Why is the Santa Clara/San Jose/Campbell area so awful? (San Mateo: middle-class, low crime)

[Jean Paul Getty]

Originally Posted by NYMTman

Los Gatos is nice, but otherwise the South Bay is a less interesting Los Angeles. Like Phoenix, but 5x as expensive. Like Salt Lake City, but without the spectacular mountain backdrop, and also 5x as expensive.

I'm forced to work in Santa Clara. I live at home in Menlo park. I was so excited because I thought I could work in Palo Alto but I didn't get that job. I got the same one in Santa Clara

[NewbieHere]

Originally Posted by Jean Paul Getty

6 mile vs 19.7 mile commute. Who wants a 20 mile commute? It'll be about 45 minutes and thats nuts.Plus I'm familiar with the Palo Alto area so the job will be 50x easier.
How will I deal with the 100 degree days and blazing sun in Santa Clara? I guarantee you I'll get skin cancer. They'll probably make deliver in the barrio.

I'm surprised that you get a job working in Palo Alto with that logic. If you can't deal with it, please leave.

[NewbieHere]

Originally Posted by Jean Paul Getty

I'm forced to work in Santa Clara. I live at home in Menlo park. I was so excited because I thought I could work in Palo Alto but I didn't get that job. I got the same one in Santa Clara

Ah a millennial still live at home.

[Jean Paul Getty]

Originally Posted by rodentraiser

East side of San Jose isn't so hot, over by Story and White, but it's still not nearly as bad as ghettos in LA.

If you're hot, go over the hill to Santa Cruz. San Jose can get hot, but so can anywhere on the Peninsula, even San Francisco. On the upside, most people in San Jose have air conditioning, something buildings in San Francisco don't have.

I can't move. I can only afford to stay in the area by living at home. I was crushed when I was offered a SF job instead of of Palo Alto. I should have gone with SF over Santa Clara. The climate is 100x better.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Jean Paul Getty

Why is the Santa Clara/San Jose/Campbell area so awful? It's got the heat, ghettos, and traffic of LA, without any of the interesting things to do. It's basically a morbidly obese overpriced suburb that forces you to take clogged freeways to get anywhere. Why can't it be a regal/dignified place like SF/SF peninsula where you don't get skin cancer by walking outside? At least there you don't have awful traffic and hideous sprawl. I don't see why people even bother paying so much to live in San Jose. Even the east bay is better. It's on par with Fresno.

Posters on this forum are generally honest about the area's drawbacks, but your hyperbole is not appreciated.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Jean Paul Getty

I'm upset because I'm forced to go to the South Bay. The only advantage I see is the fact I can still attend sjsu once I get more a more consistent schedule. I kind of respect that but I don't know.... San Jose doesn't feel like home to me. I feel more connected to the peninsula and I'm disappointed about not being able to work there. Plus the commute going south is going to be brutal on 101. If the tech bubble bursts will the traffic clear up?

Honestly, if this is your worst problem in life, then you don't really have much to worry about. If this isn't a troll thread, then it really sounds like you've been living in a bubble.

I can somewhat commiserate with the traffic, but I would not expect it to get better. If the economy crashes, it might get better to a very small degree, but I would never ever count on it. And if the economy's bad, you might have much bigger worries, like trying to hang onto your job.

If you can't afford the real estate here, then make plans on moving to a cheaper metro area. That's what a lot of young people are doing. And then you'll find out what hot summers (and cold winters) really feel like. Pretty much everywhere else in the U.S. has less mild weather than coastal California. Don't waste time and energy complaining. As much as I think the insane real estate prices here are unfair (because they're kept artificially high with zoning regulations that restrict new housing supply), they're not going to change.

[Jean Paul Getty]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Honestly, if this is your worst problem in life, then you don't really have much to worry about. If this isn't a troll thread, then it really sounds like you've been living in a bubble.

I can somewhat commiserate with the traffic to some degree, but I would not expect it to get better. If the economy crashes, it might get better by a very small amount, but I would never ever count on it. And if the economy's bad, you might have much bigger worries, like trying to hang onto your job.

If you can't afford the real estate here, then make plans on moving to a cheaper metro area. That's what a lot of young people are doing. And then you'll find out what hot summers (and cold winters) really feel like. Pretty much everywhere else in the U.S. has less mild weather than coastal California. Don't waste time and energy complaining. As much as I think the insane real estate prices here are unfair (because they're kept artificially high with zoning regulations that restrict new housing supply), they're not going to change.

Nah my job is disconnected from the economy. I work in government so im very safe. My plan is to live at home indefinitely. Maybe one day during a down turn I can buy a 500 square foot condo in San Jose (that's a possibility). I also don't feel like leaving because I have to take care of my mom and aunt.
I'd rather give them some money than pay for some guys mortgage/Lexus payment.

[Local123]

Troll

[dogandcat]

Originally Posted by Jean Paul Getty

Why is the Santa Clara/San Jose/Campbell area so awful? It's got the heat, ghettos, and traffic of LA, without any of the interesting things to do. It's basically a morbidly obese overpriced suburb that forces you to take clogged freeways to get anywhere. Why can't it be a regal/dignified place like SF/SF peninsula where you don't get skin cancer by walking outside? At least there you don't have awful traffic and hideous sprawl. I don't see why people even bother paying so much to live in San Jose. Even the east bay is better. It's on par with Fresno.

Oh boy... why so much of hating...

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by Jean Paul Getty

Why is the Santa Clara/San Jose/Campbell area so awful? It's got the heat, ghettos, and traffic of LA, without any of the interesting things to do. It's basically a morbidly obese overpriced suburb that forces you to take clogged freeways to get anywhere. Why can't it be a regal/dignified place like SF/SF peninsula where you don't get skin cancer by walking outside? At least there you don't have awful traffic and hideous sprawl. I don't see why people even bother paying so much to live in San Jose. Even the east bay is better. It's on par with Fresno.

It's got the heat? Look, if you can't stand a place that spends most of the year between 68 and 85, then you really need to stick close to the coast. It's only a small percentage of days that go above 90, and it's a very rare day indeed that we see triple digits. Phoenix this isn't.

Also, in what way is Burlingame, a city on the peninsula, dignified and regal? Or South SF?

Santa Clara County has real flaws--sprawl, rising crime--but your exaggerations come off as the fit of a spoiled child who is denied ice cream. Come to some of your city's planning meetings, where some of us are honestly trying to make our cities safer, more affordable, more entertaining, and more livable, but having to fight budgets and bureaucracy--baseless rules, convoluted processes, fiefdoms--to do so.