Stanford Unv. Hosp. area, (San Jose, San Francisco: apartments, rental, crime)

[scanman]

HI, may get a position at Stanford University Hospital, I was told its in the bay area, also told San Josa area (maybe the same) Help..where is this place. I'll be having a phone interview soon and would like an idea as to where is this facility and where is the area where I'd have a short transit and nice rental apt for now (a headhunter has found this position). Be making around 90K -100K, also I have a house in MD (paid for,no mortage) with a wife and 16 yr old son, have to make the money stretch. From what I've read the weather is fine, a few drive by's, afew wild fires today. Being totally east coast, I'm lost. If I am offered the position I'd know better my financial footing.

Thank you for reading my confused mind.

[gizmo980]

It's about 2 miles from me... Stanford is actually it's own unincorporated town, but is really in the city of Palo Alto. This is about 12 miles north of San Jose, and 30 miles south of San Francisco... what we call the "mid/south Peninsula" or "Silicon Valley". It's a very nice, affluent suburb, with lots of pricey homes & apartments. Downtown is on University Ave., which has great restaurants, bars, shops, etc. It's a big hangout for the college students, but you'll also find plenty of "older" people there. It also has Stanford Mall (on El Camino), which is a very upscale outdoor mall, which allows dogs in almost every store - my dog & I love shopping there on a nice day.

If the real-estate prices are out of your budget, there are less expensive towns nearby, like Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Redwood City and Mountain View. It's also cheap where I live, East Palo Alto (separate town & county), which is probably not the best choice... it's a pretty dangerous place, but I've been happy here for the last 2 years! I'm moving to San Francisco this weekend, since I work up there now, but otherwise I'd stay in EPA a while longer. Anyway, good luck with the job & hope this helps!

P.S. The weather in Palo Alto is fantastic, and crime in PA itself is very low... are you sure the drive-bys (which you read about) weren't in EAST Palo Alto??

[scanman]

Yes it may have been in the other palo alto. After scanning a good deal of posts last evening you've summed up my answer, sounds like a nice place to kick back. Now I only have to wow them on the phone interview,then find the perfect apt. Thanks Gizmo980

[humboldtrat]

Stanford Hospital is on the south side of Sand Hill Rd. On the the north side of this road, there are some apt complexes. The biggest is the Oak Creek apts with pool, tennis courts, gym, etc. There is a newer complex built in the last few years and I don't know much about them. These apts. are within walking/bike distance of the hospital. To the immediate east of the hospital is the Stanford shopping mall.

[humboldtrat]

To my last posting, I should have added:
The weather is nice here (about 72 this afternoon). It seldom gets real hot here during the summer and seldom freezes here during the winter. The crime in this area is minimal and I don't ever remember hearing about a drive-by shooting in this area. As for wildfires, they are most common in hilly, rural areas - not in urban areas. The Packard Children's Hospital (as in Hewlett-Packard) is next to Stanford hospital. There is also a large Palo Alto VA hospital about 2 miles away. As for public transportation, there is the VTA - Valley Transit Authority which has bus service throughout the county including the hospital. In Palo Alto, there is a Caltrain station - a commuter train that runs between San Francisco and San Jose (bikes are allowed usually on the end car). Caltrain connects to BART at Millbrae (near SF airport) which has train service to the east bay (Berkeley, Oakland, etc) I'm afraid you will find rent here a little more expensive than what you'd find in MD.
For a map of the area, go to Mapquest and type in Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA.

[scanman]

Humboldtrot, thank you, getting a gold mine of info.

[gizmo980]

Speaking of apartments, I know a great complex that's just for Stanford hospital folks! Well, other people might live there, but employees get special rates & deals... my friend (who's a nurse) lived there for a while, and it's really beautiful. It's right across the street from the hospital, and I think the name is "Stanford Park". If you get the job, definitely look into living there! I also know of a good place on Sharon Park Dr., where I used to pet-sit for another nurse... I'll try to find the name of that complex too.

[scanman]

gizmo, I hope the interview turns out as positive as the advice that you and humboldtrat have given me. I feel confident,
Thanks

[p-e-t-e]

I would recomend Palo Alto because it's closest to Stanford and its slightly less expensive southern side has one of the best public high schools in the nation, ranked in the top 50 or top 100 out of nearly 30,000. My family has a rental there and the typical tenants around the area are Stanford scientists/doctors, lawyers and Silicon Valley executives. Renting a house is typically about $3000/mo for a 3 bedroom 1300 sq ft house. Housing prices are about one million for the same type house and 3 million for slightly larger and older homes in old Palo Alto in the north.

Other areas to consider are Menlo Park (like the area around the Better Homes and Gardens magazine headquarters), but probably not the part that borders East Palo Alto (known locally by its initials, E.P.A.). Parts of Mountain View are nice and so to are the even more upper-scale towns like Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Atherton. Fremont and Newark are also close by via 237 and the Dumbarton Bridge, they are much more affordable but are farther away, have only average schools and are not world class compared to the other town I have mentioned (except for EPA).

Places I would recommend not considering: EPA, this town had the highest murder rate per capita for a small city in 1992. Something like 40 or more murders for a town of only 17,000 it has since gotten better much better but it is still high in crime. The dropout rate their is about 60+ percent and I believe that there is no grocery store there, with the closest grocery store being the Albertson's just across the border/county line in Palo Alto. EPA is being fixed up now with new homes in the 700s, and new stores like Ikea, Home Depot (which is considering making that particular location into the world's largest Home Depot in square footage). THERE IS EVEN A NEW FOUR SEASON'S HOTEL IN EAST PALO ALTO! Nevertheless Palo Alto remains the most logical choice and is effectively partitioned from its San Mateo County namesake by an 8-lane freeway, a significantly wide creek (Arastradero) and the Palo Alto police who apparantly act as sentry.

You might also want to consider, if you cannot afford a nearby house, commuting to Stanford via the Caltrain commuter railway which stretches from San Francisco down to San Jose with a station right around Stanford.

[scanman]

Thanks again for everyones help. I'm expecting a call in 45 min's.
Once again Thanks you.