San Francisco or San Jose? (Oakland, Palo Alto: best city, crime, mobile home)

[vdy1985]

^^^ haha, yeah sorry. Anyways, to the OP, you should consider Downtown SJ, West SJ, or some Peninsula city if you want to be closer to SF but not in SF. All are great options.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by vdy1985

I'm talking about Downtown. In the mornings you see a ton of people walking to work, getting there coffee fixes or breakfast before going into work. People chatting in front of their building before work. You see a crap ton of people out at lunch time too. I'm talking about actually workers and downtown, not union square and mess. I lived like 2 blocks south of downtown one summer so I've seen it.

No doubt about it, San Jose is a car friendly city and San Francisco is a foot friendly city. (Which is ironic, since it's SF which has all the hills..) That doesn't mean people don't walk in SJ. Sit in my house in Evergreen, which is deep in the suburban sprawl zone, and you'll see at least 30 people an hour pass by during the day.

[bigdumbgod]

One can always live in Santana Row in SJ and pretend they live in SF, sans crackheads.

But you might start thinking you're in L.A., so maybe not.


Aw hell, just try Redwood City or Burlingame if you want to be close to SF, but you may well be surprised at how much more happens in SJ than is often stated.

[VUTSU]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

I would recommend the peninsula for living close to SF without being in it. That's not what I disputed, though. I meant that there are many little, old Main Streets in SJ neighborhoods that you'd find on the peninsula. They're similar in that sense, not as different as you made them sound.

At least we can agree that there are a lot of little, diverse and interesting neighborhoods on the peninsula. When I took a walk around the Burlingame downtown, I was struck at how different it was from the Palo Alto downtown on University Avenue and the quaint Los Altos shopping district. The downtown SJ area is also really cool, but it definitely has a more urban feel. SF is totally big city.....its cool and urbane. I would definitely recommend to this person to re locate somewhere in between SF and SJ. One question...what does your "status" say about you. I think its hilarious.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by VUTSU

One question...what does your "status" say about you. I think its hilarious.

Some asocial whiner sent me a nasty direct message calling me a "duche." I got a kick out of it so I want everyone to see.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

Some asocial whiner sent me a nasty direct message calling me a "duche." I got a kick out of it so I want everyone to see.

Haha nice. Is he trying to call you a douche or does he actually think you're Mussolini? lol

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by jman650

Haha nice. Is he trying to call you a douche or does he actually think you're Mussolini? lol

I leave that to the objective observer to decide.

[bigdumbgod]

Yep, that's it. The message board types are fascists. The secret is out.

Il Blogger!

[mysticaltyger]

One suggestion that I think deserves more merit is Palo Alto or Mountain View. That area tends to have more of a young person's scene than some bland tract house neighborhood in San Jose. And Palo Alto is 1/2 way between SF and SJ, so it's a good compromise in a lot of ways. Of course, Palo Alto is expensive, even by Bay Area standards.

[Alexus]

San Jose is struggling desperately to define itself. While San Francisco is the popular destination for millions (and rightfully so), San Jose gets put on the "visit" agenda about as often as the Winchester Mystery House. The entire city of San Jose is merely one of many places to stop at for an hour or two before people head to more enchanting places like Carmel, Monterey, and Big Sur. You have to have a particular event to go to in San Jose because walking around that city is about as eventful as touring Skokie, Illinois. No sophistication in SJ, nothing resembling a real city ambiance. Just a place where people wander around chewing on straws.

The city tries to embrace an identity as the "Capital of Silicon Valley." But all this does is identify it as the place dominated by the most boring of people: mind-numbingly corny techies, engineering geeks, nerds, and dweebs. It is not the "capital of SV", just the biggest city in the region. The place has no lakefront, or bay, or ocean to provide some unique ambiance. It's just a big Campbell. The peninsula cities are far more interesting once far enough way from the curse that is the boring San Jose. Sunnyvale suffers because of its proximity to SJ. Sunnyvale feels like a place that time forgot, still stuck on appearing like a town of farms and orchards. The change starts with Mountain View, which feels like it succeeded in escaping the curse of SJ. MV has a shoreline and is the beginning of the towns leading to SF which feel like they have something going for them.

SJ has its good points. It is closer to SF than LA is. It's close to Campbell and Los Gatos. I especially like Rose Garden. Naglee Park area is nice. Don't care for the Evergreen or Milpitas areas as these please have the feel of a sleazy flea market. Almaden Valley is nice but too far from the action, too remote. Seems like a place to go and die. Willow Glen is nice. But overall, SJ is a backwards town that embraces ice hockey rather than MLB, the NFL, or the NBA. It embraces Nascar and Grand Prix, for God's sake. Ok for the trailer park contingent I suppose. Hard for the Arts to find support in that place, as there are not enough cultured, sophisticated people there to support the ballet, opera, or the orchestra. Itzhak Perlman will never play there. What the hell happened to the San Jose Symphony Orchestra? The California Youth Symphony out of Palo Alto appears to be preferred.

SJ shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence with a great world-class city like San Francisco. Maybe in 50 years, when all these cowhands and country folks have moved on, the place may begin to emerge as more than a cow town, a big Campbell, and a location for Gomers, Goobers, and Geeks.