San Jose is enormous and like any big city has both good and bad parts. Hopefully, November_Moon will see your post because she lives in San Jose.

Absolutely there are good parts and bad parts. Will you be working in San Jose? Will you drive to work? Commute patterns can be really important, unless you want to spend 2 hours a day in your car.

If you tell us what you want to be close to, we can suggest some areas to look at.

Also, while it might seem obvious, if you find an apartment that's inexpensive, it's probably not in the best part of town.

I live on the Western edge of San Jose. That is a much nicer area than some of the barrios in East San Jose.

Rents are not cheap.

Please also remember that the same size house will cost up to $200,000 more in the nicest area.

My simple 1400 sq ft. tract house on zillow has a value of $800k. I am also in the best school district in the San Jose Area.

Downtown is currently undergoing a revival, so you might also check that area out.

Agree with the others. It very much depends on where your job is located.

Hi!

Thanks for the many replies.

To throw a wrench into things: I don't have a job yet. Once I arrive, I'll hit the ground running to look for a job.

I currently live in the greater Boston area so I understand that there are good parts and not so good parts of a big city.

I've been looking at temporary apartments/housing since I'm not sure where I will wind up working. I will have my car so access to major highways will be important as well.

TR

I think a temporary apartment is a great idea if you don't know the area. Since you are looking for a job, you may end up anywhere in Silicon Valley, not just San Jose. Spend your free time exploring and see what fits your style best. You might like some of the small downtown areas of the neighboring cities, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Campbell, Los Gatos. Where you end up working should be a big consideration because commute times can vary drastically. My 23 mile drive took an hour and a half last night.

<<<My 23 mile drive took an hour and a half last night>>>

And I thought mine was bad last night - an hour and 8 minutes to go 16 miles.

Hey it took me an hour to get home in the City last night by MUNI last night and I only had to go 3 miles!!!

I would say, generally, stay west of the "tracks" as they used to say. East San Jose is not so safe, although San Jose itself is usually considered one of the safer cities for cities of its size.

Rent is not cheap just about anywhere, because the AVERAGE salary in Silicon Valley just hit over $100,000 early this year. If you're a techie, you'll have multiple job offers.

Generally, I'd say stay close to where the technology companies are located, even if you job search is not in the technical area, because that's where a lot of the support businesses, like restaurants or coffee shops, will be within a short distance.

The above-mentioned Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Campbell, and West San Jose are all possibilities. Not Los Gatos, where I live, because it's a bit of a commute to get to most of the tech companies. Also not Saratoga. Stay away from the bedroom communities like these, as not only will the rent generally be higher but the commute to work will be longer and more tortuous.

Sunnyvale itself does have some sketchy areas. Rents in Campbell may be the most reasonable but you're getting something really really basic. I'd suggest sticking a pin in Cupertino (rents too high) and just draw a circle around the pin and go from there.

Good luck and welcome to California!

Good advice so far. Definitely say away from the east side, the area directly south of downtown, and pretty much anything on or around Monterey Highway. The rest of SJ is pretty good, with some areas better than others. And even our bad parts aren't that bad compared with most cities.

Rents in SJ tend to be cheaper than those in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, etc. And we have rent control - rents can only increase 8%/year. Right now, this isn't a big deal, but in boom times, it can be huge.

I agree about getting an apartment or temporary housing initially and then planning to move once you get a job and learn about the different areas. Month-to-month rentals are pretty common here (as opposed to longer leases) so that shouldn't be a problem. You don't really have to look at "temporary" housing - just a month-to-month apartment.

Where you decide to move for the longer term will have a lot to do with the location of your job and the lifestyle you want - suburban, downtown, etc. We don't have anything really densely urban in SJ like you would see in a lot of major cities, but the downtown area has some highrise apartments, a lot of walkable restaurants and bars, etc.

This area is very car-centric, a lot more so that you are probably used to in Boston. We have public transportation that works pretty well, but a lot of the neighborhoods are very suburban, so without the population density, it is hard to maintain an effective transport system. Also, a lot of the areas were people work are low density as well - 10 stories is a tall building in most areas of Silicon Valley. Most companies are in buildings with 3 stories or less.

There is a whole other developing job area further up the Peninsula; Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Mateo. There are huge companies located in those areas (Facebook, Oracle, Electronic Arts, and hosts of bio-tech companies). From the east coast you may think of Silicon Valley as San Jose, but the opportunities easily span 40 or more miles.

Traffic is a HUGE issue, as you've seen from some of the commute times above. It's been particularly bad in the last couple of months. So it would be really smart not to pick a long term residence until you know where you will be working.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really appreciate the feedback and advice.

Now that I'm equipped with this information, it'll make my search a lot easier.

TR

My single daughter lives in Campbell, works in Santa Clara. Campbell has a very small town feel but is pretty, feels relatively safe- she takes light rail when she wants to go into the city.

Her rent is about $1200 for a 1 bedroom in a nice complex with a pool and I think that is a deal for what she has- many high tech companies in her area- eBay, Barracuda etc.