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It's a comparison topic. San Jose does have a low homicide rate for a large US city and compares favorably with Austin though both have fairly low homicide rates for large US cities.
I guess this is true. The thing is, most of San Jose has pockets of low income latinos, gang activity, junkies...but immediately adjacent to these pockets are > million dollar homes with techies and their trophy wives. The rent in the latter areas can go between 4-6k for a single family home, if you can't afford to fork out over a million cash to buy. So inevitably, may transplants will live in the more "affordable" areas, aka 3-4k for a SFH or rooms for rent. In those areas, there is high crime. Lots of car thefts, break ins, and gang related violence. I enjoyed some aspects of San Jose. The victorian houses (we lived in one), the trees, the wide streets with fall leaves swirling around...but the gangs just ruined it for us.
I guess this is true. The thing is, most of San Jose has pockets of low income latinos, gang activity, junkies...but immediately adjacent to these pockets are > million dollar homes with techies and their trophy wives. The rent in the latter areas can go between 4-6k for a single family home, if you can't afford to fork out over a million cash to buy. So inevitably, may transplants will live in the more "affordable" areas, aka 3-4k for a SFH or rooms for rent. In those areas, there is high crime. Lots of car thefts, break ins, and gang related violence. I enjoyed some aspects of San Jose. The victorian houses (we lived in one), the trees, the wide streets with fall leaves swirling around...but the gangs just ruined it for us.
Right, San Jose has more expensive housing than Austin, and while Austin and San Jose have fairly low overall crime rates compared to other large US cities, criminal activity, similar to a lot of cities in the US and even across much of the world, is spread unevenly. I think you weren't very clearly reading what 18Montclair said in your response, because none of what he said is inaccurate there.
If I am comparing only San Jose metro vs Austin metro, I'm picking Austin.
If I am comparing the two metros with the consideration of the surrounding cities. (SJ with SF, Santa Cruz, world class beaches, etc) and (Austin with San Antonio and possibly Houston), I'm picking San Jose.
San Jose's location gives it a huge advantage where Austin's COL is much lower than Silicon Valley.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 49erfan916
Man. I love both cities and metros.
If I am comparing only San Jose metro vs Austin metro, I'm picking Austin.
If I am comparing the two metros with the consideration of the surrounding cities. (SJ with SF, Santa Cruz, world class beaches, etc) and (Austin with San Antonio and possibly Houston), I'm picking San Jose.
San Jose's location gives it a huge advantage where Austin's COL is much lower than Silicon Valley.
Undoubtedly but SJ is still on another level in terms of affordability.
I think looking at rents and home prices is misleading for this as well, as Austin is built out much less densely. You get a much more space in both house and yard in Austin. Frankly, I think the most expensive parts of Austin have quite a bit more urban amenities as well, though I wouldn't say that about the suburban parts. (E.g. if you are 10 minutes from downtown Austin that's an an amenity that really does not exist in the SJ metro.)
The problem with SJ is that it isn't just expensive, it's mostly bland suburbia that is quite literally priced at Manhattan levels. While I love the climate and respect the variety of weekend trips you can take, the overall package just isn't worth it. If I was going to do California I'd pick any of San Diego, LA, or SF over San Jose without question.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 49erfan916
True. But there isn't a state income tax plus it's still more affordable than San Jose.
Unless you're earning like $200k per year, state income tax isn't going to be noticeable. I earn $87k per year, and I only pay around a 3.5% effective state income tax, that's like $65/week out of my pay. Hardly noticeable
I think looking at rents and home prices is misleading for this as well, as Austin is built out much less densely. You get a much more space in both house and yard in Austin. Frankly, I think the most expensive parts of Austin have quite a bit more urban amenities as well, though I wouldn't say that about the suburban parts. (E.g. if you are 10 minutes from downtown Austin that's an an amenity that really does not exist in the SJ metro.)
Sorry, but while Austin might have a much taller skyline than San Jose, at street level, these 2 downtowns are very similar. This is fairly common across much of the country in my experience. I was in Austin over the summer for, and I work in Palo Alto and I frequently go to Downtown San Jose for meetings, and while both of these downtowns have a ton of construction going on, they are not terribly vibrant during the work day, and they both have a lot of homeless people too.
Quote:
The problem with SJ is that it isn't just expensive, it's mostly bland suburbia that is quite literally priced at Manhattan levels.
Right but it's not for nothing. San Jose is not normal suburbia, no this suburbia basically drives the global economy at this time and because of it's gigantic companies, San Jose is now the most highly educated and wealthiest metro area in the country, so it's NOT going to be cheap. Ever. I mean, I agree that it's too cost probihitive and civic leaders are not doing enough to do what needs to be done to make housing more affordable, but there are very specific reasons apart from low inventory that explain why San Jose costs so much. Here is one of them:
Very High Net Worth($5M-$30M) Individuals With a
Primary or Secondary Home by US Metro Area, 2021
182,395 New York
103,345 Los Angeles
75,560 San Francisco
62,195 Dallas
55,070 Atlanta
51,715 Boston
46,655 Washington DC
45,545 Miami 40,740 San Jose
37,160 Seattle
San Jose is 35th in population, but 9th as far as people worth $5M-$30M who own a home there.
Quote:
While I love the climate and respect the variety of weekend trips you can take, the overall package just isn't worth it. If I was going to do California I'd pick any of San Diego, LA, or SF over San Jose without question.
Well, really Austin's only advantage over San Jose to me is the cost of living, and that's just happens to be the most important criteria for most folks.
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