Possible move from NY to California (Palo Alto, Stanford: real estate, home, purchase)

[lak29]

Our family has the option to make a move to California from Westchester, NY. I never thought I would want to move from here but the brutal winters are making us reconsider.

My husband has two potential job offers in either LA or Silicon Valley. He attended university in Northern California and is familiar with the area but he lived there as a student and now we are a family of 4. I have visited LA several times but never really loved it because of the sprawl. I really like Palo Alto but would love to hear generally about living and raising a family there or in surrounding areas. We are an interracial couple and would like some diversity but do not need everyone to look like us to be comfortable. We currently live in a NY suburb that has excellent schools, a great sense of community, and very walkable. Would love to be able to find these same qualities when we move. Our housing budget would be around 1.8 million. Thanks!

[comingbacktocali]

you could find all of those requirements in palo alto. it's a lovely town. that budget is probably the lowest you could purchase a home in PA, though. and typically that price is for a 1 to 2 bedroom house. not sure what the town home market is like. you should use redfin.com for the best real estate info.

[dburbs1975]

an 1100 square foot home in very very poor 1960 condition sold last month for 1.8 mil in palo alto.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by lak29

Our family has the option to make a move to California from Westchester, NY. I never thought I would want to move from here but the brutal winters are making us reconsider.

My husband has two potential job offers in either LA or Silicon Valley. He attended university in Northern California and is familiar with the area but he lived there as a student and now we are a family of 4. I have visited LA several times but never really loved it because of the sprawl. I really like Palo Alto but would love to hear generally about living and raising a family there or in surrounding areas. We are an interracial couple and would like some diversity but do not need everyone to look like us to be comfortable. We currently live in a NY suburb that has excellent schools, a great sense of community, and very walkable. Would love to be able to find these same qualities when we move. Our housing budget would be around 1.8 million. Thanks!

Palo Alto has excellent public nationally ranked schools. It is also the location of Stanford University. You can get a 3 bedroom 50s, 60s, 70s Eichler home for that budget but not anything newer. There are 2 commercial downtowns in Palo Alto with 2 Caltrain stations. The city is also HQ for a number of large tech firms as well as startups. Beautiful tree lined streets and lovely weather. A great example of "California suburban" but not overly sterile and boring as your typical suburb. A mix of rich people and Teslas everywhere as well as more ordinary looking folks.

[jade408]

You did not mention what kind of interracial couple you are. As an FYI there are mot many black people in Silicon Valley. The other blends are far more common. If you are black you'll find it a little isolating in some ways. This doesn't mean people are unfriendly or overtly racist, but particularly in the silicon valley, there isn't a visible black middle or upper middle class.

To be completely far, you will not find the same level of "nice" at your budget as you have in Westchester.