Relocating to San Jose from Vancouver, Canada (Oakland, Fremont: apartments, rental)

[Oliu612]

Hi!

We are relocating to San Jose in June and are hoping to get some advice. The husband will be working close to the airport. We will be bringing 2 small dogs and a 1 yr old baby with us.

What areas would you suggest us renting a place in? We are Chinese so preferrably be close to some sort of Asian grocery stores and restaurants. We are looking for around $2500-$2700 a month.

We will only have 1 car, so the place either needs to be close to his work or wont be too long of a commute if he was to take public transportation or be close to malls/stores where I can easily walk to within 15-20mins.

Thanks in advance!

[simboticus]

We'll need a more detailed location for the job. "close to the airport" is a very large area. The are lots of Asian stores, given the very large asian community here.

Finding a rental with dogs is nearly impossible.

[Oliu612]

He will be working on Technology Drive.

Is it hard to find rental with dogs? I saw alot of dog friendly apartments online.

[Semiworker]

First, your husband's work location on Technology Drive is a big plus as it is further south than the other major employers in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino.

Second, there are mainly 2 large Asian supermarket chains with locations scattered throughout the Bay area: Lion Supermarket and 99 Ranch market. The closest market to your husband's work place is the 99 Ranch on Hostestter Rd & Lundy, ~3 miles or 10 mins drive away. This market is in an Asian plaza with numerous restaurants, so it will serve your needs well. There are also plenty of eating place for fast food & non Asian restaurants along the way to his office (Murphy ave & Oakland road for example)

Third, for apartments you might want to check out Amberwood apartments near Lundy. I have driven by here often. I think it's close by the 99 Ranch market and it looks nice at least from the outside, but I don't know about their pets policy. You might also want to check out apartments along Capitol avenue between Hostestter and Trade Zone boulevard. They are all modern looking, not outrageously expensive. This North Valley area of San Jose is quiet, fairly safe, and has easy access to highway.

Good luck and welcome to the bay area.

[Oliu612]

I saw some new apartments around Milpitas as well but I did read somewhere about smell in the area? Can you tell me more about it? The rent there seems good but not sure if the smell will be a problem for the baby and the dogs.

[Semiworker]

oh yes, the infamous overblown bad smell problem surrounding Milpitas on this forum...

The bad smell is generated from a garbage dump area and is mostly pronounced along 880 highway/ highway 237 area. It usually happens in the summer for a few days out of the year, depending on wind condition. In general the further east you are from 880 highway, the less likely you will experience the foul odor. Milpitas area east of 680 highway on the hills are nice and refreshing.

Milpitas city is a thriving home for many and the prices are still affordable in the $800K range for "ordinary people", not Palo Alto, Los Gatos aspiring kind. It's a good accessible base if you work in Pleasanton, Fremont, North San Jose, Santa Clara. You might want to check it out too.

[boulder2015]

Originally Posted by Semiworker

Milpitas city is a thriving home for many and the prices are still affordable in the $800K range for "ordinary people", not Palo Alto, Los Gatos aspiring kind. o.

800k to live in milpitas? Lol...thats terrible.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by Oliu612

Hi!

We are relocating to San Jose in June and are hoping to get some advice. The husband will be working close to the airport. We will be bringing 2 small dogs and a 1 yr old baby with us.

What areas would you suggest us renting a place in? We are Chinese so preferrably be close to some sort of Asian grocery stores and restaurants. We are looking for around $2500-$2700 a month.

We will only have 1 car, so the place either needs to be close to his work or wont be too long of a commute if he was to take public transportation or be close to malls/stores where I can easily walk to within 15-20mins.

Thanks in advance!

I put some links so you can see what to expect.

I would honestly say to look near Civic Center, Japantown, or the airport area itself, at rush hour it takes 2-3 times longer to go the same distance these days, so I think it would be prudent to look for shorter commute, and preferably let you have the car during the day. Japantown is certainly walkable, the but the Asian shops are more Japanese oriented in their inventory though. It is a short drive from there to either Milpitas or Cupertino where there are lot of Chinese focused shops. From Civic center light rail is pretty quick to the airport area, though the city could do a lot to improve walkability in the airport area. From Japantown it is a 10 minute walk to light rail, or more if you live further east.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5552218919.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5548352778.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5553257450.html

Further north is North Park, that should be about 15 minutes on light rail to the airport area, rents are a bit higher, and though there are shops, the city hasn't improved walkability much after the apartments were put in so it is no easy to walk outside your own particular area, you'd likely be looking at a 1bd there.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5554682751.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5550810016.html


Cupertino is probably too expensive for your budget, and the commute is not really that much easier as both 880 and 87 has a lot of northbound traffic in the morning, and Cupertino is a public transportation desert.

This would be tough without buying another car:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5552994530.html
Cupertino Village across the street has several businesses focused on Chinese food/restaurants, and items.

Milpitas is more affordable, but if he were to take the light rail it will probably be close to 1/2 hour commute on light rail alone. Driving is probably faster, but still will be with a bunch of commute traffic heading west.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5517470385.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/5554638839.html

[FioSJ]

Willow Lake Apartments on Oakland Rd crossing Murphy are nice. My friend lived there happily for many years. Comfortable walk to the Ranch 99 plaza at Lundy (there's even some Shun Fat supermarket at your doorstep which I've never been in but could be good in a pinch). Across the street from a gym and several other eateries and stores. They're also building a park just down Oakland Rd past the new Orchard Park townhomes being sold.

No public transit to the Airport from there though. So he could take the car and drive to work and you could walk to lunch and grocery shopping. On days you need the car to go to Target, you can drive him to work in the morning possibly. It's probably a 15 min drive with traffic.

[Oliu612]

Thank you so much everyone!! Really appreciate all the info!

I saw some apartments on craigslist around downtown area. Is it safe there? Or should we stay in the north?