Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-31-2015, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Toluca Lake, CA
1 posts, read 1,012 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hi everyone. I'm relocating to the San Jose area from Los Angeles in July for work. I am working with a real estate agent and looking for possible neighborhoods to live in. I will be working in Sunnyvale. I am living on my own and need to live somewhere safe with a "decent" commute (if that even exists). Bonus points for a decent 30+ dating scene. I've been suggested Campbell, Santa Clara, and Blossom Valley (the commute to Sunnyvale from here worries me). I've also been looking into Milpitas and Fremont on my own. I will be selling my house in LA to buy a small house or condo. I have a carpool sticker and will need to be at work in Sunnyvale by at least 7:30 AM. In LA traffic is just starting at that hour and it only takes me 20-30 minutes to go about seven miles.

My questions for you fine people are as follows:
1. What are some areas I might be overlooking?
2. What is traffic like before 7:30 am on the freeways? I have a carpool pass, will this make a difference?

Any comments on anything above would be most welcome!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-31-2015, 06:29 PM
 
169 posts, read 232,248 times
Reputation: 116
I don't think you will have any problem if you are leaving at 7AM. Traffic is low moving but still up to 40mph or more. My wife commutes from Berryessa to Redwood city everyday. She leaves home 6:45 and arrives at work 25-30' later.
If your work in Sunnyvale, Milpitas is only one route 237 and about 15-20' for your commute. I don't live in the other west side so I don't have any clue. But North San Jose also closes to all major free way 101,880, and 280, zip code 95131.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-31-2015, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,386,974 times
Reputation: 38573
I say to just live in Sunnyvale. The less commute the better. There is a lot to do in the area. Check out meet-ups, etc.

I lived in Santa Clara. Even the commute from Santa Clara to Sunnyvale can be a pain, depending on the time of day. So, the closer to work the better.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2015, 12:55 PM
 
865 posts, read 1,823,988 times
Reputation: 525
I would not pick Blossom Valley for a Sunnyvale commute if you can help it. Sunnyvale is kind of bland but don't underestimate the value of not spending hours of your life alone in the car. How about Mountain View on the sunnyvale side or near downtown?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2015, 01:49 PM
 
2,552 posts, read 2,455,533 times
Reputation: 1350
Quote:
Originally Posted by marthabeans View Post
My questions for you fine people are as follows:
1. What are some areas I might be overlooking?
2. What is traffic like before 7:30 am on the freeways? I have a carpool pass, will this make a difference?
Just for clarity, you mean you have an HOV OK sticker on the bumper of your car?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-03-2015, 01:26 PM
 
Location: Mountain View, CA
1,152 posts, read 3,195,977 times
Reputation: 1067
You don't mention budget -- a pretty key component . I'm single, in my 30s as well, so I feel I can talk to this reasonably.

Ignoring budget, I'd probably look at:

- Mountain View. I recently bought a condo in walking distance of downtown Mountain View and like it a lot. There's lots of restaurants and bars, 2 small grocery stores near me, it's safe, and close to work. Should be an easy commute for you, especially at that hour. Negative is cost. Even since just last July when I bought, things have shot up to a crazy degree. Very little inventory. Mountain View seems to be trying to catch Palo Alto.

- Sunnyvale. Little cheaper than Mountain View. Tiny downtown, but mostly fairly bland suburban, though it's an easy drive to Mountain View or anywhere else really. Bit cheaper then Mountain View, and you'd have a super short commute.

- Downtown San Jose. I like DTSJ a lot. Decent amount going on, lots of options for bars/restaurants, and very livable in that most condos have parking, and there's actually daily living stuff like gyms and grocery store. The area along the Alameda is nice too. Prices are lower than Sunnyvale / Mountain View if you avoid the super new high rises. I looked at DTSJ hard, but for me, the commute killed it (40min+ each way to Mountain View). But at the hours you are going it MIGHT work. Also, if you work close to the Sunnyvale Caltrain, that might be an option from Diridon station if you lived in the Alameda area.

As far as the dating scene -- people mostly ignore the specific cities, it's more of a Silicon Valley wide scene - a very suburban scene. Chances are, wherever you live, you'll end up driving to go out on dates at least some of the time, because they'll probably live somewhere else. So I'd focus more on where you like for day to day. The overall dating scene, while not awful, is a bit meh in my opinion, it seems very online dating focused (not surprising I guess)! But I've also been lazy about it lately so I'm probably the wrong one to listen to. And demographics here are certainly in your favor! =P.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:49 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top