Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-10-2012, 02:09 PM
 
30,896 posts, read 36,954,250 times
Reputation: 34521

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
No I'm just being a prick and answering my topics without reading the answers here.
That's what it seems like.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-10-2012, 02:22 PM
 
30,896 posts, read 36,954,250 times
Reputation: 34521
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
I feel like I sound racist, which I am totally against for. It just didn't feel like home when I saw kids of families playing and swimming in ornamental pools (we had a real swimming pool as well), with their parents in their traditional clothes eating very smelly food. Yes, this is their culture, I do support their way of living. It's an awesome culture as well, if only this was not the place I had to live. It's great to see these cultures "in action" when I travel and when I'm ready for it. But it feels strange to live in there and see this everyday and persuade yourself this is your new life. It just backs me off really much... Other than I'm the last person to think about racial problems, skin color, etc. I do not care, my concern is way of living and I respect them so I choose to live in another place where I would not be disturbed and those people would be happy as well...

I just don't know if an american family would rent an apartment if they are earning a decent salary. Most american families prefer to live in houses. I'm just so confused. I would love to have my own garden, turn on music and be relaxed that I don't have to oblige by community rules but money is an issue. Apparently with this salary of mine, I can only live middle-low life which makes me already sad. I either need a partner who can bring an extra salary or I have to work at least 10 years to finally live a life I want. Then this does kill all the touted advantages of SV, etc, etc... I'm confused and already sad.
Realistic expectations are always painful in the short run, but they bring great benefits in the long run.

I would try to look for the smaller apartment complexes if possible, especially if the landlord is local (although this is difficult as there aren't too many local landlords). The corporate landlords don't care who they rent to.

You also now know why many people leave California. Owning (or even renting) a single family detached house with a yard on a single income is out of reach for the vast majority of people in the coastal CA metro areas. In most instances it takes two full time professional incomes to buy a modest 3BR tract house in this area (if you don't want to be house poor).
Add kids to this picture, and the incentive to move somewhere else gets multiplied.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-10-2012, 02:38 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
1,790 posts, read 2,926,480 times
Reputation: 1277
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
I feel like I sound racist, which I am totally against for. It just didn't feel like home when I saw kids of families playing and swimming in ornamental pools (we had a real swimming pool as well), with their parents in their traditional clothes eating very smelly food. Yes, this is their culture, I do support their way of living. It's an awesome culture as well, if only this was not the place I had to live. It's great to see these cultures "in action" when I travel and when I'm ready for it. But it feels strange to live in there and see this everyday and persuade yourself this is your new life. It just backs me off really much... Other than I'm the last person to think about racial problems, skin color, etc. I do not care, my concern is way of living and I respect them so I choose to live in another place where I would not be disturbed and those people would be happy as well...

I just don't know if an american family would rent an apartment if they are earning a decent salary. Most american families prefer to live in houses. I'm just so confused. I would love to have my own garden, turn on music and be relaxed that I don't have to oblige by community rules but money is an issue. Apparently with this salary of mine, I can only live middle-low life which makes me already sad. I either need a partner who can bring an extra salary or I have to work at least 10 years to finally live a life I want. Then this does kill all the touted advantages of SV, etc, etc... I'm confused and already sad.
i can sympathize. i wasn't raised to be racist either but when i left san jose in 2001 i definitely felt like i was a minority there. and i hear it's even worse now. i can see that just from reading this forum!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-10-2012, 08:22 PM
 
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
9,197 posts, read 16,841,346 times
Reputation: 6373
Quote:
Originally Posted by 5thgenSF View Post
when i left san jose in 2001 i definitely felt like i was a minority there.
Is it an imperitave to be among the "majority?"
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-10-2012, 08:32 PM
 
122 posts, read 260,366 times
Reputation: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdumbgod View Post
Is it an imperitave to be among the "majority?"
If this is about your living space, yes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-10-2012, 08:38 PM
 
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
9,197 posts, read 16,841,346 times
Reputation: 6373
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
If this is about your living space, yes.
No majority of any kind in our neighborhood in Burbank. That's why people like it here. Diversity = good.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2012, 01:30 PM
 
765 posts, read 2,440,764 times
Reputation: 701
Quote:
2.5k house
(a car bought with cash)-no monthly cost
1k utilities+phone+groceries+all other personal expenses (this was 300$ in LA so 1000$ should be enough)

3-3.5k for saving
Much better, although, housing seems to still be to high. Do you have student loans?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2012, 01:44 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
3,683 posts, read 9,860,889 times
Reputation: 3016
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
So my revised plan:

2.5k house
(a car bought with cash)-no monthly cost
1k utilities+phone+groceries+all other personal expenses (this was 300$ in LA so 1000$ should be enough)

3-3.5k for saving.
Your take home is only going to be about $5k/month. Your marginal tax rate is going to be something like 7.65% FICA, 9.3% state income tax, 33% Federal income tax.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2012, 02:25 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
1,790 posts, read 2,926,480 times
Reputation: 1277
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdumbgod View Post
Is it an imperitave to be among the "majority?"
yes. when i have trouble finding a job because i don't speak mandarin or spanish (or something other than english) it is a problem. the neighbor boy stealing me blind and i couldn't speak to his parents because they didn't speak english and he was their translator!! i could go on but that is enough.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2012, 02:41 PM
 
3,457 posts, read 3,622,976 times
Reputation: 1544
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
So my revised plan:

2.5k house
(a car bought with cash)-no monthly cost
1k utilities+phone+groceries+all other personal expenses (this was 300$ in LA so 1000$ should be enough)

3-3.5k for saving.
re: automobile ..

my advice is to spend about $15,000-$20,000 on a used Honda or Toyota. i think that is "the sweet spot" in terms of affordable, reliable transportation. Others may disagree.. whatever. Point is that you don't need to limit yourself to these two extremes, of (A) buying a brand new Audi and (B) buying a beater with cash. There's nothing wrong with financing a car as long as it's a reasonable price with reasonable terms.

re: what you're missing ..

what you're missing is that many of these folks have wealth; you just have income.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:35 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top