Single Gal: Sticker Shock in Silicon Valley (San Jose, San Francisco: school, casinos)

[kdog]

I'm from the east coast as well. The Bay Area is an outdoorsperson's mecca. No question. Silicon Valley is a "valley", with mountain ranges to play in full of parks and trails on either side. You have the coast, wine country, Tahoe, and tons more. The weather is the best in the country.

A few days ago, you asked about the commute from Los Gatos to Mountain View. No problem. There are a few slow-downs depending on what time you're heading up the peninsula. If you can stagger your hours, it's no problem. Otherwise, you'll spend an extra maybe 15 minutes during the commute hours. Not a huge deal.

Oh, one more thing. This whole concept of "live where you work" is a pretty idealistic viewpoint in an area where the average employee stays in a job for just 2 or 3 years. Nobody wants to move that often.

[RVD90277]

I just got back from a business trip to the bay area.

1) I met up with some friends for a picnic in Palo Alto. There were a few houses for sale in the area but these are small ramblers in the 1500-2200 sq ft size and they were going for $2-$3m. the bigger homes that are 2 stories and in the 5 bedroom 3000-3500 sq ft range were a crazy $5.5m! I work in tech and I think I make pretty good money but there's no way that I could afford to live there.

2) I live in Seattle and am thinking of relocating to the bay area in a few years. My housing budget after selling my house here would probably be around $2m but I'm used to having a lot of space and would want at least 4 bedrooms and 2500 sq ft. Ideally we'd have 5-6 bedrooms and 4000+ sq ft. Just for reference, we currently live in a house with 7 bedroom and 6900 sq ft (and we actually do use up all of the space - family of 6 ppl) which I know sounds ridiculous but technically I would be downsizing.

3) Traffic was pretty bad. I also lived in LA for 15+ years and I think the traffic in the bay area is just as bad.

4) I'm not sure if the targeting of H1Bs for naturegirl is the right approach. They are usually pretty young and not really the type who want to settle down. The ones who do want to settle down are ones who didn't / couldn't get married in their home countries. I think the OP is thinking of the cool renaissance man while in reality she's going to get a computer nerd that she feels she is way above. You may want to take a stroll on the campuses of some of these tech companies with someone who works there to get an idea (for some campuses (e.g. facebook), you will need to be invited in). you should watch the hbo tv show "silicon valley" for some examples. my examples of what most of us look like (heck, me included...):

(actually, these are probably some of the better looking examples)

white guy: napoleon dynamite
asian guy: jerry yang
indian guy: sundar pichai

H1Bs are the asian and (mostly) indian guys.

You actually sound like you're in decent shape and probably look ok and are a bit out of the league of these guys in terms of looks. But guys like this are also looking for girls that are more traditional - will cook at home, child rearing, good to their parents (we're all mama's boys), etc. we're not necessarily looking for a trophy wife that we can show off at galas, late night parties at clubs, trips to vegas, etc.

RVD.

[Azmordean]

Originally Posted by RVD90277

I just got back from a business trip to the bay area.

1) I met up with some friends for a picnic in Palo Alto. There were a few houses for sale in the area but these are small ramblers in the 1500-2200 sq ft size and they were going for $2-$3m. the bigger homes that are 2 stories and in the 5 bedroom 3000-3500 sq ft range were a crazy $5.5m! I work in tech and I think I make pretty good money but there's no way that I could afford to live there.

2) I live in Seattle and am thinking of relocating to the bay area in a few years. My housing budget after selling my house here would probably be around $2m but I'm used to having a lot of space and would want at least 4 bedrooms and 2500 sq ft. Ideally we'd have 5-6 bedrooms and 4000+ sq ft. Just for reference, we currently live in a house with 7 bedroom and 6900 sq ft (and we actually do use up all of the space - family of 6 ppl) which I know sounds ridiculous but technically I would be downsizing.

3) Traffic was pretty bad. I also lived in LA for 15+ years and I think the traffic in the bay area is just as bad.

4) I'm not sure if the targeting of H1Bs for naturegirl is the right approach. They are usually pretty young and not really the type who want to settle down. The ones who do want to settle down are ones who didn't / couldn't get married in their home countries. I think the OP is thinking of the cool renaissance man while in reality she's going to get a computer nerd that she feels she is way above. You may want to take a stroll on the campuses of some of these tech companies with someone who works there to get an idea (for some campuses (e.g. facebook), you will need to be invited in). you should watch the hbo tv show "silicon valley" for some examples. my examples of what most of us look like (heck, me included...):

(actually, these are probably some of the better looking examples)

white guy: napoleon dynamite
asian guy: jerry yang
indian guy: sundar pichai

H1Bs are the asian and (mostly) indian guys.

You actually sound like you're in decent shape and probably look ok and are a bit out of the league of these guys in terms of looks. But guys like this are also looking for girls that are more traditional - will cook at home, child rearing, good to their parents (we're all mama's boys), etc. we're not necessarily looking for a trophy wife that we can show off at galas, late night parties at clubs, trips to vegas, etc.

RVD.

Haha, hopefully this post is tongue in cheek. Yes some guys in the Valley fit these stereotypes but by no means all. I haven't reached all my goals yet, but speaking for myself, I'm about as far from napoleon dynamite as one could get. I work out 5-6 days a week for one. Granted, I'm not an engineer, but still . I know of plenty of folks in engineering who still spend a good amount of time at the gym or doing outdoor stuff and know how to dress - though maybe not the majority .

I think OP will have no trouble meeting the types of men she's looking for, though I agree with you for the most part they probably aren't straight out of school H1B types.

Course I think moving just because of a perceived better dating pool is silly in the first place, in any major metro area there are people to meet. But if OP finds herself here I think she'll be just fine.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Unbelievable. Do some of you think that driving 5 miles is too far or something? You must really, really, really hate driving in your car.

The Bay Area has amazing nature in every direction. Do people never cross the Golden Gate bridge into Marin County??

The Marin Headlands is nice. I would recommend that everyone go there at least once. It's a great place for tourists. But for me to get there from Mountain View would take at least and hour and a half drive through the city in heavy traffic, plus a $5 bridge toll. Three hours if driving and $5 to visit a park over run with tourists is hardly worth it.

I'm about an hour away from any type of nature. Even farther from a real wilderness area. Most people I know take the entire weekend and drive to Yosemite, to enjoy nature. They don't even wast their time with anything closer.

Thats a big difference from other cities where you can be high in the mountains in 30 minutes.

[Azmordean]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

The Marin Headlands is nice. I would recommend that everyone go there at least once. It's a great place for tourists. But for me to get there from Mountain View would take at least and hour and a half drive through the city in heavy traffic, plus a $5 bridge toll. Three hours if driving and $5 to visit a park over run with tourists is hardly worth it.

I'm about an hour away from any type of nature. Even farther from a real wilderness area. Most people I know take the entire weekend and drive to Yosemite, to enjoy nature. They don't even wast their time with anything closer.

Thats a big difference from other cities where you can be high in the mountains in 30 minutes.

What other cities do you speak of? Unless you mean Denver, I'm not aware of too many where you can be in true wilderness in 30min.

The Santa Cruz Mountains are a fantastic resource, and are very close. They certainly are not quite as wild as the Sierra, but there are still plenty of wild areas and great state parks. Big Basin Redwoods is one of the largest state parks in California.

You also mention tourists and places being overrun. Somewhat true, but my experience is the instant you hike more than about 2 miles you have a lot more solitude. Most people are frankly lazy and don't want to venture too far from the parking lot.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by NatureGirl26

I'm going to miss this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=st+j...iw=320&bih=356

That's five hours away from Atlanta. If you are willing to travel five hours from the Bay Area, you can be in Yosemite National Park, the redwood forests or have all kinds of beach opportunities.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Azmordean

What other cities do you speak of? Unless you mean Denver, I'm not aware of too many where you can be in true wilderness in 30min.

Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno, of the places I have lived. Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, would probably be even better.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by NatureGirl26

Sea in Dublin, a 2500 sq. ft. house is not considered a large house in the Atlanta metro. Any smaller and I'd have to get a townhome. I'm not a fan of those. I like my space and a yard with lots of trees, a lawn, and a plot to grow flowers and vegetables. My family lives here, so that couple in AL circumstance doesn't apply to me.

For the record, I have three bedrooms and 2.5 baths in my house. I like having a spare bedroom for my guests and the other bedroom is a study. It's not a lot of rooms, but the rooms are large and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I do need all the space.

I enjoy my house tremendously. It's beautiful, updated, and I take a lot of pride in keeping it that way.

Atlanta is no Alabama. We have the world's largest airport, Coca Cola, CNN, The Weather Channel, Delta Airlines, UPS, Home Depot, the U.S. headquarters of dozens of European multinational companies (look up UCB) and major operation hubs for AT&T, Verizon, ADP, IBM, HP, McKesson. We have GA Tech and Emory.

Yes, it's still mostly black and white but there is a significant Cuban, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, European (many Germans, Brits, Swiss, French, and Italian executives), and Nigerian population.

We have 3 months of heat and humidity and it isn't anywhere as bad as Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, Tampa, or Miami. We have air-conditioning everywhere and the evenings are cool enough to go hiking to Kennesaw Mountain or kayaking on the Hooch.

No, not considered large for a family of four, but too much house for a single person.

You could have gone with a smaller home, which also means lower property taxes.

And you have more than 3 months of heat and humidity. I have been there.

May not last as long as FL, but it is brutal and goes for more than 3 months.

You're in GA not MA.

In fact next week you're in the 80s with 70% humidity.

Sorry, the temps don't drop in the south like they do in the west in the hot months. It can still be hot and muggy at night.

I will take a dry heat any day over humidity.

[Azmordean]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno, of the places I have lived. Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, would probably be even better.

Reno is a cool place, and qualifies on access to wild land, but I'm not sure I'd call it a major metro area.

Seattle has spectacular places nearby, but in my mind they are analogous to the Santa Cruz Mountains. If you want "real wilderness" you're looking at the Cascades or the Olympics, neither of which is all that close.

Minneapolis I've been to, neat city with nice places outside it, but I mostly saw rural land, not wilderness.

Portland, I can't comment.

Salt Lake I'd put with Reno. Arguably it qualifies but I think it's a tier below other cities on this list (Portland probably is too for that matter). I don't mean these cities aren't fantastic places to live, I just mean they don't offer the same kind of economic opportunity that top tier metropolises do.

Your argument is that other cities have closer access to "real" wilderness. I just disagree. Particularly if you look at the inland mountains as opposed to the more popular coastal range, you can be in some gnarly wilderness very fast here in the Bay Area.

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by Azmordean

Reno is a cool place

It is?