tell me why we shouldn't move to san jose (San Francisco: apartment, rental market)

[jo_mama]

my husband is a brilliant IT guy. we have decided to try to relocate to san jose to broaden his options (currently st. louis - no options).

what we like about st louis . . . there are lots of fun things to do here with our family (2 kiddos) - art museum, amazing zoo, lots of events all year, etc etc, and most are completely free. our summers are exhausting and magical with all the things to do. fall here is gorgeous, for a week or so. we are close to much farming, so great local produce.

what we dislike about st. louis . . . the weather. 100 degree range, and sometimes up to 50 degree change in a single day. winters are miserably cold and summers miserably hot. and the humidity! tornadoes in the spring. crappy job market. middle of the country so we're far from anything awesome. low cost of living (seems like a pro) means we can live comfortably on a salary that makes things like vacations very expensive (family of four can do okay on $40,000/year).

so, for us, the idea of moving to a place with lots of jobs and amazing weather seems like a no-brainer. tell me what we are missing. tell me all the reasons we shouldn't be there.

[jbunniii]

The main obvious downside is the cost of living. A family of four may well live more comfortably (e.g. in terms of size of house and land) on $40k in St. Louis than on $200k in San Jose. However, I can't think of any other reason to prefer St. Louis over San Jose. As you said, the weather there is terrible most of the year, and you are not going to find an assortment of IT jobs comparable to the Bay Area anywhere else.

[gizmo980]

Yeah, cost of living is the biggie! But the salaries are probably much better here, and obviously IT jobs are plentiful if you've got the skills & experience. I'm not in the field myself (I am a librarian), so can't tell you exactly how the job market is right now... but if he can line up a good job, it would likely pay enough to get by here. Will you be working too? And how old are the kids?

Would you be looking for a more "family-friendly" suburban type of neighborhood, and do you see yourself being willing to commute a fair distance? If so, you can find slightly more affordable housing in the east bay, like around Pleasanton, Union City, Fremont, etc. It's still going to be more expensive than St. Louis, I imagine, but considerably less than San Jose or Silicon Valley. To give you an idea, I pay $1710/mo for a one-bedroom apartment in SJ, and that is considered a good deal!! Buying a home large enough for a family (in a decent part of town) will easily run you $700K+, and buying a 2-3br condo would be at LEAST $500-700K. So yeah, it ain't cheap.

That being said, we do have fantastic weather - a bit hot for me since I'm mostly from San Francisco & the north Peninsula, but compared to the rest of the country it is wonderful. Rarely gets colder than 35-45 degrees in the winter, and even when it's hot we don't get that east/south humidity. I am originally from Maryland, so know exactly what that feels like! We have all the basic amenities and activities you could imagine, a nice amount of cultural diversity, and the beach isn't far without traffic. You can also get to the ski slopes in about 4 hours, LA in 5-6, wine country in 2-3, and SF in under an hour from San Jose. So there's no shortage of day & weekend trips if you get bored, lol. Anything else? Hmmm.

[gizmo980]

P.S. The public schools here are hit & miss, so I'd recommend checking on them (i.e. greatschools.net) before settling on a neighborhood - unless you're willing to go private, in which case I can recommend some excellent ones on the Peninsula.

[kir_royale]

Cost of living is going to kick your teeth in and spit in your face.

Do you want to own a house? Do you want to own a house with good schools that isn't a 2 hour commute to jobs? You're going to have to pay at least 3/4 of a million dollars. You will be competing for housing with other tech workers who have been cashing in their options, while you're just starting with a high cost of living salary.

[jo_mama]

to answer some questions . . .

i don't think we expect our standard of living to be better or worse - just different. we prefer to live simply. we'll happily give up a bigger house to be able to be outside more.

i am an artist, but right now i don't work out of the house. our youngest turns 4 in the summer and i will likely put off full-time employment until he starts pre-k or kindergarten. i have a part time gig waiting for me in santa cruz if i want it, so we might choose to live on the south end of the bay.

schools are important, and it's definitely something we will consider before moving. our oldest goes to a private/catholic school that we love, but i'd prefer a good public school to expose her to more diversity and a larger range of interests.

we are used to a 20min-hour commute in st. louis, so we definitely don't have to be in the middle of everything. but we are feeling adventurous, so maybe we could try something more urban? won't really know until we get out there. public transportation here is laughable, but we'd love to use it if san jose has a decent system.

we are home-owners now, and would be completely happy renting for a few years. we've crunched the numbers and are looking for $3000/month price range perhaps a little out of town. that would let us save up in case we got crazy enough to buy.

follow up questions for anyone still reading . . .

any areas we should definitely avoid in terms of schools?

since i will be looking for a catholic church there, does anyone have suggestions in that regard? looking for a strong community with youth groups.

tell me about earthquakes. as lifelong mid westerners we are terrified of the things, i imagine as scared as you might be of tornadoes. and yet, nobody ever mentions them. are they really no big deal?

are there any renting horrors we should know about? specifically about renting laws, like landlords having the ability to double your rent on a whim or that they don't have to return security deposits?

how is the art scene in san jose? are there many galleries? public art? art fairs? festivals? we have many art events, and i would definitely miss it.

thanks for all your feedback!

[jo_mama]

and tell me how it works with public schools in san jose - are we assigned to whichever is closest to us, or do we get to choose where they go within the district?

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by jo_mama

and tell me how it works with public schools in san jose - are we assigned to whichever is closest to us, or do we get to choose where they go within the district?

Assigned. Not necessarily by closest but generally. San Jose has the worst schools in the area, mostly mediocre at best but there's a few neighborhoods with good schools. It also is relatively affordable, at least in comparison to other South Bay cities.

[eastwestcoast]

Brief response to some of your questions:

Originally Posted by jo_mama

we are used to a 20min-hour commute in st. louis, so we definitely don't have to be in the middle of everything. but we are feeling adventurous, so maybe we could try something more urban? won't really know until we get out there. public transportation here is laughable, but we'd love to use it if san jose has a decent system.

Unless you live very close to work, you could easily be commuting more than 20 min each way. The freeways are packed during rush hour, so expect the estimated times on Google Maps or other sites to be significantly quicker than reality. Public transit is ok for certain routes. Caltrain is fast, but it is a linear route that is more for traveling up the Peninsula and into SF than for intra-city transit. Buses and the VTA light rail are very slow.

Originally Posted by jo_mama

we are home-owners now, and would be completely happy renting for a few years. we've crunched the numbers and are looking for $3000/month price range perhaps a little out of town. that would let us save up in case we got crazy enough to buy.

$3000/month may be all right for what you're looking for (as long as you mean it that you're okay downsizing and are flexible with location). The further you get to the south and east from San Jose, the less expensive things will be. Caltrain goes as far south as Gilroy with a few stops between there and SJ, so that's one option if work is near a station further up the line.

Originally Posted by jo_mama

tell me about earthquakes. as lifelong mid westerners we are terrified of the things, i imagine as scared as you might be of tornadoes. and yet, nobody ever mentions them. are they really no big deal?

No, unless you are living in an ancient shack, any home should be up to code for earthquakes. It is always funny hearing concerns of people not from earthquake-prone areas because, IMO, tornadoes and hurricanes are much scarier than earthquakes in regions that require buildings to be retrofitted anyway.

Originally Posted by jo_mama

are there any renting horrors we should know about? specifically about renting laws, like landlords having the ability to double your rent on a whim or that they don't have to return security deposits?

Not a horror story per say, but before my wife and I moved out east, our one bedroom apartment in the south bay raised in rent from under $1500/mo to almost $2000/mo in less than two years. Then when we moved, our building kept most of our deposit for miscellaneous "cleaning" charges even though we meticulously cleaned our apartment before moving. I am sure worse things can happen, but be aware that the high-demand rental market means landlords have the upper hand... just be sure to fully read your lease and know what you're getting into.

Originally Posted by jo_mama

how is the art scene in san jose? are there many galleries? public art? art fairs? festivals? we have many art events, and i would definitely miss it.

Don't know much about this, but there certainly is some art scene. There is probably more going on in San Francisco because it tends to have the most cultural venues in the Bay Area while San Jose is more tech companies and suburban sprawl, but it isn't a dead city by any means and you can always travel elsewhere in area if you feel deprived of cultural amenities.

[zeebo1]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

P.S. The public schools here are hit & miss, so I'd recommend checking on them (i.e. greatschools.net) before settling on a neighborhood - unless you're willing to go private, in which case I can recommend some excellent ones on the Peninsula.

Hi. My daughter is only 1 year but we plan to put her in a good daycare or Montessori. Can you recommend some good places?