What is the safest area in San Jose? Best apartment complex? (Sunnyvale: for rent, homes)

[wolverine01]

Hi Everyone,
I am 21 years old and a recent college grad. I will be moving to the Silicon valley this summer in order to work for a tech company.

I don't know anything about the area and have been reading mixed reviews. What is the safest area in San Jose? How does the whole city thing work--I've been hearing a lot about Sunnyvale, Milipitas etc...are those cities within San Jose?

Also, can anyone recommend an apartment complex? I've heard a lot about Northpark however now I am very skeptical after reading several reviews online.

Could anyone recommend a safe city to live in and a good apartment complex within the city. I can pay up to $1700 for rent--I just want to make sure the place is safe.

[mstnghu2]

Hi! I think that for $1700, you should definitely be able to find a nice one-bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood. Depending on where you'll be commuting, I would probably recommend staying in the city of San Jose itself. Since San Jose is quite large, you'll have more options in places to live. There are some sketchy areas, but for the most part San Jose is a very safe city. You really need to actually come visit and drive around different neighborhoods to see what you like. Typically, the East Side of San Jose is considered to be the not-so-great part of town. There are still nice pockets though, especially as you head closer to the hills. I would avoid most stretches of neighborhoods along Monterey Rd. or Capitol Expwy.

Renting in some of the surrounding cities will probably not get you as much for your money. Sunnyvale and Milpitas are both separate cities within the San Jose area (Santa Clara county). Milpitas mostly has single family homes and not many apartment complexes and Sunnyvale tends to have higher rent than San Jose.
As far as specific apartment recommendations go, hopefully somebody else can chime in. Good luck!

[sonarrat]

On that kind of a budget, I'd try to be closer to the jobs. The neighborhoods that are close to the big tech companies are all fairly nice. Traffic is problematic in San Jose. If you live just north of town in Santa Clara that wouldn't be so bad. There are a number of large tech companies in Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto as well. If you need a little fun along with your safety, look into Mountain View in particular.

[wolverine01]

I will actually be working at Cisco Systems. Does anyone know a good apartment complex around there?

[bluebeard]

Most places in the area are extremely safe. A better way to approach it is to look for places and rule out the ones that might not be safe enough for you.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The safest? That would have to be the little smidge that's west of Sunnyvale - Saratoga Rd. It's effectively part of Saratoga and at the edge of the western foothills.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by wolverine01

I will actually be working at Cisco Systems. Does anyone know a good apartment complex around there?

Rivermark.. you don't want to live too close to Cisco because the dump at 237/Zanker stinks to high heaven.

[gooski]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Rivermark.. you don't want to live too close to Cisco because the dump at 237/Zanker stinks to high heaven.

Yeah - Rivermark would be perfect

I actually lived near the Elan apartments which is a hop skip and jump from Rivermark about seven years ago which is another option - it's far enough away from the dump that you'd never smell it. Probably slightly cheaper than Rivermark.

[mdwstrnkid]

I lived in the Rivermark area for seven years. It's pretty safe and close to where you will be working.

As for the apartment complex, the place where I lived (Estancia Apartments) was really nice when I first moved there in 2001 - new construction (I was the first tenant in my unit), large (790 sq ft 1BR), well-maintained grounds, professional staff. However, after Archstone bought the complex from the small company managing it, things started to go downhill: quality and speed of service dropped precipitously, rents went up significantly, and the grounds went to pot.

You might check out Bella Vista, which is located on Lick Mill Drive. I believe that they did some renovations to their units in the recent past. The Carlyle might be another option, though they might be outside of your price range. There is some new construction down by the Rivermark center, but I really don't know much about them at all.

With regards to the dumps, you won't smell anything at all in the Rivermark area. You will, however, have to deal with airplane noise from Mineta, so if you are sensitive to that (which I am not), then that might not be the ideal location for you.

[wolverine01]

Thank you all so much for this information..I really appreciate it!

Have any of you heard of NorthPark apartments? Any comments on that? Is the garbage dump near there?