Apartment rental rates, why so high? Is quality of life in San Jose that good? (Palo Alto: real estate, buying a house)

[Guitarplr]

I moved from San Jose to Albq back in 2007. Part of the reason I left was the high cost of rent/living. Since I've lived here in Albq Ive saved up some money and have considered moving back to San Jose. I been looking at rental prices and wow! Very expensive stuff. There's a huge part of me that understands why people are willing to pay the high costs, one of the reasons being the insanely could and oppressive winters most of the United States suffers from. It's a living hell being trapped indoors during the winter because its simply to dam cold to go outside. You people may be wondering why I'm complaining about winter and it's "Mid-June", Because winter time here in Albq is a living hell and impossible to forget about. So anyway, I was just wondering what people on here think about the cost of living in San Jose and if the Quality of life is worth the cost, as far as the mild San Jose winters are concerned I would say yes.

[bigdumbgod]

Fro starters, the median household income around here is ~ $80,000.

[Guitarplr]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Fro starters, the median household income around here is ~ $80,000.

Exactly,

[StandingRoomOnly]

I think it depends on your income and what your goals for the future are...meaning, what kind of lifestyle do you want? Is it necessary for you to purchase a certain kind of house in a specific area? Are material things important to you? We have friends who have left the area because they did want to purchase a nice house and "get ahead" having extra savings (nothing wrong with that). To be honest, they really aren't saving more now than when they moved. Their lifestyle is about the same. I think most people tend to spend the same way they did where they had lived previous to moving...having cheaper housing is nice, but you may be giving up a lot of things you enjoyed about where you lived previously if cheaper housing is one of the main reasons you are moving someplace new.

If buying a house isn't a perplexing and nagging thought in back of your head, moving back may be a great idea. But for a lot of people, owning a home is ingrained as being a necessity at almost any cost.

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by Guitarplr

I moved from San Jose to Albq back in 2007. Part of the reason I left was the high cost of rent/living. Since I've lived here in Albq Ive saved up some money and have considered moving back to San Jose. I been looking at rental prices and wow! Very expensive stuff. There's a huge part of me that understands why people are willing to pay the high costs, one of the reasons being the insanely could and oppressive winters most of the United States suffers from. It's a living hell being trapped indoors during the winter because its simply to dam cold to go outside. You people may be wondering why I'm complaining about winter and it's "Mid-June", Because winter time here in Albq is a living hell and impossible to forget about. So anyway, I was just wondering what people on here think about the cost of living in San Jose and if the Quality of life is worth the cost, as far as the mild San Jose winters are concerned I would say yes.

In terms of career opportunities for me I think it's worth it, the weather is just a fringe benefit for me, seeing I'll be coming from Miami to San Jose, the weather is nicer in San Jose and so is the landscape, will miss the beach though and the whole Coconut Rum Shack vibe.

I'm originally from the Northeast, spent time in the Dirty South for a few years and down to Miami for a number of years and now looking to San Jose.

If you want to experience nice winters you need to spend a few of them in the Northeast and try to commute to work and back, real joy. Especially in some of the most highly densely populated portions, pure driving enjoyment. Sometimes you get lucky and old man winter is lazy, pretty to look at, but no joy to shovel or to drive in.

[mysticaltyger]

The housing market here is chronically under-supplied, as is the case in most coastal CA metro areas. That's because:

1. The area is mostly built up.
2. Tax disincentives discourage cities from building new housing because the revenue from real estate taxes doesn't cover the cost of services for new residents.
3. NIMBYs who fight tooth and nail against any and all new development, often using the excuse of being pro-environment.

[gone down south]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The housing market here is chronically under-supplied, as is the case in most coastal CA metro areas. That's because:

1. The area is mostly built up.
2. Tax disincentives discourage cities from building new housing because the revenue from real estate taxes doesn't cover the cost of services for new residents.
3. NIMBYs who fight tooth and nail against any and all new development, often using the excuse of being pro-environment.

Plus tech money is still flowing pretty freely, artificially boosting the amount of disposable income people have to spend on things like rent.

[SportyandMisty]

It is not uncommon to find, say, a 3 bedroom apartment with 3+ engineers renting it.

[sjnative]

"So high" because that's what the market will bear. Duh.

"Quality of life worth it?" is a misconceived question. People don't live in SJ so much for the QOL as becuase it's cheaper than Palo Alto/Menlo Park/Los Altos Hills/Los Gatos but it's still close enough to their tech jobs.

Re: northeastern winters- I'm a native of SJ, have lived here all my life and I don't need to live in the ne to know we have what I call perfect winters. The people in the snow belt taunt us by saying they we don't have "true" seasons and I hope they keep doing so if that helps them to rationalize living in their hell which I hope they stay in rather than coming to CA as we already have far too many people from the ne here in CA.

[easybay]

1. The area is mostly built up.

This is the best answer. Bottom line is geography. San Jose is in a Valley, and there is simply a limited supply of land for expansion.