Hello there!

I am planning to relocate to San Jose, CA after college graduation, and would like to get some helpful tips. I am graduating in about a year and a half, but am set on moving out there due to my boyfriend of 3 years lives there, and I love it there! I understand it will be quite expensive, but will be visiting often to look at apartments, set up job interviews, etc. as the time gets closer. Is there anything I should make sure to do when I get there, or before? What kind of life is there outside of work? How is the commute from other towns, like Livermore and Brentwood? Any input would be appreciated! Thank you!

The commute from anywhere (during regular commute hours) is pretty miserable.

Livermore is a good distance from San Jose, and the commute would be hideous.

The only Brentwood I know is in the Los Angeles area.

There's a Brentwood in the far East Bay (near Antioch, and even farther from San Jose than Livermore). That commute would be hideous too.

There is a commuter rail line between Livermore and San Jose, 4 trains heading to San Jose in the morning and 4 leaving San Jose in the afternoon/evening. It's the Altamont Commuter Express (or ACE train as it's known). http://www.acerail.com/Home.aspx

I'm sure people commute to SJ from Brentwood but that seems too far to me. It's hotter than hell in the summer -- you'll need a good car, one that gets good mileage and will pass California smog test.

Where does your boyfriend live?

Depending on your major, can't you set up job interviews before you come out here? Some companies also have summer intern jobs for college students.

Not all prices for apartments are the same. Generally speaking, the further north you go towards San Francisco, the higher the rent will be. Rents in South San Jose can be relatively inexpensive compared to other locations.

The commute depends on where you job will be. It's better to find a job that you can get flex hours on in order to avoid the commute.

If you need more information, please give us a few more details.

I'm curious where Brentwood came from - yes there is one in the Bay area - sort of on the edge of the Delta near Discovery Bay and Antioch. But most folks haven't even heard of it so do you have a connection there of some sort? Yes - that would be a miserable commute to San Jose.

Well, My boyfriend lives in East San Jose, and I would like to stay around there, but if it is cheaper the more south I go, I'll look there.

I'm a nursing major, so I have to get certified in CA before I can get any real nursing jobs.

The Brentwood came from our looking into a house instead of an apartment, since living alongside others can be quite the hassle. The housing prices are far cheaper in Brentwood and Livermore than in SJ and SF, or so I've found.

What if I lived in Brentwood, livermore, surrounding areas instead of SJ and worked in San Francisco? would the commute be horrible? would driving be worse than public transit? My boyfriend took me to San Francisco over the winter and by public transportation, it took us 4.5 hours (Caltrain, BART, MUNI, then buses) and $60.00 to get to SF. By the time we got there it was dark and I was miserable.

I just want to get the best start possible, and not go into it with blinders on. I know his family will be there for support, but I'll mostly be doing this alone, since he won't be living with me, and I would really really not like to live in a ghetto. Thanks for your help guys!

East San Jose is one of the cheaper(est) neighborhoods in San Jose.

Anywhere else, and there's a nasty commute.

Your best job prospects are in larger cities or towns, so I'd stick to the San Jose area.

Warning: East San Jose's a large gang area and not the safest place to be outside at night. Depending on where it is, it used to be called a barrio. Now, with more Vienamese gangs moving in, I'm not sure what it's called.

There are four kinds of gangs in East San Jose: Hispanic, black, Vietnamese and Philippino. Rastaguytoday is right, generally speaking you don't want to stay in East San Jose. However, East San Jose also includes the very nice homes up on the hill, so one can't generalize too much. If you're looking at apartments in South San Jose, you want to be very careful where you're looking as some of the gang activities spread southward. Generally speaking, it's better to try and find something on the west side of Highway 101.

Livermore and Brentwood are much too far to commute to work to either San Jose or San Francisco. There are medical facilities in Livermore itself as well as in nearby towns and cities such as Pleasanton, Danville and San Ramon. All four are much nicer cities to work and live in, although Danville and San Ramon may be quite expensive for housing.

Where, precisely, is your boy friend working? It might be too much of a commute for him to come back to the greater San Jose area from Livermore.

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I think you answered your own question.

Another San Jose resident here

Definitely plan to live near where you work - if that means getting temporary housing at first and then moving later on once you figure out where you will be working, then do that. Get used to the idea of apartment living in this area - apartment living will be much less of a hassle than dealing with a lengthy commute and single family homes to rent are expensive.

Living and working in Livermore, Pleasanton, etc. is a good idea if you want a smaller area - it is a matter of what sort of lifestyle you want. Danville and San Ramon are definitely pricey suburbs though.

I am curious about it taking 4.5 hours by public transit to get to SF though - where did you guys start from and where in SF were you going?

Good question nm? We take Cal-train to HP Pavilion now that we live in the city and the express train takes an hour. Of course, there's getting to the train and from the train, but still...

For us (living in SJ, getting to SF) it takes us a couple hours door-to-door, but nowhere near 4.5 hours. I live about a mile from a lightrail station, so when we go to SF, we usually park at the lightrail, take lightrail to SJ Diridon station, and then Caltrain up to SF. Once in SF, we use MUNI or just walk to get around, depending on what we have planned. The trip generally takes 1.5-2.5 hours, depending on whether we get an express Caltrain or one that stops at every stop on the peninsula.