Would it be a good choice to move to Silicon Valley / Bay Area? (San Jose: 2014, rentals)

[sbarton1981]

I have been looking into possibly moving to the Bay Area or Silicon Valley. My husband is an Information Engineer (his main focus is ETL, Oracle, and OWB) and I have always heard that Silicon Valley is the best place for computer programmers and IT people to live and make a good living. Right now we live in Oklahoma City. The weather here drives me absolutely crazy. But anyway, on to my question or questions I guess. Would this be a good place for our family to move to (me, him and 2 kids *ages 5 & 6) to move to? And does anyone know what he could possibly make in salary, he has 6 years experience? We have looked at salaries at Facebook on Glassdoor and it never tells you how many years experience are needed to make the higher salaries. I know he would have to make possibly triple what he makes here to have a decent quality of life there. I just don’t know if he has enough years of experience yet to make it out that way yet. By the time we are able to move out there, he will have 7 years of expereince because we have to stick around here until May of 2014. Thanks in advance for any info.

[mysticaltyger]

Typically salaries here are higher than other parts of the U.S. but they are nowhere near triple unless you are really an absolute star.

The weather here is great most of the year, but believe me, life here is no piece of cake for a couple raising 3 kids. The schools outside the best districts are generally lousy and homes in the good districts are extremely expensive (think $1M for a 3BR house). The workplace is more demanding. There is more traffic. Home prices are much higher for much less house. You're probably better off where you are.

[easybay]

The weather here drives me absolutely crazy.

What exactly about the weather is driving you crazy?

There are numerous posts on this board about the trade offs for living here. HIGH taxes, high cost of living, lack of affordable/available housing, poor schools. We were just discussing the "sexy" factor of living here in the bay area. So what. Yes we are surrounded by mountains, but realistically, we go hiking a couple of times a year. We made it down to the beach last Friday - one of the FEW times we weren't fogged in, and it was actually sunny (for 1/2 the walk then the fog rolled in). We got stuck in traffic on 17 getting there. We cringe at driving into SF because of the traffic, and who wants to drive 60 minutes back after eating dinner?

The majority of your life you are in your home, driving to work, and at work. So you would be giving up a higher standard of living, friends, and family for what? Better weather walking to your car?

[ccm123]

As with anywhere, there are trade-offs to living here. This is not utopia, though.

Pluses:
1/ Access to top technology companies, for technology jobs.
2/ Educated work force and population.
3/ Relatively good job market, if you are skilled.
4/ Nice weather, natural beauty.
5/ Cultural diversity.

Negatives:
1/ High cost of living.
2/ Crowded.
3/ Competition for resources: homes, schools, jobs, etc

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by easybay

What exactly about the weather is driving you crazy?

There are numerous posts on this board about the trade offs for living here. HIGH taxes, high cost of living, lack of affordable/available housing, poor schools. We were just discussing the "sexy" factor of living here in the bay area. So what. Yes we are surrounded by mountains, but realistically, we go hiking a couple of times a year. We made it down to the beach last Friday - one of the FEW times we weren't fogged in, and it was actually sunny (for 1/2 the walk then the fog rolled in). We got stuck in traffic on 17 getting there. We cringe at driving into SF because of the traffic, and who wants to drive 60 minutes back after eating dinner?

The majority of your life you are in your home, driving to work, and at work. So you would be giving up a higher standard of living, friends, and family for what? Better weather walking to your car?

I agree that there are tradeoffs, but you're really downplaying the benefits IMO. The "sexy" factor applies more towards weather than mountains. You may be at home/work most of the time, but you're still in the city/town ALL of the time. Even when you're inside, weather isn't as irrelevant as you'd make yourself believe.

[sbarton1981]

I was referring to the constant threat of tornados from March until June and then again from September until November, how one day it could be in the 70s or 80s and the next down in the 40s. Summers that the temperatures get up to the 110s. Hail storms at night. Hail storms during the day. So no, I am not just looking forward for better weather walking to my car, I am looking towards no tornados or hail dropping from the sky, no extreme temperature changes. We don't take our kids outside here because of the allergens. There may be one or two weeks out of the year that we can take the kids outside to play when it isn't too cold or too hot.

We are not looking into buying out there for a long while. We have rented and owned a home, and we both prefer renting over buying.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by easybay

What exactly about the weather is driving you crazy?

There are numerous posts on this board about the trade offs for living here. HIGH taxes, high cost of living, lack of affordable/available housing, poor schools. We were just discussing the "sexy" factor of living here in the bay area. So what. Yes we are surrounded by mountains, but realistically, we go hiking a couple of times a year. We made it down to the beach last Friday - one of the FEW times we weren't fogged in, and it was actually sunny (for 1/2 the walk then the fog rolled in). We got stuck in traffic on 17 getting there. We cringe at driving into SF because of the traffic, and who wants to drive 60 minutes back after eating dinner?

The majority of your life you are in your home, driving to work, and at work. So you would be giving up a higher standard of living, friends, and family for what? Better weather walking to your car?

I agree that there are tradeoffs, but you're really downplaying the benefits IMO and introducing a couple of straw mans. The "sexy" factor applies more towards weather than mountains. You may be at home/work most of the time, but you're still in the city/town ALL of the time. Even when you're inside, weather isn't as irrelevant as you'd make yourself believe.

The OP didn't mention giving up friends or family, and there's nothing about moving to a new place that prevents someone from making new friends.

[StandingRoomOnly]

You will get quite the range of opinions here as it should be. I think it really depends on your husband's current experience and how in demand his qualifications are here currently (have you been seeing lots of jobs available in SV with his qualifications?). My guess would be anywhere from 90-130k, depending on the company and how specialized he is...

If I could really recommend something, for a better quality of life for your family (based on your income) and slower pace I would recommend living south of San Jose (Morgan Hill, San Martin or Gilroy) or northeast of Fremont towards Livermore. I am biased towards Morgan Hill because I live here, but honestly, my husband works 15 minutes away commuting to South San Jose. I hardly ever contend with traffic, unless I am visiting friends in Fremont or further up 101 or 880. Everything I need is here, and LOVE it here. You have the scenery of someplace away from the city (Lake 5 minutes away from my house), trails 5 minutes away, farmland in between housing developements and animals...cows, sheep, buffalo, deer, wild turkeys, etc. There are good schools here, but you will need to do your research before making the move to make sure you end up living in the area of the school of your choice.

To avoid the long commute, your husband should make a list of the companies that are located closest to the town you want to live in...there are even companies hiring engineers right here in Morgan Hill...look at south San Jose--quite a few tech companies to look into there.

Even with a salary boost for your husband, you should go in expecting you will likely need to adjust your lifestyle expectations to live in this area (even in a less expensive town on the outskirts)...If you aren't the "spender type" and more on the thrifty side already, you should be fine living here.

On the negative side of moving here...you may feel as though you can never get "ahead" in your husband's salary range...meaning, buying a house and feeling like you can settle in, if you do have plans on buying. Being able to relax with spending, probably will not happen. House prices are on the rise...lots of people sitting on the side jumping in now with all cash offers or a large downpayment. Really think carefully about what your *spending* lifestyle is like now, and how you will most definitely be cutting back by moving here (even with the salary increase).

[ccm123]

One of the main differences that I found while living here vs. Southern California (may not apply in your case), was the housing prices and size of the homes/rentals. In Southern California (which is also expensive, by most measures), your housing dollars can get you a larger home or rental. Here in Silicon Valley, you pay more, for something smaller.

[easybay]

The "sexy" factor applies more towards weather than mountains.

The "sexy" factor I was implying was living in a valley, close to mountains/beach/napa/SF. When you don't have $$ at the end of the day and are too tired to even think of getting into your car because of the traffic, live in a crappy small house...for what?

OP - since it was Tornados/hail/cold at the top of your list - you may want to consider Austin over San Jose. You'll still have to deal with the heat BUT you can afford to buy a house with a pool (how's that for sexy?). Texas has great schools, Austin is a fun place to live - close to San Antonio, and a few hours drive south down to the beaches of San Padre.

Also, having lived all over the US - we find San Jose to be really bad for allergens - and suffer from hay fever, itchy eyes, and sneezing all year long.