Santa Cruz vs San Jose (Santa Clara, Cupertino: gated, apartment complex, rental)

[outdoorgirlplus2]

Hello to all,

I have been trolling this forum for awhile now looking for info to assist me, this will be my first post.

My family and I (myself, my son 22, and my daughter 20) will be moving to the area this November when our lease is up here in Florida. My daughter is interested in attending Univer. of Santa Cruz. I am a Nurse and have checked out the local hospitals and will probably windup at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

Both myself and my daughter do not mind driving, depending on which area we wind-up in.

My question is: Which area is easiest to find safe/affordable housing? I have read here on these forums that Santa Cruz is mostly home owners. I will be looking to rent an apartment as this will probably not be our last stop on our road to life so to speak.

Can anyone recommend a particular complex for me to check out? Ideally I would be looking to rent a 3br at a safe but affordable gated apartment complex. I estimate I'll be making approx. 100k per year.

Can anyone also assist me in what areas I should avoid at all cost?

Forgot to mention incase it wasn't obvious. I would ideally be looking for an area inbetween both, but like I said, neither one of us minds commuting.

Any help to get my research started would be very appreciated. Regards to all.

[Luke9686]

Santa Cruz is a very nice area. Check Craigslist.com for rental prices. I am not completely familiar with that area, but it seems to me most of the trouble spots are along Ocean Ave and by the Boardwalk.

A quick search on Craigslist brought up a few for under $2K a month, if you move it up to $2500 a month there are a lot more options with 3 bedrooms. These were in Santa Cruz. In San Jose your options will increase. Stay away from East San Jose and parts around Hamilton Ave (near Cambell). Anything West of Saratoga Ave will be very nice. Most parts of Santa Clara are nice. Cupertino is nice but expensive. Same with Los Gatos and Saratoga.

The problem with living in one area and commuting to another is the road itself. Highway 17 into Santa Cruz is a very winding mountain road, mostly two lanes. Throw in some rain and it wont be fun. People drive like idiots on that road. Put a wreck in there and it is easily a two hour commute.

Maybe your daughter wouldn't mind attending San Jose State or Santa Clara University??

[outdoorgirlplus2]

Originally Posted by Luke9686

Santa Cruz is a very nice area. Check Craigslist.com for rental prices. I am not completely familiar with that area, but it seems to me most of the trouble spots are along Ocean Ave and by the Boardwalk.

A quick search on Craigslist brought up a few for under $2K a month, if you move it up to $2500 a month there are a lot more options with 3 bedrooms. These were in Santa Cruz. In San Jose your options will increase. Stay away from East San Jose and parts around Hamilton Ave (near Cambell). Anything West of Saratoga Ave will be very nice. Most parts of Santa Clara are nice. Cupertino is nice but expensive. Same with Los Gatos and Saratoga.

The problem with living in one area and commuting to another is the road itself. Highway 17 into Santa Cruz is a very winding mountain road, mostly two lanes. Throw in some rain and it wont be fun. People drive like idiots on that road. Put a wreck in there and it is easily a two hour commute.

Maybe your daughter wouldn't mind attending San Jose State or Santa Clara University??

My daughter hasn't really thought about any other schools at this point. She has had her mind set on UCSC because of the Oceanography/Marine Biology program they have but I will mention them to her and see if they have what she is looking for. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question and have a great day.

[MichaelinWA]

I seem to remember some fairly new apartment complexes in Scotts Valley. I don't have any current feel for cost or availability (I moved away from San Jose a few years ago), but the location might be nice.

I agree with the above cautionary thoughts on Highway 17. Not sure I would want to do that commute, day in and day out, but a lot of people do (Santa Cruz to SJ in the morning).

[JakeDog]

Santa cruz is a small coastal town and San Jose is an unattractive sprawling suburban "city" (not really a city in any true sense, but very large). Given the choice, I'd say SC is far safer, but SJ has pockets that are very safe. SJ is simply too big to generalize in terms of safety, but SC is almost all nice.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by JakeDog

(not really a city in any true sense, but very large).

In any sense? Way to invalidate everything you've said.

[JakeDog]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

In any sense? Way to invalidate everything you've said.

Sorry. It is a "city" in the sense that it has crime and traffic.

[MichaelinWA]

It certainly does, but similarly sized cities in the U.S. tend to have even more of the former, based on national crime statistics. It is indeed difficult to generalize about such a large and diverse place, though.

Originally Posted by JakeDog

Sorry. It is a "city" in the sense that it has crime and traffic.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by JakeDog

Sorry. It is a "city" in the sense that it has crime and traffic.

Not really a city:


* American Musical Theatre of San Jose
* Artsopolis
* Ballet San Jose
* Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
* Children's Musical Theater San Jose
* City Lights Theater Company
* Living Tomorrow
* MACLA
* Mexican Heritage Plaza
* Opera San Jose
* Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium
* San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art
* San Jose Museum of Art
* San Jose Museum of Quilt & Textiles
* San Jose Semaphore
* San Jose Stage Company
* San Jose Taiko
* Silicon Valley Arts Coalition
* Symphony Silicon Valley
* The Tech Museum of Innovation
* Arab Film Festival
* Christmas in the Park
* Cinema San Pedro/Cinema St. James
* Cinequest Film Festival
* Downtown Ice
* FanimeCon
* Fiestas Patrias
* Music in the Other Park
* Music in the Park
* Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon: San Jose
* San Jose Cinco de Mayo Parade
* San Jose International Mariachi Festival
* San Jose Jazz Festival
* San Jose Jewish Film Festival
* San Jose Obon Festival
* San Jose Pride
* South First Fridays
* Story Road Tamale Festival
* Tapestry Arts Festival
* The Metro Silicon Valley Marathon
* The NBC 11 Festival for Indepenence
* Zero One
* San Jose Earthquakes
* San Jose Stealth
* San Jose SaberCats
* San Jose Sharks
* San Jose State University
* Lincoln School of Law
* National Hispanic University
* MLK Library
* Metro Silicon Valley
* Metroblogging San Jose
* San Jose Inside
* San Jose Mercury
* San Jose Business Journal
* Soft Underbelly of San Jose
* The Wave
* Alum Rock Park
* Happy Hollow
* Chinese Cultural Garden
* Japanese Friendship Garden
* Portuguese Historical Museum
* Winchester House
* Peralta Adobe
* Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph
* Lick Observatory
* Sikh Gurdwara

Don't let your obvious bias keep you blind to the facts, "Dog."

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

Not really a city:

Looks like the corner of Santa Clara and Almaden Boulevard. Yes?