Offers in Palo Alto or Los Gatos, where would you live?

[dburbs1975]

Originally Posted by Jkec

I know it's been hopelessly long, but now I'm so curious what you meant by this! The tone doesn't translate, unless it was pure sarcasm over a perceived bad decision.

it just was what it was. no point to read too much into it.

I'm glad you're doing well here there's lots of fun things to do, and mostly mild weather to do it in.

[Jkec]

Originally Posted by dburbs1975

it just was what it was. no point to read too much into it.

I'm glad you're doing well here there's lots of fun things to do, and mostly mild weather to do it in.

Then I suppose I don't see he point. We will certainly miss the weather when we move down south.

[mossly]

I love this post, because it just goes to show that even when City Data posters are unanimous about something, it doesn't mean we're correct. Like any resource, take this one with a grain of salt.

We are in the same boat, OP, with buying a house. We're not particularly young, but we are new to this income bracket, and a lack of downpayment is really holding us back. Even if you don't live extravagantly - and we certainly don't - it's a challenge to save that kind of money. Especially while you're paying pricey and ever-increasing rent in the meantime. It's not something I ever discuss with anyone outside the Bay Area, though, because they'd never get it.

I cringe at the additional taxes I pay over someone with the same income who has a mortgage interest deduction, but I'm hardly starving in the street here, so I try to keep the whining about it to a minimum. What actually bothers me more is that I would like to get a pet, but pet-friendly rental housing for a family is so very hard to find around here. It feels quite demeaning to be nearly 40 and a productive member of society, and not be allowed to get a darn cat.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by mossly

I love this post, because it just goes to show that even when City Data posters are unanimous about something, it doesn't mean we're correct. Like any resource, take this one with a grain of salt.

We are in the same boat, OP, with buying a house. We're not particularly young, but we are new to this income bracket, and a lack of downpayment is really holding us back. Even if you don't live extravagantly - and we certainly don't - it's a challenge to save that kind of money. Especially while you're paying pricey and ever-increasing rent in the meantime. It's not something I ever discuss with anyone outside the Bay Area, though, because they'd never get it.

I cringe at the additional taxes I pay over someone with the same income who has a mortgage interest deduction, but I'm hardly starving in the street here, so I try to keep the whining about it to a minimum. What actually bothers me more is that I would like to get a pet, but pet-friendly rental housing for a family is so very hard to find around here. It feels quite demeaning to be nearly 40 and a productive member of society, and not be allowed to get a darn cat.

Move to Texas and you could own an entire mansion and An animal shelter for your income

[Jkec]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

Move to Texas and you could own an entire mansion and An animal shelter for your income

But then, of course, you would have to also be happy to live in Texas

[Jkec]

As another update (again, for those who read old threads and might wonder), we bought and moved in to a charming starter home over the summer. After hefty neighborhood research and reconnaissance we centered our search in Campbell, Willow Glen and east Los Gatos, though ELG was bottom of the list due to lack of walkable neighborhoods in our price point. We briefly considered Santa Cruz but scrapped it because it would be another shuttle situation, and part of the point of moving was to trade the shuttle for a more flexible commute.

It's a big lifestyle shift, though neither my husband nor I would say it's exponentially easier or more comfortable than the shuttle commute to SF. That was actually surprising to me. The other benefits and drawbacks were what I expected, but the commute swap hasn't been nearly so impactful as we thought it would be. I think that largely has to do with the simplicity and straightforwardness of being beholden to a shuttle schedule, vs. the self-discipline and energy required to keep oneself on a car/bike commuting schedule. Apples and oranges.

We are both incredibly glad we got to live in SF for close to two years, and I think we would have been happy to stay longer. I do miss the weather, but have been pleasantly surprised with the short heat peak (this is key), nightly 20-30° drop and already some cooler days. I think that it will overall be much milder than I was anticipating. We plan to stay in this house for 5-7 years max, so at this point our 'Bay Area move' story is essentially complete and we are settled until we (A) relocate to another region, or (B) move to a more permanent home.

So much for moving away before the kid started preschool! I get the feeling this happens to Bay Area tech employees a lot. We haven't closed the door on future relocations, but for now at least my husband is still very happy at his company and has no desire to move on in the near future.

Thanks again for the thoughts and suggestions. The interesting thing about crowd-sourcing a decision process is that it helps clarify your own feelings through how you react to others' opinions. I was (and still am) very surprised to see a near-universal negative reaction to the idea of choosing San Francisco under these circumstances (both here and in person), as it not only worked very well for us, but we knew a great many shuttle commuters in the city who had no qualms with it. I suppose the tech shuttle experience is so specific that it's hard to picture it working well unless you've done it yourself.

[RussellMoon]

We have lived in Los Gatos for 10 years. I used to live in Palo Alto and Mountain View. Los Gatos is heads and shoulders above Palo Alto in terms of quality of life. I feel like we are in our own private community in a corner of the Silicon Valley away from the hustle and bustle of the rat race. My husband works in Cupertino and the commute isn't bad. We are up against the mountains and walking distance to our adorable, historic downtown. We have a beautiful walking trail that runs throughout the town and neighboring towns. We have a sense of community and many town events year round. The homes are well maintained and we have many trees and parks. I love Lake Vasona. It feels like the country in the middle of the town. There are free concerts three days a week in the summer. Palo Alto felt very congested, crowded and competitive. Los Gatos feels laid back to me as far as Silicon Valley goes.

[JohnSoCal]

We rented an apartment in downtown Los Gatos for 3 years and loved the location. We could just walk out the door to restaurants etc.