Moving to silicon valley - please help with location/school (San Jose: renting, how much)

[Heidi60]

Originally Posted by jk88cal

Cupertino schools are close to 90% Asian (majority are Chinese and Indian). I heard the schools are very competitive and reflected in the scores.

On the peninsula along 101 north of Mountain View, there are not many choices. The cities from south to north from Mountain View are: Mountain View, Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Carlos, Belmont, Foster City, San Mateo, etc. I thought Redwood City is reasonable balance between distance and schools. Except for East Palo Alto, Redwood City probably has the worst schools (in general) among these cities. But you can find good local area with good elementary school. Not sure how the rents compare vs Cupertino, so you have to do that search.

There is also a huge muslim school in Santa Clara but I don't know whether their enrollment status.

[SiliconWriter]

Cupertino is wonderful as are the people and the schools. In this area, commenting that an area consists of "mostly Asians," is generalizing. The SF Bay Area has a high immigrant population of professionals who encourage their kids to do do well in school, take personal responsibility, and have strong work ethic. Personally, I would probably prefer to live in a majority Asian area myself. The SF Bay Area offers a unique experience difference from where you are moving. Enjoy.

[kdog]

Definitely check out Almaden in San Jose. The public schools are all blue-ribbon. It's a beautiful, quiet and safe area. The commute is vastly overhyped IMHO. If you can stagger your hours either before 8 AM or after 9AM it's a piece of cake. Even at the height of rush hour it's really not that bad. 35 or 40 minutes maybe tops. But don't take anybody's word for it. Try the drive yourself some morning.

[shoenberg3]

Does Cupertino really have significantly lower rent prices than Palo Alto? That's bit surprising if true.

[osakafrog]

Yeah it seems that way. Cupertino and Sunnyvale are much lower compared with Palo Alto for similar houses, sizes...

[SportyandMisty]

Consider living in a (relatively) more affordable area without the best schools and then send your children to private school.

The other thing is this: after a while, you may very well conclude that your family's total income is not sufficient to provide the lifestyle you want. You'll need to find a way to generate more income.

[osakafrog]

That is also another interesting route too. Much better school choice and more room in the house. Any area you might suggest me looking into?

We already don't like what we are getting into. We are buying an opportunity. If we still have to sacrifice so much for several years out we will turn around.

[Nell Plotts]

In that case rent. The transaction costs of buying, then selling, a house (particularly in this market) are huge. If, after a couple years, the opportunity is all that you hoped for and you plan to live here for many years then buy.

[osakafrog]

Yeah that seems to be our only choice anyway. We are taking huge risks going this route. We will be lying to ourselves if we think we prefer the lifestyle there (basically not much). It's an opportunity and that is all there is. My friends are contacting me trying to rent me their homes close to 5 digit a month. They buy houses that are in the $mils for airspace. I don't know how they could do it but I get nauseated every time when I hear the stories of someone bidding up high to beat all other cash payers... I get sick to my stomach. Will the city change me eventually? I hope not. I hope I hold my own and stay true.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by SiliconWriter

Cupertino is wonderful as are the people and the schools. In this area, commenting that an area consists of "mostly Asians," is generalizing. The SF Bay Area has a high immigrant population of professionals who encourage their kids to do do well in school, take personal responsibility, and have strong work ethic. Personally, I would probably prefer to live in a majority Asian area myself. The SF Bay Area offers a unique experience difference from where you are moving. Enjoy.

I lived in Cupertino our first year here, too, just a few years ago. I will attest, yes, it is mostly Asians with Indians a close second. Having said that, I felt very safe and there was very little crime. I left my garage door open and then the door to the house unlocked (by accident) for several hours and not a thing missing. Never once saw graffiti. I think the kids are all too busy inside studying! I rarely saw school-aged kids just out playing or at the parks. It was mostly younger moms/grandparents and younger kids. We weren't making any friends when we took kids to the park, though, so it could be lonely if you are trying to meet other parent friends and you are not Asian or Indian. We would go to the park and literally be the only family there (week days) who was not Asian. So yes, it is mostly Asian in my experience.

As my kids didn't go to school there, we were paying an atrocious amount for a horrible dumpy rental house with awful property managers so for us it quickly became Not Worth It and we moved to one of the nice but more affordable areas with schools no one wants to send their children to. I did like it there, though. It was an unusual experience for me being a minority where I lived, but that wasn't the catalyst in moving out by any means.