Bryan

I work for a company that has approached me about relocating to either Northern California (Los Gatos) or Southern California (Fullerton). I've only been married 8 months so we really haven't planted our roots. My wife is excited and wants to go for it feeling that if it doesn't work, we can always return back to St. Louis where we now live. I'm a bit more reluctant...If I let my company know a definite "yes", I believe they will alow us to fly out and find an apartment. Do you know anything about these cities? They must be pretty small communities...Thanks for any good or bad remarks. I'm losing sleep over this. I've never been west of Colorado. Bryan

Jeff

Bryan, I grew up in Nebraska and work for AG Edwards (12years). You would have culture shock in either area. I have lived in South Cal for 23 years and love it. You should consider your marriage, career, and location in that order. You are young and can always go back. I would be happy to share anything I can. 760-746-6100 jeff. New to Foders, just planning my trip in August.
G/L

Susan

Bryan, I'd advise you to take a week's vacation, fly out here and check out both. You could even drive from one to the other, giving you a better sense of the state.

I grew up in Los Gatos and can tell you it is a charming, beautiful small town. However, the cost of living is probably exorbitant compared to St. Louis. If you can find a place to live in Los Gatos that is affordable for you, you will find a lovely downtown area with many restaurants and quaint shops. It is at the base of the Santa Cruz mountain range and about 30 minutes from the beach over the mountains. While it is a small town, it is very near San Jose and the silicon valley. It is centrally located to reach many nice spots for weekend getaways: Monterey, Napa valley, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite. The schools in Los Gatos are very good compared to the state as a whole. Anything else in particular you'd like to know?

J Correa

I definitely think that coming out for a week to visit both areas is a good idea.

I live in San Jose, right next to Los Gatos, and I really like it here, but everybody is different. Los Gatos itself is pretty small, but it's on the edge of the Bay Area. Los Gatos is also an expensive town, even for this area.

x

Los Gatos is very, very charming and very expensive to boot! Steve Wozniak (sp) taught computers in the public schools there, FYI.
Don't know much about Fullerton, but Los Gatos is the cats meow!

Bryan

Wow, Los Gatos sounds nice! Any opinions of Fullerton? I looked this up and it is located in Orange County, north of Anaheim...not too far from Disneyland. Thanks so much for your good comments! Bryan

Renee

Los Gatos is EXPENSIVE - thought I'd state this again for the record. Hopefully you will be given relocation expenses. I'm from N Cal and live in Los Angeles. Can't tell you much about Fullerton but I prefer So Cal to No.

I strongly suggest you come out and see both.

ann

I grew up in Southern California and went to college in Northern California and lived up here ever since (25 years).
I would NEVER live in Southern California again. Los Gatos is a beautiful community but as others have said, VERY EXPENSIVE. Yes, come and visit and good luck!

xxx

Fullerton is a nice community in north/central Orange County. There's a large state college in Fullerton. Nice central OC location - not far from the beach (but without the high beach rents). The Anaheim Angels play just down the road at Edison Field, and there's a great arena known as the Pond which has lots of big concerts and is home to the Mighty Ducks hockey team.

LA is only around a 45 minute drive and you can get to the mountains for skiing in less than 2 hours.

Lots of great shopping malls in the area if that appeals to your wife.

Great year round weather!

Brea is a nice community next to Fullerton which would also be a nice place to live. The downtown Brea area is growing in popularity and is starting to have loft apartments.

janis

Los Gatos is lovely - but when the others say expensive they REALLY mean it. A tiny fixer-upper will be $600,000.00 or more. Million $ homes are very common and many are 5 or 10 times that. Consequently, rents are also very high. The whole south bay area is like that though.

Fullerton does not have the same type of ambience as Los Gatos. But there are very nice communities all around it. Don't think of it a a small town since Orange and LA and the other surrounding counties are one huge mass of solid development. Rents in/near Fullerton will be high but much less than in Los Gatos.

Carin

I don't know anything about Los Gatos, but I know a lot about Fullerton (10-15 minutes from my home.) It's a nice place, but Brea next door is nicer (and more expensive). It's probably more expensive than St. Louis, but there is also a lot of variety in the area of things ot do and see. As for a "small community" - no it's not very big - I'd guess about 80,000, but in Southern California the next city is just across the street - there are no spaces in between cities like back East. I STRONGLY recommend living no further than 5 miles from your work if you can afford it. I live 13.5 miles from my work and it takes me anywhere from 25-25 minutes to travel the distance because of traffic. E-mail me directly if you wish and maybe I can get you some more information about Fullerton.

Carin

Oops - 25-45 minutes (usually 40 minutes (6:50-7:30am).

Chris

I live in Yorba Linda which is next to Fullerton. Fullerton is a very nice area with lots going on. There are 5 colleges there, a beautiful downtown area with some great antique shops and lots of restaurants. Housing has a huge range from lower rent apartments to multi million dollar homes. There are lots of homes with horse property and stables. It is a nice family area with it's own court house, hospital, many restaurants. There are some gorgeous areas there (probably homes owned by the many doctors and judges that live in Fullerton). What I have always like about Fullerton is all the trees and pretty parks.
I've driven through Los Gatos before and it is a very beautiful area with pretty parks and lots of trees. Like others mentioned, it is very expensive....much higher rent and home prices than any of the areas around Fullerton. Good Luck in your decision making.
P.S. Richard Nixon actually went to Fullerton High School.

David

Bryan,

I agree with the above posters who say that Los Gatos (www.losgatosweb.com) is expensive, but it is a very nice place to live, while at the same time being close to San Jose (www.sjc.org) with all of its big city amenities(restaurants, museums, shopping, performing arts, etc.) The proximity to the Monterey Bay, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite is also a plus.

Your best bet would be to take a trip to both Northern and Southern California to see for yourself which you prefer.

x

if you can afford it, go for it. if you plan on purchasing a home or having kids down the road, this opportunity may not be a possibility. i lived in southern california for 10 years and had to leave cause i couldn't afford it but during those 10 years i saw A LOT and loved it.

Bryan

Thanks again guys! I really appreciate the good responses. Now for the tough decision........hmmmm. I'm leaning towards just going for it. Still not quite sure which city but I'm doing some research. I'm not exactly poor, but it was expensive getting married, buying furniture and major appliances etc. but we're getting on our feet. It sounds like I can't go wrong with either city....as long as I'm with my wife, Golden Lab and kitty cat.... Bryan

Susan

Bryan, good attitude! This is probably the best time for you to make a move, it will be harder when you have kids.

I'm reminded of my in-laws from Pittsburgh who, after their wedding, jumped into their 1961 Alfa Romeo and drove to southern California where he had a job waiting for him. She just wanted to see some palm trees. They never looked back and 40 years later you couldn't pay them to move back to the east coast. You can always go home for the holidays. Carpe diem!

sally

I have lived in both southern ca and northern ca, there is no comparison.. norther ca is by far the best!

Bill

I grew up in San Jose which is right next to Los Gatos (now living in San Francisco for the past six years). As far back as I can remember, the closer neighborhoods got to Los Gatos, the better they were.

Want a good film analogy of Los Gatos? Remember the '50s era town in Back To The Future? That's Los Gatos to a "T". Very Norman Rockwell-esque.

That said, it's a very white-bread town, lacking in diversity outside of the basic upper-middle class anglo stuff.

Back on the plus side it has great big trees, terrific weather, a great educational system, plus downtown and Vasona park are excellent.

Los Gatos was always the place to take a date if you wanted to impress her in high school.

If you can swing the expense, it's the best choice - especially if there's more family to come in the future. There are also many nearby towns and cities that might be cheaper but close enough to commute, like San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga.

It truly does have a small town flair (which is why it's the town of Los Gatos and not the city of Los Gatos).

Plenty close for day trips to San Francisco, Monterey, and all of the fabulous sites of Northern California.

Nancy

Bryan, by all means, choose to move out to California now, before you get settled. You will love it, whether you choose the north or the south. Let us know when you decide. Our weather in Orange County will probably be the best in the long run. But I am biased.