Sunnyvale neighborhoods? (San Jose, Fremont, Santa Clara: 2013, renting, house)

[OnMyWay]

Hi all,

I may be re-locating to Sunnyvale for work, and was hoping to do some research before heading out there so I'm somewhat prepared for the price shock of housing

Background:
Married, 2 children, 8 and 5, single-income family, need to commute to nearby Moffett Federal Airfield for work. I would prefer to be able to bike to work, but am resigned to driving if necessary.

Our priorities are as follows:

1. Good elementary school for the children. Doesn't have to be the best academically, but want somewhere they'll feel safe, can thrive emotionally and intellectually, and have opportunities to explore whatever their interests end up being: sports, arts, music, etc. Would much prefer public to private, but if that's impossible, private recommendations are welcome.

2. Family-friendly neighborhood: playground/park, community center with activities for kids, pool, walkable to some amount of family restaurants and shops

3. Grown-up entertainment accessible: as simple as a decent enough mall within 10-15 minutes drive. A lovely walkable downtown with enough shopping and more grownup restaurants would be ideal, though.

Questions:

1. How is Sunnyvale divided up into neighborhoods? Do they have names? Anyone with opinions on specifics?

2. Any recommendations on schools based on what I described above?

3. For housing, we would be renting, and would prefer a house in reasonable condition, 1500+ square feet. Not too concerned about budget, but would prefer to stay under $4000/month. Willing to stretch a bit beyond for a really great fitting area.

4. Thoughts on other towns such as Milpitas or even Fremont? Would the commute get too ugly? How about the other way, to, say, Mountain View? Ideally, I'd MUCH prefer being as close to work as possible, but willing to compromise if the fit is better a bit further out.

Thanks in advance!!!

[fashionguy]

Roughly speaking, North Sunnyvale (94089/085) areas are more affordable. Older homes in that area tend to be sketchy, but there are newer developments that brought in more tech people. Public schools in this area are pretty bad academically (like in the 3 or 4 range), not sure about other aspects though.

With your budget, you should be able to find something in the 94087/86 areas that are nicer. West Valley, Cherry Chase and Cumberland Elementary schools are top rated. Again not sure about other aspects of the schools.

If you are renting, I would not recommend Milpitas or Fremont. Most likely you won't be renting forever so a few years' price difference really is not that much to justify the commute.

Downtown Sunnyvale is just one short street (Murphy Ave) but it is kinda cute. There is a small Macy's across the street. If you want decent mall, you can drive to either Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto or Valley Fair in Santa Clara, both around 20 minutes away.

Mountain View in general is more expensive than Sunnyvale.

Originally Posted by OnMyWay

Hi all,

I may be re-locating to Sunnyvale for work, and was hoping to do some research before heading out there so I'm somewhat prepared for the price shock of housing

Background:
Married, 2 children, 8 and 5, single-income family, need to commute to nearby Moffett Federal Airfield for work. I would prefer to be able to bike to work, but am resigned to driving if necessary.

Our priorities are as follows:

1. Good elementary school for the children. Doesn't have to be the best academically, but want somewhere they'll feel safe, can thrive emotionally and intellectually, and have opportunities to explore whatever their interests end up being: sports, arts, music, etc. Would much prefer public to private, but if that's impossible, private recommendations are welcome.

2. Family-friendly neighborhood: playground/park, community center with activities for kids, pool, walkable to some amount of family restaurants and shops

3. Grown-up entertainment accessible: as simple as a decent enough mall within 10-15 minutes drive. A lovely walkable downtown with enough shopping and more grownup restaurants would be ideal, though.

Questions:

1. How is Sunnyvale divided up into neighborhoods? Do they have names? Anyone with opinions on specifics?

2. Any recommendations on schools based on what I described above?

3. For housing, we would be renting, and would prefer a house in reasonable condition, 1500+ square feet. Not too concerned about budget, but would prefer to stay under $4000/month. Willing to stretch a bit beyond for a really great fitting area.

4. Thoughts on other towns such as Milpitas or even Fremont? Would the commute get too ugly? How about the other way, to, say, Mountain View? Ideally, I'd MUCH prefer being as close to work as possible, but willing to compromise if the fit is better a bit further out.

Thanks in advance!!!

[bobby_guz_man]

I didn't even know Sunnyvale had neighborhoods, the town is about the size of my bathroom in San Jose LOL

[NewbieHere]

South of Fremont might be better and possibly cheaper. Like the Warm Springs area. Honestly, I didn't like some areas of Sunnyvale. I got lost there recently, purposely not trying to use GPS, so that was my impression.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

I didn't even know Sunnyvale had neighborhoods, the town is about the size of my bathroom in San Jose LOL

Sunnyvale is about 26 square miles which is about half the size of SF and much bigger than the 12 square miles of Mountain View.

Here is a map of Sunnyvale neighborhood associations.

http://sunnyvale.ca.gov/Portals/0/Su...ap11.03.09.pdf

[OnMyWay]

Thanks for the replies everyone, this is very helpful.

Fashionguy, knowing that in fact we never intend to buy in the area (for reasons I won't get into here), would that change your mind at all about Milpitas or Fremont?

In the meantime, I'll use the Sunnyvale information to begin my search

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by OnMyWay

Thanks for the replies everyone, this is very helpful.

Fashionguy, knowing that in fact we never intend to buy in the area (for reasons I won't get into here), would that change your mind at all about Milpitas or Fremont?

In the meantime, I'll use the Sunnyvale information to begin my search

In that case, I guess it's just about what your commute will be like. Much nicer driving on the peninsula compared to getting on 237 or 101 to get to East Bay.

[AllenSJC]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

I didn't even know Sunnyvale had neighborhoods, the town is about the size of my bathroom in San Jose LOL

Sunnyvale has a population of 150,000 or so.

Unless you're joking...

[vadaseri]

Downtown in Sunnyvale is a joke. Go to Castro in MV for dining experience and Valley Fair / Santana Row in San Jose for grown up entertainment.

For $4000+/month, there are many options in Sunnyvale with good schools and entertainment. Stay close to work so that you have enough time to spend with your young kids. Fremont/Mipitas is no no.

Focus on the neighborhood bordered by Fremont Ave / Mary Ave / Homestead Rd / Sunnyvale Saratoga Rd. It satisfies all your priorities and you won't regret. And it is just 10-15 drive to Moffett.

Let me know if you need opinion on any particular part of Sunnyvale. Good luck.

[sandy7]

I have had great satisfaction using Evelyn Ave for driving/biking into Moffett during peak hours. Evelyn has very few stop lights and even those get you going within 5-10 secs instead of the 3+ minutes that Central Expressway takes. Evelyn + 85N is the most painless I believe. The speed is 35-40mph but I used that to enjoy some radio music and get prepped out for work.

I lived close to Evelyn in Sunnyvale so it worked for me on the return commute. Depending on where you live, you may want to look into Middlefield Road as well.

For biking, same route, closer to the 85N ramp, you get the Stevens Creek Trail. Used to take that and bike to Moffett.

Here's where you turn into 85N:https://www.google.com/maps/place/E+...f4511368f4189c

That bridge you see is the Stevens Creek Trail.

The SV library is pretty good and they have an active Farmers Market at Murphy Avenue every Saturday morn.