I like it. It's very "central" as far as getting to Milpitas or San Jose, and getting up to Mountain View and Palo Alto.

I definitely agree. I lived in the Bristol Commons Apartments in Sunnyvale near the Evelyn/Wolfe intersection from 1999-2001 while commuting to the north side of Mountain View (employer was on Independence Avenue). The commute was very reasonable. It is a good central location and it was only about a mile from my apartment to the Murphy Avenue district (essentially downtown Sunnyvale). I liked downtown Mountain View a little better as it had more retail (including two bookstores) and a better variety of restaurants. If budget is a concern, Sunnyvale is likely the best choice. There is Cal Train and light rail access in downtown Sunnyvale. The OP may want to check if it would stop near his wife's work. From Sunnyvale, both will have relatively easy commutes.

[80skeys]

There aren't any areas you need to avoid in Mountain View. You can live anywhere in that town and feel confident in your safety and rest assured your cars aren't going to get broken into or anything like that.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

There aren't any areas you need to avoid in Mountain View. You can live anywhere in that town and feel confident in your safety and rest assured your cars aren't going to get broken into or anything like that.

Not true. I lived in Mountain View for 12 years. Some parts of California between Rengstorff and California and Escuela were a little sketchy. I lived on Rengstorff and would occasionally hear gunshots. There was a good amount of gang activity going on in Rengstorff Park. **Now** it's entirely possible that it's gotten better, but I still wouldn't say it's perfect. I did always feel safe in most parts of Mountain View.

And I should point out that crime happens anywhere, not just in "bad" parts of town.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Not true. I lived in Mountain View for 12 years. Some parts of California between Rengstorff and California and Escuela were a little sketchy. I lived on Rengstorff and would occasionally hear gunshots. There was a good amount of gang activity going on in Rengstorff Park.

I've got friends who live there, I frequently go visit them and I've never seen or heard of this.