Best areas to rent around Mountain View (San Jose, San Francisco: apartments, transfer)

[SMAD]

Hi,

I am transfering to a new job at our Mountain View location (E Middleview Rd) and we're coming out to look at apartments in a couple of weeks - any advice on good areas to rent where the commute won't be too bad - we were looking at Sunnyvale as a possibility if we don't find something within the 1500 - 1700 range in Moutain View that we like. How is it living close to Castro street in Mountain View?

We'd also like to find a place that pays some of the utilities and maybe has a washer/dryer in the apartment. We'd be willing to pay a little more to have the w/d in the apartment.

I've seen lots of listings on Craigslist and rent.com and most of them look pretty nice - any red flags we should look out for?

Any advice would be appreciated...

[humboldtrat]

(Don't you mean E. Middlefield Rd?) Both Mountain View and Sunnyvale have lots of apt. buildings and I would guess the rents would be about the same in both places. Rents tend to be higher in Palo Alto to the north. Castro Street is in the downtown area and the street has way too many Asian restaurants, but otherwise some nice shops and a couple nice bookstores. There is also a Caltrain station on Castro St. Caltrain is the commuter line running between San Francisco and San Jose. By all means, try to live near where you work. Traffic can and usually is terrible.

[SMAD]

yeah, Middlefield is what I meant - I've typed Mountain View too many times lately I guess. I didn't know if it was worse coming from one direction or another...

Thanks for the information.

[gizmo980]

I agree with Humboldt, stay right around that neighborhood... the whole stretch along Middlefield & Central Expressway is fine, and has a TON of apartments to choose from. Only part that might be "less desirable" is right around Shoreline, Rengstorff and Escuela Way - even those aren't really bad.

I know a few people who've lived in apartments near Mary Ave. & Evelyn (in Sunnyvale), which is a nice area. It's slightly cheaper than Mountain View, and has lots of newer complexes with modern amenities. Check out the Avalon communities, though they might be a bit above your range: http://www.avaloncommunities.com/san-jose-apartments/ Also plenty of good listings on craigslist, as you already know! Btw, the commute from Sunnyvale (particularly west of El Camino) would be easy, since you can avoid the freeway by taking Central Exp. or Middlefield.

Mountain View itself is a great little town, and you should consider looking near Castro St. It's very cute, with some terrific restaurants and cool shops... that's the expensive part of town, of course. Palo Alto gets even more expensive, but the drive would be easy if you're near Middlefield. Anyway, I'm sure any of these areas will be fine!