Los Gatos or Santa Rosa Area (Oakland, Riverside: crime, houses, good schools)

[Zaney]

Thank You, I appreciate your input.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Zaney

What's in South San Jose? Ghetto & Gangs?
How about Mountain View area or SunnyVale? Milipitas?

Since no one answered this part of your question, I will.

South San Jose covers a rather large swath of San Jose (generally zip code 95123). It is cookie cutter/nondescript, but mostly a solidly middle class area. It has its dumpy pockets, but is generally ok. The part of South San Jose that adjoins Los Gatos is a little nicer than its other sections. The post that alluded to it being a bad area is inaccurate.

[B_R]

I would tend to agree with BayAreaHillbilly on most of his/her points, but Los Gatos has as many young families as it does retirees. Really, don't you find that mix everywhere? There are some 20 something singles and couples, but there are fewer apts in LG versus SJ or neighboring Campbell and the rents are higher, so you would find less than in those towns.

I think most people in South Bay make it to SF less than they would like, me included. It's just too far. Still, we make it there several times a year for shows, touristy stuff when friends are in town, and occasional ball games at AT&T park. I think the same would be true if you were in Santa Rosa/Sebastopol, which is pretty equal in distance from SF. The interesting thing is that LG was a vacation destination for SF residents way back at the end of the 1800s, early 1900s. Affluent people would build their summer homes there because of close proximity to Santa Cruz by train and the mostly hot sunny weather as opposed to the often foggy conditions on the coast in the summer. Many of the older estates were built by wealthy San Franciscan's. It's a short hop to Santa Cruz over highway 17 these days.

Saratoga is way too expensive and even older (resident wise) than Los Gatos. Schools are a bit better. They share a school district with Los Gatos, but Saratoga High consistently tests better and places higher in "best high school" surveys. In fact, in the 2009 Newsweek top 1300 HS survey Saratoga came out like 243 and LG was 525. The LG primary school system is really good though. We have a daughter in Fisher Middle School and it's a great school. Very involved parents, innovative educators and a rich curriculum.

If you are looking for tech work you are far better being in the south bay suburbs. Santa Rosa area has some tech and more is moving there, but cannot compare to the availability of jobs in Silicon Valley. I know, because I work for a company that had our primary office in Cupertino and a satellite office in Sebastopol where the company founder lives. We put our HQ in Cupertino because in the start-up world it's a better choice for proximity to the VC community and a larger talent pool. We couldn't find the engineers we needed in Sonoma county. The commute is far worse here though and you might want to consider living farther up the peninsula to be more central. You might pay less for rent in Santa Rosa, but Sebastopol and many other Sonoma communities are just as expensive as south bay, cow country or not.

As far as the myths that LG is a stuck up town, I don't know about that. All of the people we know are down to earth and just normal families. It can be a bit of a tight knit town though. Many people who grew up there come back when they are grown and know each other, so it is more of a small town like environment in that respect.

LG has a much more vibrant (if you can call it that) downtown than Saratoga. Saratoga's is dead! Better bars, more restaurants and much more foot traffic than Saratoga.

[B_R]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Since no one answered this part of your question, I will.

South San Jose covers a rather large swath of San Jose (generally zip code 95123). It is cookie cutter/nondescript, but mostly a solidly middle class area. It has its dumpy pockets, but is generally ok. The part of South San Jose that adjoins Los Gatos is a little nicer than its other sections. The post that alluded to it being a bad area is inaccurate.

The area is Almaden Valley and it's one of the more affluent areas in San Jose. Before Silvercreek appeared and Willow Glen became trendy, it was the most expensive area. Definitely remote, but quiet and family oriented. Pretty pastoral too with more open land and hills than other parts of San Jose.

[Zaney]

Thanks- We are pretty down to earth people- so middle class works fine for us. The key word for me is 'class'- meaning considerate neighbors. It wouldn't work for us to have the neighbor's car up on blocks in their yard or running their machine shop out of their garage at all hours. Make sense?
We live in 'fliptopia' right now. I cant believe people are still trying to flip properties. Not a week goes by without one of the neighbors running power equipment all day long, pulling out carpet (and leaving it piled up outside for weeks) or making misc. garbage piles on their driveway.
I appreciate your thoughts. If you think of anything else, I'll be here.

[Zaney]

Some questions about the East Bay. I have been reading some other threads about the East Bay and many seem to be of the opinion that Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Danville et al are filled with the "wanna be nouveau rich" or what someone else termed as the "credit rich" (have alot but dont own any of it).

We are just down to earth people- we manage our budget on what we make, and dont put on a show for people with the latest and greatest things. No giant SUV, no plastic surgery, no getting your kid accepted at the best kindergarten school before they are even conceived.

Thoughts?

Thank You

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Significant social differences in all respects between the I-680 corridor and the inner East Bay. I-680 corridor is more like OC / Eastern Ventura County / etc and the inner East Bay is more like LA proper, if one were to make such an analogy.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by B_R

The area is Almaden Valley and it's one of the more affluent areas in San Jose. Before Silvercreek appeared and Willow Glen became trendy, it was the most expensive area. Definitely remote, but quiet and family oriented. Pretty pastoral too with more open land and hills than other parts of San Jose.

Huh? I don't think so. Almaden Valley is zip code 95120 (and maybe 95119). You described a different area than the one I did.

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by Zaney

Thanks for your replies.

I love Monterey & Carmel (Pacific Grove too)...love love love...we have actually looked there, but I think the commute into a high-tech area for work would be beastly, yes?

We looked at Marin County- loved Mill Valley- but not much to rent there and it's kind of packed in. Is it New Agey or is it my imagination. Not really into the whole crystals and feng shui bit.

Novato seemed..well..not for us anyway.
Larkspur? Corte Madera?
I heard San Rafael can be rough. True?

Hippy people: they smoke pot, dont shave or bathe, and let their kids run around w/o a diaper in the stores? or 'wanna be hippy': green people, solar powered homes, community garden, recycling, self sufficient? Wanna Be's I'm okay with.

What's in South San Jose? Ghetto & Gangs?
How about Mountain View area or SunnyVale? Milipitas?

Yeah, if you're in Monterey area and need to commute up HW1 to San Jose for work you'll be spending a big part of your day in the car.
Santa Cruz county is another option but you'd still have to deal with that drive over HW17 during the rush hours. And it's a b****.
However, if you have a flexible work hours and can avoid the really crazy time, it would be o.k.
I can get to San Jose from Santa Cruz (when there's no traffic) in about 30 - 35 minutes.
From Monterey, you'd need to add another 40 or so minutes. This is without traffic.
The commute from Monterey to San Jose gets really bad (during the morning commute) when you hit the Aptos area of HW1 during rush hour.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by St.Patrick

Los Gatos is a bit too close to South San Jose for comfort. For that area and price range I would look at Saratoga instead.

Since when is South San Jose considered a bad part of town? Los Gatos borders Almaden Valley which is one of the most affluent parts of SJ- not too mention less expensive than Los Gatos, despite its close proximity. Los Gatos is also close to Cambrian and Blossom Valley, neither of which are considered "bad" parts of town. There are some occasional not-so-nice pockets in South San Jose, but most are confined to the 95111 zip code.