Sunnyvale, CA? (San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland: real estate, apartment complexes, rentals)

[CUDavidBanner]

I'm considering jobs in the Sunnyvale. I would just like to know in general what's good and bad about the area. There are not many posts here about Sunnyvale. I can't seem to find much information about the area. I know in general it's considered the heart of Silicon Valley. Thanks...

[gizmo980]

Sunnyvale is a pretty nice & quiet community, very "suburbia" with tons of strip-malls and apartment/condo complexes. The crime rate is very low, and it's generally a safe place to walk around... I don't know of any bad neighorhoods, but probably avoid living right on El Camino Real, if only because of the noise & traffic. It has a large Asian population (all nationalities, but mainly Indian and Chinese), and you can find yummy food of every Asian country there! These demographics are mostly due to it's location, since a lot of Silicon Valley engineers & other employees live there.

I've never spent much time in Sunnyvale, since it's basically just what I described above... nothing spectacular about it, and there's no real "cultural life" or downtown scene. But it's close to other cool places, like Los Gatos/Saratoga, San Jose, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. The good news is that it's on the cheap end (by our standards ), probably due to the lack of activity. It also has all the big companies nearby, which is a plus if you work in the tech industry. Anyway, Sunnyvale is a nice place to live overall, and I think you'd be quite happy there!

[digdug]

I lived in Sunnyvale in the mid-90's. gizmo980 is right, there is no traditional downtown or local culture to speak of.

I lived in a pocket of Sunnyvale on the north end of Homestead, right near the Los Gatos border, near the intersection of Highway 280 and 85. The advantage of this spot was that it backed up to some of the western hills and wasn't so flat and urban feeling as the rest of the valley. Some of the neighborhoods in this area are very nice and at the time were not run down and tired looking as some others in the valley were. There are some great open space preserves and parks nearby too.

I never really felt that it wasn't safe there. I used to jog in my neighborhood after dark all the time. There was an apartment right next to mine which was burglerized and we'd get homeless folks or partying teens in the creek behind us from time to time. Overall the feeling was that it was pretty safe, using common sense and the usual cautions about urban areas of course.

Over time I didn't like hearing the hum of the highways and the rush of Silicon Valley life anymore, so I left for quiter surroundings. But these are personal choices. Overall I enjoyed Sunnyvale and the fact that it was a quick drive to most places in the south bay.

[CUDavidBanner]

I have a couple more questions...

How far is Sunnyvale from downtown San Francisco?

You said that Sunnyvale is on the cheap. How much is on the cheap?
How much would a 1 Bedroom apartment in general cost in Sunnyvale? What would you consider a livable salary for the area.

I've heard horror stories about California traffic. What is the commute like?

Thanks again

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by CUDavidBanner

I have a couple more questions...

How far is Sunnyvale from downtown San Francisco?

That depends on the day of the week, time of day, weather, sporting events, accidents, etc. Ideally, it should take about 45-50 minutes, but sometimes takes upwards of an hour or two. You can also ride CalTrain to the city, which should always take a little over an hour. This is great if you're only going to one destination, but if you're planning to run around SF, it's better to drive - though parking is a b-tch! BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is another option, which you can catch in Newark or Millbrae & ride all over the city.

You said that Sunnyvale is on the cheap. How much is on the cheap?
How much would a 1 Bedroom apartment in general cost in Sunnyvale? What would you consider a livable salary for the area.

Welllll, it's cheaper by Bay Area standards! A one-bedroom apartment will cost around $950-1300+, depending on how nice the location & complex are. I was recently looking at rentals there, and it's just a bit more expensive than where I am now... I'm only paying $900/mo for a two-bedroom, but it's a really bad neighborhood. The general "rule" is that you should make 3x what you pay in rent (before taxes), so I'd say a liveable salary is around $45-50K. Not sure what profession you're in, but that shouldn't be too difficult to find around here. I guess it also depends on your overall lifestyle, and how much you spend aside from rent... plus the general cost-of-living is higher out here, like for gas and food.

I've heard horror stories about California traffic. What is the commute like?

Thanks again

I won't lie, it's pretty bad!!! We have different traffic patterns than L.A., and probably fewer drivers on the road at any given time... but we seem to have more issues with road-rage (I've driven in LA many times, so I can compare!), and weekend traffic is more common. Basically it's very crowded during the typical rush-hours, which is about 7-9am & 4-6:30pm. But it can get bad almost any time of day, especially in the early afternoon going in/out of San Francisco. Then we get weekend traffic, usually heading in & out of the city, and around the stadiums when there's a football or baseball game (Oakland or SF).

Certain freeways are worse than others, so you have to plan your routes accordingly... 280 typically has the lightest traffic, but that's because it's very inconvenient to certain areas. If you live right in Sunnyvale, you can take 280 up to San Francisco, and into parts of San Jose or the western Peninsula. 101 gets horrible during rush-hour, and the whole East Bay corridor & "MacArthur Maze" is probably the worst overall. Yes, it's a real frustration, but you do learn to work with it... and I've personally been working on remaining calm (deep breathing & good music, LOL), which really helps with the road-rage. I'd suggest living close to work, since the daily commute can get very frustrating - thank goodness I don't work "normal" hours, and my last job was only 2 miles away!

[gizmo980]

P.S. You should check on "sfbay-dot-craigslist-dot-org", for rentals in the Sunnyvale area... select South Bay (sby) or Peninsula (pen), and then you can narrow it down even further in the rentals section.

[JakeDog]

Personally I'd suck it up and commute from SF to Sunnyvale. At the very least I'd live in Menlo Park. Sunnyvale is very dull.

[Dara]

I used to live there, a long time ago. It has the inland warm weather like most of inland areas around and surrounding SF. IT is NOT cheap! half a mil for a 3/2 house? nope. Rents are higher due to silicon valley's influx of computericism etc, and the hot spot for it's beginnings, and it boomed in the 70's and has never stopped, consequentially making rents go sky high as well as real estate.

[Allyarendt]

This is an old thread, but thought I would update it since we have a friend considering moving to Sunnyvale and he has the same questions. I'm sure that's still true for many people.

Sunnyvale is definitely a nice town, safe and all that. It is Silicon Valley suburbia -- a lot of Silicon Valley businesses there, but also leafy, quiet residential neighborhoods, nice parks, good schools and libraries, good rec programs of all kinds for kids. A lot of the residential neighborhoods are older, Eichler homes. Very pleasant and well laid out, but some of the houses now 40 years old.

Restaurants there are varied and good, partly b/c the many immigrant communities. But it's a better town for eating lunch than eating dinner -- a lot of the restaurants are of the strip mall quick lunch kind, less options for an evening out. Similarly, there is some night life, a few clubs, but thin pickings compared to San Francisco and closer environs. Even San Jose has more, b/c they have concert and sports venues. For families, Sunnyvale can be a great town if you can afford it -- good schools, many activities for kids. For a single person, Sunnyvale has job opportunities and some social opportunities, and plenty of apartment complexes that cater to young working professionals. But it is generally a work oriented town, and its rec activities are more geared to families.

Re cost -- well it's Silicon Valley. It is a very expensive town. A 40 year old Eichler of about 1700 sq feet will easily cost $900,000. However, compared to Palo Alto or the booming tech areas of San Francisco, still somewhat cheaper.

Traffic in Silicon Valley sucks, but mainly for people commuting in from outlying areas like the East Bay or Morgan Hill. The advantage of Sunnyvale is that you can live near where you work -- which of course is one reason it is expensive. If you rent an apartment in Sunnyvale and drive to work within the town, or within a few miles in Mountain View or San Jose, you will usually have a pretty easy commute of a few minutes. One friend of ours bikes to work from Sunnyvale to Mountain View and says it is an easy ride and not hard to find bike friendly routes.

So it's a trade-off. If you want areas with more exciting night life, look at Palo Alto or closer to San Francisco. But you'll probably pay more. If you want a cheaper apartment, consider the East Bay - but then you'll have to deal with the commute.