Working in Cupertino-Young Single Male, where to live? (San Jose, San Francisco: lease, home)

[talkersw]

I am moving to the Bay Area and working for a large company in Cupertino. I lived in Downtown Portland for the past year so be mindful that I am used to a really lively, unique, downtown scene. I am a 26 year old male, single, and like to let loose on the weekends. I don't know anyone, so it is very important for me to be in a place where I can meet new people and branch out. I don't need to party every night but Fridays and Saturdays will be my nights.

I am hearing all kinds of different feedback on where to live. Some say move to Palo Alto (near Stanford), Mt. View (near downtown), downtown San Jose....and I am also getting a lot of recommendations to make the wifi bus commute from San Francisco. I am torn between doing this and limiting myself to the South Bay area. If not SF, where could I be around a lot of young people and have opportunities to meet people? Although it is very tempting to make the 1 hour commute for the sake of the city, I am not exactly sure this will sit well with me when I am actually doing it.

I am very focused on my work but then again if I end up choosing a poor social scene, I will be pissed. I want to hear from young people (and those who were once young people) in these areas and get a feel for your thoughts. What regrets did you have in your decision of where to live? Recommendations welcome.

[yerbobuena]

From what I hear SF is great. I'll gay, lil strate. great spot.

[ccm123]

For the South Bay area, the following cities have good nightlife and a vibrant downtown area:

1/ Los Gatos
2/ Mountain View
3/ Palo Alto
4/ San Jose (Santana Row)
5/ Further north, I like San Mateo

[ketch89]

I'm 23 and live a few blocks from downtown Mountain View. There's some great restaurants on Castro street, but only 2 real bars, and 1 "club". Not really a big scene at all. I haven't spent a lot of time in downtown San Jose, but if I was planning to be working in Mountain View(or Cupertino) for longer than I am, that's where I'd move to. SF is great, but losing two hours of each and every weekday to live there wouldn't be worth it.

[talkersw]

Originally Posted by ketch89

I'm 23 and live a few blocks from downtown Mountain View. There's some great restaurants on Castro street, but only 2 real bars, and 1 "club". Not really a big scene at all. I haven't spent a lot of time in downtown San Jose, but if I was planning to be working in Mountain View(or Cupertino) for longer than I am, that's where I'd move to. SF is great, but losing two hours of each and every weekday to live there wouldn't be worth it.

Thanks, but you really aren't losing that time per say. You can work on a bus. Do you know anyone who is doing this that you could ask?

[mayorhaggar]

Honestly Silicon Valley and the Peninsula are more set up for people in their mid to late 30's who may or may not have kids and are more interested in living somewhere quiet near a few good restaurants and who can drive up to SF once or twice a month to go partying.

Originally Posted by talkersw

Thanks, but you really aren't losing that time per say. You can work on a bus. Do you know anyone who is doing this that you could ask?

Depends on if your employer lets you turn in a project you worked on while on the bus and go home 2 hours early, or if they're into "face-time" and want you to show up at a certain point and leave at a certain point and fuss about you not being a team player if you don't stay until a certain time. But if they provide a bus they are probably pretty cool about letting you run to catch the bus back home...just depends on whether they want you to catch the 5pm bus or the 7pm bus.

Even if you can leave at 5pm every day that's still a lot of time spent on the bus, by the time you get to SF you're basically pooped and don't have a lot of time to go out and do stuff. So basically you'd only be able to enjoy SF on the weekend. Which is fine, but it's not the same as living and working in SF and being able to do stuff easily 7 days a week, especially on Fridays.

Anyway as you'll find, the Bay Area is set up in a pretty sucky way for young people. SF is the only city that is really genuinely fun to live in when you're in your 20's, but they're far away from where all the jobs are around Mountain View and San Jose and so on. Silicon Valley is super suburban and super expensive but it has jobs. SF is expensive too and has some tech jobs, but not as many. Oakland and Berkeley are pretty cool places to live too (compared to somewhere like Mountain View) and cheaper, but are way too far from Silicon V.

[talkersw]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Honestly Silicon Valley and the Peninsula are more set up for people in their mid to late 30's who may or may not have kids and are more interested in living somewhere quiet near a few good restaurants and who can drive up to SF once or twice a month to go partying.



Depends on if your employer lets you turn in a project you worked on while on the bus and go home 2 hours early, or if they're into "face-time" and want you to show up at a certain point and leave at a certain point and fuss about you not being a team player if you don't stay until a certain time. But if they provide a bus they are probably pretty cool about letting you run to catch the bus back home...just depends on whether they want you to catch the 5pm bus or the 7pm bus.

Even if you can leave at 5pm every day that's still a lot of time spent on the bus, by the time you get to SF you're basically pooped and don't have a lot of time to go out and do stuff. So basically you'd only be able to enjoy SF on the weekend. Which is fine, but it's not the same as living and working in SF and being able to do stuff easily 7 days a week, especially on Fridays.

Anyway as you'll find, the Bay Area is set up in a pretty sucky way for young people. SF is the only city that is really genuinely fun to live in when you're in your 20's, but they're far away from where all the jobs are around Mountain View and San Jose and so on. Silicon Valley is super suburban and super expensive but it has jobs. SF is expensive too and has some tech jobs, but not as many. Oakland and Berkeley are pretty cool places to live too (compared to somewhere like Mountain View) and cheaper, but are way too far from Silicon V.

Thank you for the response. It basically comes down to what I can live with. I think Palo Alto may suit my needs as it is about 40 minutes outside of SF and still close to Cupertino. If I can get close to Stanford it may be a cool spot.

[peninsular]

I'd like to offer an analogy - let's say you got a new job in Wilsonville, OR. Would you choose to live in: 1. Wilsonville, 2. Tualatin, 3. Lake Oswego or 4. Downtown Portland?

Depending on your answer, similar alternatives would be:

1. Cupertino/Saratoga maybe Sunnyvale
2. Mountain View
3. Palo Alto
4. San Francisco

Hope this helps.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by peninsular

I'd like to offer an analogy - let's say you got a new job in Wilsonville, OR. Would you choose to live in: 1. Wilsonville, 2. Tualatin, 3. Lake Oswego or 4. Downtown Portland?

Depending on your answer, similar alternatives would be:

1. Cupertino/Saratoga maybe Sunnyvale
2. Mountain View
3. Palo Alto
4. San Francisco

Hope this helps.

That is not even close to a fair analogy. 18 miles of Oregon traffic is not equal to 45 miles of jammed Bay area traffic. Salem to Portland would be about the same distance as Cupertino to SF. Factoring in the Bay area rush hour traffic,working in Cupertino and living in SF would be like living in Portland and working in Corvallis.

Also the Silicon Valley towns are not comparable to Oregon towns. Mountain View has an interesting downtown with many international restaurants and two of the best bookstores in the Bay area. Sunnyvale is a diverse place with all kinds of international restaurants. There are 4 community colleges in the Silicon Valley area and each has a 10,000+ enrollment so it is some kind of myth that there are no young people in the area.(plus SCU and San Jose State)

You might save ~$400/month in rent by not living in SF. Take that $ and lease a nice new car to explore the entire Bay area on the weekends.

[talkersw]

Originally Posted by peninsular

I'd like to offer an analogy - let's say you got a new job in Wilsonville, OR. Would you choose to live in: 1. Wilsonville, 2. Tualatin, 3. Lake Oswego or 4. Downtown Portland?

Depending on your answer, similar alternatives would be:

1. Cupertino/Saratoga maybe Sunnyvale
2. Mountain View
3. Palo Alto
4. San Francisco

Hope this helps.

I see what you are saying but I am looking for a spot within a 20 minutes drive radius that has somewhat of a social scene