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Old 12-26-2012, 05:18 AM
 
109 posts, read 136,123 times
Reputation: 145

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Santa Cruz.... if you can handle the trip over the mountain to San Jose on 17, it's a racetrack or a crawl and I'd say a pretty dangerous commute at times. A bit of a music scene, close to Monterey, and heck it's a beach town. It sounds like you'd be bored to tears in Morgan Hill or Gilroy. Los Gatos $$$$....ouch, nice but not really an action spot I wouldn't say. Just moved from the east coast (working in SJ) and ended up in Santa Clara in the old downtown area, it's very nice but too far to Watsonville I'd think (although it would be a reverse commute), if you don't have to go too frequently it could be a fit that gets you into SJ in just minutes and puts San Francisco within close reach via Caltrain. Best wishes in your new home.
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Old 12-26-2012, 04:24 PM
 
Location: Planet Earth
1,963 posts, read 3,043,535 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aslowdodge View Post
I originally thought of Santa Cruz, but if you can afford it I would try to stay in the Los Gatos area or nearby. So many more options for lifestyle I think.
The highway-17/highway-1 interchange (in Santa Cruz), and the next 5 miles through Aptos can be a royal ***** if you have to drive them during commute hours, or "beach traffic". I've spent over 45 minutes on that 5-miles stretch.

That's a reason to avoid Los Gatos (and Scott's Valley) if you have to drive to Watsonville during commute hours.
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Old 12-28-2012, 01:21 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,152,138 times
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Santa Cruz is great if you can tolerate the Hwy 1 (and 17) traffic. It can be truly horrendous. But, you may find the lifestyle there to be worth the tradeoff.
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Old 12-28-2012, 05:29 PM
 
6,802 posts, read 6,714,500 times
Reputation: 1911
I think we need to measure OP's hipness quotient.

Is he Hipster hip?

Or just Hip to be Square hip?
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Old 12-28-2012, 07:10 PM
 
Location: Upper East, NY
1,145 posts, read 3,000,213 times
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Answer is obviously Los Gatos. OP did not ask for the moon- a downtown with a few bars and good restaurants - that Los Gatos has, few other Bay Area cities do and certainly nothing halfway close to SJ & Watsonville at the same time have.

Santa Cruz might do it but maybe not for a non-dope smoking non-hipster.

For commute, I would pick Los Gatos because Santa Cruz --> San Jose is miserable and with the commute. LG --> Watsonville is reverse. When driving to SJ, it is a lot easier to start in LG. When driving 17, a lot easier to do it on reverse commute.
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Old 12-30-2012, 01:18 AM
 
14 posts, read 49,108 times
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"Santa Cruz might do it but maybe not for a non-dope smoking non-hipster."

LOL. Not as hip as i'd like to believe. Don't smoke pot regularly (although i'm sure i can get better at it if it will help me fit in
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Old 01-03-2013, 11:57 PM
 
Location: KKKalfornia
493 posts, read 783,230 times
Reputation: 277
i wouldnt recommend a commute to or from or thru santa cruz, its a commute you get stuck with, not one to seek out.

it wd be helfpful to know what part of SJ you'd be working in.

watsonville-san jose are connected by HWY 101, to anyone commonly having to connect the 2 cities, i would suggest to start looking along 101. los gatos and saratoga are on the exact opposite side of the valley as the 101 corridor.

as far as looking for some night life action in the south bay, the best i can recommend is to come with low expectations, and youre less likely to be dissapointed

the good news is theres alot of tech dork guys out here so if you a normal guy with an inkling of personality finding female companionship shouldnt be an issue
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Old 01-18-2013, 10:09 AM
 
29 posts, read 65,816 times
Reputation: 31
Default Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz might be the best place to situate in terms of overall livability....
-Has a real downtown plus lots of other small towns around it ( Capitola, Aptos, etc)
-Close to many beaches, within walking distance depending on where you choose to live.
-Wide range of ages, and activities
-Closer commute to Watsonville than to San Jose, but Santa Cruz is an overall a better choice for a 40 year old than Los Gatos or Saratoga, for certain, unless you are really conservative in which case you might prefer those locations.
- Santa Cruz has wonderful climate, sunny, cooler in the summer than San Jose.
- If you are athletic Santa Cruz is a wonderful option- biking, surfing, kayaking, hiking nearby.
- Nice farmer's market downtown
- No need to be a hipster to live in Santa Cruz, that's a bay area response from someone who must not have spent much time in SC. I would say there's a more liberal vibe in Santa Cruz.
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Old 02-19-2013, 08:37 PM
 
6 posts, read 39,375 times
Reputation: 10
Unless you love competitive driving I would never recomend commuting on highway 17 over the the hill, either way, from Santa Cruz to SJ! It's like the indy 500 complete with poorly constructed long turns up and down hill with tons of road rage and accidents! But can't think of any "hip" places. Best advice I saw for commuting was from the rather boring, but affordable Morgan Hill/South San Jose areas, then driving to entertainment areas using 101 and 85
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Old 02-19-2013, 09:30 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
13,561 posts, read 10,355,232 times
Reputation: 8252
Quote:
Originally Posted by CousinMaynard View Post
i wouldnt recommend a commute to or from or thru santa cruz, its a commute you get stuck with, not one to seek out.

it wd be helfpful to know what part of SJ you'd be working in.

watsonville-san jose are connected by HWY 101, to anyone commonly having to connect the 2 cities, i would suggest to start looking along 101. los gatos and saratoga are on the exact opposite side of the valley as the 101 corridor.
If you're going to Watsonville from the Valley, Los Gatos and Saratoga connect to 101 South via 85.
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