NatureMomma Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 My husband has a job offer in San Jose, we are originally from San Diego but moved out of state several years ago for a job. I know virtually NOTHING about this area except visiting it as a kid and that it's the techy capital if the world 😉 What's the weather like? What's the homeschooling community like, and what type of things are offered for HS? How's the traffic? What kind if things are there to do? I'm also in a bit if sticker shock over the housing prices!! 😳 He'd be working downtown, and wouldn't want to travel more than 15-20 minutes, so it'd have to be close enough to his work. Is there public transport he can take? What's the vibe of this city? We like artsy stuff, nature and outdoors. How long does it really take to get into SF and Santa Cruz? Any other neat places around the area? He got offered a salary of 160k for the job. Is this enought to live on there? We have one daughter, she does have a lot of health issues so a lot of our money goes towards her health. We live super simple, and don't need a large house, and lots of stuff, but we do like to travel some. What could we feasibly get on this salary and still be close to work and have our needs reasonably met? We would need a 2 bedroom, at least 1 bath, washer and dryer in unit, and have cats. What can we expect to pay? Thank you for any help, and any other useful tips you can think of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureMomma Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Oh we are really big into natural living, organic, etc.... I know this is big in Santa Cruz but what about San Jose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 There is decent public transit within San Jose. Trying to keep the commute within 20 minutes of downtown will significantly raise your housing costs, however. 60+ minutes each way is pretty common in the Bay Area to keep housing prices within budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemota Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 I'm in the East Bay, but I think you'll find a lot of natural living & organic styles in most of the SF bay area. As for homeschool groups, I know you can see a lot of different offerings from the BAHFT yahoo group: Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips They post different field trips, park days, classes and co-ops, many of them in the South Bay Area. If you join it should give you some sense of the activities available there. Sorry, I can't help with the cost of living/ housing info as I'm not familiar with the norms down there. East Bay is a bit different since we're further from the metropolitan areas. Hopefully someone else will chime in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthwestMom Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 We left the Bay Area a long time ago due to housing costs, so I don't know the current situation. Really look closely at your budget. 160K will not go far in Silicon Valley, especially if you have high medical expenses. There are many, many two-income families in the area because you need 2 incomes to get a foothold. It's really tough. Would you be getting moving expenses? Will they pay for commuting expenses like a Caltrain pass, and parking? It will take you about an hour to get to Santa Cruz (looove it) or to San Francisco. You will find plenty of like-minded organic, nature-loving people. Good luck. Be cautious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in SJ Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 If you like artsy outdoorsy stuff you have come to the right place! I have lived in San Jose all my adult life and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. BTW my Dh makes significantly less than 160K and we are doing OK. Not living in luxury, mind you, but all our needs are met. Take a look at south San Jose where the houses are less expensive than downtown. If you are looking at listings look for Blossom Valley or Almaden. Getting to Santa Cruz, Monterey, Oakland or San Francisco all take about an hour during non-peak traffic hours. The BAHFT Yahoo group is an excellent suggestion. Amber in SJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Traffic is hell, but since you are familiar with San Diego, it won't be such a shock. You should be able to find something between $2-$3K per month in a nice area. In general, I would suggest looking south/southwest/west. I believe Santa Cruz will take significantly less time, 40-45 mins. as long as you're not driving in peak traffic times, as long as you're south of El Camino Real. :coolgleamA: :coolgleamA: :coolgleamA: Definitely visit before committing to any long term lease and/or consider staying at a residential hotel for the first several weeks. The nice thing is that the Bay Area is FULL of neat places to go! I think you could hit one every weekend for a year and still find plenty to do. Sausalito, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz to Monterey, Gilroy Garlic Festival, Point Lobos to Old Town Sacramento, Sutter's Mill, and touring missions. Oh, and the Rosecrucian Museum right in San Jose. Way too many things to even list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermama Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 We've been renting in south San Jose for about a year. We found our place on Craigslist (the map view is very helpful once you have an idea of the neighborhoods you're looking at), so I'd suggest looking around there to get an idea of what you can get. We have cats as well and found that many places refuse renters with pets, so you'll have a smaller pool to choose from. It's ridiculously easy to eat organic here. I can easily shop at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco (with their own organic brands), and several different farmer's markets, all within half an hour of where I live. Plus, Amazon Fresh, if you don't even want to leave your house to eat organic :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 DASH is the free downtown shuttle http://www.vta.org/routes/rt201 Some areas close to downtown San Jose are nice while some areas tend to have graffiti. SJSU has a nice big multi-storey library that is open to public. The tech museum is nice. Monterrey, Santa Cruz and Moss Landing (tide pools) are an easy drive away. Traffic jams are common in downtown and daytime parking can be pricy. It's free after 6pm from what I can remember. The busses and light rail system makes it easy for a non-driver to get around. If you don't mind public transport, light rail or bus to Diridon station, transfer to Caltrain to get to SF, then MUNI to get to fisherman's wharf. ETA: Service apartment rents have skyrocketed. Houses that are rented out by owners might be cheaper. Home prices has gone back up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 My husband has a job offer in San Jose, we are originally from San Diego but moved out of state several years ago for a job. I know virtually NOTHING about this area except visiting it as a kid and that it's the techy capital if the world 😉 What's the weather like? What's the homeschooling community like, and what type of things are offered for HS? How's the traffic? What kind if things are there to do? I'm also in a bit if sticker shock over the housing prices!! 😳 He'd be working downtown, and wouldn't want to travel more than 15-20 minutes, so it'd have to be close enough to his work. Is there public transport he can take? What's the vibe of this city? We like artsy stuff, nature and outdoors. How long does it really take to get into SF and Santa Cruz? Any other neat places around the area? He got offered a salary of 160k for the job. Is this enought to live on there? We have one daughter, she does have a lot of health issues so a lot of our money goes towards her health. We live super simple, and don't need a large house, and lots of stuff, but we do like to travel some. What could we feasibly get on this salary and still be close to work and have our needs reasonably met? We would need a 2 bedroom, at least 1 bath, washer and dryer in unit, and have cats. What can we expect to pay? Thank you for any help, and any other useful tips you can think of! I love the Bay Area. We lived for several great years in the Palo Alto/Mountain View area finishing up postdocs. Weather: Mediterranean climate, with a rainy season during the winter. Lots of rainbows :) The San Jose area does tend to get hot, especially compared to other microclimates in the area, but you can always escape to natural air conditioning when the weather heats up. In the winter, I wore a winter coat mainly in mornings/night, and on the occasional rainy day. You'll probably need to reconsider commuting time, or, at least, be prepared to budget a significant portion of your salary toward housing. There are several good public transportation options in the San Jose area: Caltrain, VTA light rail, busses. There are so many opportunities in the area. There's more than enough nature/outdoors experiences to be had, speaking to every preference - ocean, mountains, forests, fields, farms. This is to say nothing of the museums! I miss living there. I do think, though, that it is an exceptionally challenging place. We lived with two small children on a very small salary. We didn't acquire debt, but we didn't put away any money either. Part of our emotional-financial security came from knowing this was a temporary phase in our lives, and that we'd not be living on postdoc money forever. Frankly, though, it was taxing to - not compete - but to live alongside what we found was our natural peer group. I feel into a lovely playground group of women with children the same age as mine. We shared similar backgrounds, interests, and hobbies. But, their lives were on very, very different trajectories from mine. (There were no three-month vacations to Hawaii for me, you see.) I say this only to caution you that different towns have very, very different feels, and it may take some exploration and adjustment for you to find your neighborhood. It may require letting go of your commuting limitations, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esperella Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 We just moved here about 5 weeks ago! My husband is from Santa Cruz, so although he works in San Jose we live here. He takes the bus to work, and it takes 40-50 min. He likes it though, because he has wfi on the bus and he can work or play video games. We love it here so much, and I'm so thankful to be here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 With the health needs of your daughter you could look into Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. I have taken my kids there for years and have had excellent care. SJ is lovely, not too far to coast, easy to eat well. I think there are enough alternative people that you should find a group you fit with. I'm happy for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I don't live in SJ, but I'm not that far away. SJ has a very So Cal feel to it, IMO- traffic, shopping, general layout reminds me a lot of parts of LA. Plenty of organic options in the whole bay area. As stated above, Lucille Packard is a great hospital. You'll have access to excellent medical care here. I think SJ has the greatest concentration of homeschoolers in the whole bay area. 160K sounds doable to me. We survive in a more expensive part of the bay area on a lot less than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 We are surviving in the LA area for less than one third your income, so think it is doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimerinkydo Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 :bigear: I'm not the original poster but I have a question about housing - how far/what direction would you go/or is it even possible to live out of the city in a more rural area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 To get really rural I would say that you have to go south of Gilroy, so about 30 miles from the southern border of San Jose. The commute would be horrible though--the second worst traffic around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 To the OP: I live in San Jose. There are crunchy homeschoolers here as well as every other kind. $160K is reasonable but maybe a bit tight. You might want to try to buy instead of renting as rents have skyrocketed and interest rates are still pretty low. I would check Willow Glen or Santa Clara for nice little older homes with character that are close to downtown SJ on surface streets (hence avoiding the extremely crowded freeways.) If you want more info about the area or have specific questions, feel free to PM me your phone number. I have lived in SJ since 1981, and in the SF bay area almost all my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 - how far/what direction would you go/or is it even possible to live out of the city in a more rural area?Some companies provide shuttle busses so if you don't mind a long bus ride then that's okay. How more rural do you want? For me, Morgan Hill, Capitola, Watsonville, Brentwood, Scott's Valley or anyway with little public transport and with low density housing is already rural since I don't drive and I prefer high density areas. For others that would be just suburban and not rural enough. ETA: Morgan Hill isn't as rural anymore but with no car, I would be limited by where I can walk which means buying a home downtown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Morgan Hill isn't really rural anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimerinkydo Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I haven't been to the area so I don't know how it is. Moving there could be a possibility for us sometime in the (hopefully distant) future but we would want to have a little bit of land... maybe half an acre or just a large lot, that's why I asked about more rural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 There are areas like that, and the people who work in Silicon Valley and live in those rural places tend to work from home 1-2 days per week to avoid the miserable commute. Employers tend to allow that, with a few (famous) exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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