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Old 12-26-2009, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Marietta, GA
1 posts, read 2,370 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi,
I am a 25 year old female moving to the bay area in mid-February due to a new job in Santa Clara. I have no idea about the neighborhoods or apartments there. I am looking for a suburban neighborhood (about 15mi away from Santa Clara, an equivalent of Marietta in Georgia). I plan to get a car so I don't care about the proximity to rail stations.

1. Is it possible to live in a decent place (studio / 1 bedroom apartment) if I have a rent budget of $1,000-1,200? I care about the safety cos I will live alone and like to go jogging.

2. After going through threads on this forums I looked at areas like Morgan Hill, Pleasanton and Campbell. Morgan Hill is a much longer (additional 5-7mi one way) drive without much drop in rents. Campbell doesn't have as many apartment complexes and Pleasanton is pricey. Finding studios in these places seems nearly impossible
And reasonably priced places have some 'income restrictions'. Seems like the only way would be to get a 2bd2bath apt and have a roommate.

3. Could anyone please tell me some other good neighborhoods in San Jose and the bay area in general which are not much further than 15 miles from Santa Clara? I don't want to live in densely packed areas like Sunnyvale or Mountain View.

4. Also, is it reasonably possible to commute everyday from Morgan Hill to Santa Clara? What about Pleasanton to Santa Clara?
(Google traffic feeds indicate its about a 30mins drive at 11am and after 7pm).

Any information on this would be appreciated.

And I am sorry for any presumptuous statements I made (those are based on only information I have read on-line.)
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Old 12-27-2009, 12:35 AM
 
3,244 posts, read 6,300,862 times
Reputation: 4929
Quote:
Originally Posted by sudnya View Post
Hi,

3. Could anyone please tell me some other good neighborhoods in San Jose and the bay area in general which are not much further than 15 miles from Santa Clara? I don't want to live in densely packed areas like Sunnyvale or Mountain View.

4. Also, is it reasonably possible to commute everyday from Morgan Hill to Santa Clara? What about Pleasanton to Santa Clara?
(Google traffic feeds indicate its about a 30mins drive at 11am and after 7pm).

Any information on this would be appreciated.
Sunnyvale and Mountain View are suburban type areas. Sunnyvale is very a quiet area to live. It has suburban type stores like Best Buy,Sports Authority,Office Max,Toys R Us etc. just like Marietta. The area towards the 280 is the most desirable area of Sunnyvale. The area closer to 101 is not as good. I would say that most of San Jose is more densely packed than Sunnyvale or Mountain View. Sunnyvale and most of Santa Clara County is convenient to the open space preserves and parks west of 280.

Openspace.org - Your Preserves - Monte Bello

Santa Clara County Open Space Authority | Trails + Preserves

Living in Morgan Hill or Pleasanton would guarantee a difficult commute with little advantage in your situation. Both the 101 towards Morgan Hill and the 680 are very crowded at commute times. Would you choose to live in Duluth or Canton and commute to Marietta instead of living in Marietta?

You can use the apartment ratings site to screen for apartments. I would not take the reviews too seriously but it is just a good starting point for a list of apartment complexes.

Sunnyvale Apartments for Rent - Sunnyvale Apartments Reviews and Ratings

Good luck with your move.
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Old 12-27-2009, 07:05 PM
 
30,897 posts, read 36,958,653 times
Reputation: 34526
Ok, I know someone will probably flame me for saying this....but the phrase is "Please advise", with an "s".

Advice is a noun. Example: He gives good advice.

Advise is a verb. Example: Please advise me.

Most of the time on these forums, people mean to use the verb form of the word (advise with an "s").

Last edited by mysticaltyger; 12-27-2009 at 07:27 PM..
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Old 12-27-2009, 07:12 PM
 
30,897 posts, read 36,958,653 times
Reputation: 34526
Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira View Post
I would say that most of San Jose is more densely packed than Sunnyvale or Mountain View.
Not true.

San Jose population density: 5758.1 sq. mi.
Sunnyvale population density: 6006 sq. mi.
Mountain View pop. density: 5863 sq. mi.

San Jose's pop figures are based on the year 2008, whereas MV and S'vale's are based on the year 2000, which likely means the population desnity figures for S'vale and MV are understated.

San Jose, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sunnyvale, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mountain View, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Last edited by mysticaltyger; 12-27-2009 at 07:27 PM..
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Old 12-27-2009, 07:26 PM
 
30,897 posts, read 36,958,653 times
Reputation: 34526
Quote:
Originally Posted by sudnya View Post
Hi,
I am a 25 year old female moving to the bay area in mid-February due to a new job in Santa Clara. I have no idea about the neighborhoods or apartments there. I am looking for a suburban neighborhood (about 15mi away from Santa Clara, an equivalent of Marietta in Georgia). I plan to get a car so I don't care about the proximity to rail stations.

1. Is it possible to live in a decent place (studio / 1 bedroom apartment) if I have a rent budget of $1,000-1,200? I care about the safety cos I will live alone and like to go jogging.

2. After going through threads on this forums I looked at areas like Morgan Hill, Pleasanton and Campbell. Morgan Hill is a much longer (additional 5-7mi one way) drive without much drop in rents. Campbell doesn't have as many apartment complexes and Pleasanton is pricey. Finding studios in these places seems nearly impossible
And reasonably priced places have some 'income restrictions'. Seems like the only way would be to get a 2bd2bath apt and have a roommate.

3. Could anyone please tell me some other good neighborhoods in San Jose and the bay area in general which are not much further than 15 miles from Santa Clara? I don't want to live in densely packed areas like Sunnyvale or Mountain View.

4. Also, is it reasonably possible to commute everyday from Morgan Hill to Santa Clara? What about Pleasanton to Santa Clara?
(Google traffic feeds indicate its about a 30mins drive at 11am and after 7pm).

Any information on this would be appreciated.

And I am sorry for any presumptuous statements I made (those are based on only information I have read on-line.)
You should be able to get a studio apartment for the rent you want. A 1BR may be harder. You'll have to look past the large, cookie cutter complexes to get a 1BR for 1200 or less (and this area is full of them). And many of those are in the older, more urban sections of downtown San Jose or just north of downtown. Personally, I like those kind of buildings because they have more character. I have a co-worker who found a cute but nothing special 1BR just north of downtown SJ for $850 a month.

I don't really view places like Sunnyvale and Mountain View as all that densely packed. They are still pretty suburban in character, although they are definitely completely built up.

People do commute from Morgan Hill to Santa Clara. Personally, I wouldn't want to, but that's just me. I have a hard time believing you can get from Plesanton to Santa Clara in 30 minutes, even during off commute times, but I've never done that commute, so I could be wrong. I admit my bias against commuting. I hate it and the traffic here is horrible, and it gets worse with every passing year, except when unemployment is 12%, like it is now.

Rents tend to be somewhat lower in San Jose, although not by a big margin, and as I mentioned in a previous post, it is actually slightly less densely packed than MV or S'vale.

I think you really need to come here and take your time and look around so you can get a feel for the area.

Also, one area you might like that hasn't been mentioned is Milpitas. It is pretty close to Santa Clara, a little less densely packed and newer than MV or S'vale and still a reasonable commute.
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Old 12-27-2009, 10:00 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,154,335 times
Reputation: 3631
MysticalTyger - San Jose has a LOT of unoccupied space. Miles and miles of no housing once you get south of Bernal, or around Metcalf Rd., or in New Almaden. The occupied area is seriously packed.
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Old 12-28-2009, 01:10 AM
 
30,897 posts, read 36,958,653 times
Reputation: 34526
Quote:
Originally Posted by sonarrat View Post
MysticalTyger - San Jose has a LOT of unoccupied space. Miles and miles of no housing once you get south of Bernal, or around Metcalf Rd., or in New Almaden. The occupied area is seriously packed.
Seriously packed? Honestly, does SJ really feel more crowded than MV or S'vale? It doesn't to me at all. Most of SJ, with the exception of downtown and the area just north of downtown, is detached single family homes, just like the rest of Silicon Valley.
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Old 12-28-2009, 08:24 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,154,335 times
Reputation: 3631
Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticaltyger View Post
Seriously packed? Honestly, does SJ really feel more crowded than MV or S'vale? It doesn't to me at all. Most of SJ, with the exception of downtown and the area just north of downtown, is detached single family homes, just like the rest of Silicon Valley.
It feels more crowded when you're driving down Capitol Expressway at midnight and have to wait behind 20 cars all turning right at Aborn and half a dozen cut in front of you, just the same as when you come at 5 pm on a weekday. Or when you get stuck in stop and go traffic making the merge from 680 to 101 at 10 am on a Saturday. Or when it takes you 25 minutes to get through one light on Tully on a Saturday night. Or when the buses get so slow and bogged down that they have to change drivers after 3 miles. Or when you have to spend an interminable amount of time trying to find a parking space at Valley Fair, even though the stupid place has 4 billion spaces and several three-level parking structures. There isn't anywhere in Mountain View or Sunnyvale that comes even close.
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