Relocating from PA to CA
 

Could anybody help advise me what areas in/around San Jose to stay away from if relocating to the area based on rough areas and traffic? We are family with two small children looking for a single house residential area. Thanks!

Where are you going to be working? And what sort of budget are you talking about?

Traffic? I'll just guess you haven't beento the Silicon Valley before.

San Jose is the 10th largest city in America and that doesn't even count the hundreds of thousands of folks living in the neighboring cities.

You need to give alot more info before the folks here can give any meaningfull help.

There is no escape from traffic. There is some relief if you reverse commute.

- Where are you working?
- What are you expecting to pay for a home (rent or own)?
- What is the longest you are willing to commute? It is not uncommon for people to commute over an hour.

I do not have employment yet in CA, this is a relocation for a better life style. I could relocate with the company I am with now (Davita in El Segundo), but I'm not feeling very comfortable with the areas of Southern CA/South Bay area. We will have to rent (I was hoping under $2000/mo.) We lived in San Jose YEARS ago...I'm willing to travel and hour from home (I telecommute now, but to drive into my office I would normally sit in bumper to bumper traffic (about 45minutes)

Are you sure SJ and better life style go hand in hand?

I remember that you were looking at homes in Redondo Beach area. Looking at craigslist it looks like there is more selection under $2000 in the San Jose area. Hopefully someone on this board can tell you what neighborhoods are the good ones. As far as traffic, it's bad but sounds like you deal with that now.

I agree that San Jose and a better life style is an oxymoron. You had better take a little trip there and look around. You won't recognize the place. It's LA North. Nothing but sprawl, overpriced homes and gridlock.

Curious

Definitely take a trip here to see what it is like before commiting to a move. SJ may or may not be what you are looking for. I think SJ has plenty to recommend it and don't see myself ever moving elsewhere. Obviously - based on other posts in this thread - there are people who don't feel the same way I do ;)

My husband and I live in SJ and we hardly ever deal with traffic. We live close to the light rail, so my husband commutes to work on that and we are also only a few miles from my office, so my drive is nothing. We only deal with traffic occasionally.

Regarding advice on neighborhoods - it really depends on whether you are interested in being downtown, a neighborhood close to downtown, more of a suburban neighborhood, and so on.

Neighborhoods to avoid - I would avoid east of 101 to the east hills area. I would also avoid downtown south of SJSU to about Alma and anything along Monterey Hwy, McLaughlin, and Senter. There are some reasonable pockets, but overall, those neighborhoods can be kind of sketchy.

I like the neighborhoods just north of downtown a lot - old homes, large trees, convinient to downtown and the light rail.

Look into Sunnyvale. There is a neighborhood of "Eichlers" small houses that is not bad and you might find something close to your price. But dont' expect it to be like what it used to, as everyone has said, you need to go out there and see for yourself.

I spoke to a real estate agent, she suggested Cupertino??

Cupertino, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale all run together and are similar. The older subdivisions should be affordable and family friendly.

Of course, affordable is relative in a California sense only.

I live in PA and have often considered a move. The biggest problem for us is age, but that doesn't apply to you.

I just wanted to share this personal story: I have been very worried about my newly married DD and her husband. They are buying a house outside of New York City and the price is very high and the commute is very long.

I mentioned this to my cousin who lives in FL and she told me that outside of me, here in Pennsylvania, everyone else is house poor and has a long commute.

This helped me to find some new satisfaction in staying in PA. I don't want a long commute and I would hate to be house poor.

But perhaps you are on more of a money track than I and house poor wouldn't apply to you. But think of the kids and the long commute... would it really be a better lifestyle? Just my two cents; don't want to offend...

In general, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara are all more expensive than San Jose itself, but there are some neighborhoods that are more affordable than others. It just depends on what you want.

I understand it is more expensive, but being such a large state not everybody can have millions of dollars to live in large hill side homes. We are an average family of four just looking for a change. Unfortunately, I don't have too many positive things to say about this area (except for the seasons). The summers here are awful! Humid, nasty! Our NJ shoreline (just my opinion)is blaah! My mother grew up in CA and said there is a distinctive difference in the mindset of this area-maybe the winters? I don't know. We are planning to move in June, and being costly to make the journey, I just want to make the right choice in settling my family. I really think I'm leaning towards Torrance-according to my research seems like a nice mix of cultures.

&quot;<i>I understand it is more expensive, being such a large state not everybody can have millions of dollars to live in large hill side homes.</i>&quot;

I think you underestimate the situation out here. Unfortunately in the Bay Area you don't need a large, hilltop, bay view place to get stratospheric prices. A fairly mediocre tract house can easily fetch $750 K or more. A small fixer-upper in a decent neighborhood can be $500+ K - and if it is a really nice neighborhood that would be for a tear down to build a whole new house.

And many areas of southern CA are in the same boat.

The farther inland you go (in general) the less you will pay - but then you might be facing 2 or 3 hour commutes.

You definitely need to put some more thought into this move, especially if you don't have a job yet. And I woulld DEFINITELY access the websites of realtors in all the areas you are considering and check out their listings . . . .

I just took a spin on homes.com, using my old Torrance ZIP code (90503).

Seventeen houses for sale in that ZIP code were listed. The average price? Just under <b>$849,000</b>.

Not mansions, either. Most were suburban specials: typical 3br/2bath ranch-style houses, probably around 1,600 sq ft.

Rents will start just under $2,000 for three-bedroom apartments in Torrance (very few houses for rent in suburban cities of LA County-- you'd best accept that fact now).

Most of us who live in California accept &quot;less house&quot;-- i.e., less enclosed square footage-- for the perks of the region (including year-round use of our outdoor spaces-- our back yard is a wonderful outdoor den complete with pool and, in a couple of weeks, a hot tub).

A lot of people cash out their home equity and buy much bigger homes in greener pastures elsewhere. Bully for them. I wouldn't leave for money or firearms, personally; the things I'd lose by moving away trump 5,000 square feet of McMansion mediocrity and lush, green trees. But again-- that's me.

Something that bears repeating here: Before moving ANYWHERE in this region, take your time and check out the school districts and/or the actual public or private schools you will send your kids to. The better/more progressive private schools will have long, long waiting lists and stringent rules of admission.

The weather here is definitely an improvement compared with PA - vast improvement. It gets warm here in hte summer, but we have relatively low humidity, so it isn't bad. Winters are great - just rain and the occasional dip below freezing. If you want snow, you can drive to the mountains.

As for the cost of housing - it is high in the Bay Area and in the LA area. There are inexpensive areas of the state - mostly in the central valley and in more remote mountain and foothill communities.

A couple examples of housing costs and how they vary:

I live in SJ in a decent, working class neighborhood. My house is a 30 year-old 3 bedroom 1.5 bath 1350 sq ft townhouse with a garage and a small enclosed patio. Units with the same floor plan in similar condition as mine are currently selling for between $490K and $515K.

My dad has a place about an hour outside of Redding on the way to Lassen NP. His place is on an acre, 3 bedroom 2 bath single family house, only a few years old, 1500 sq ft. It is worth about $350K.

But that commute from Fall River Mills to Silicon Valley would be a killer :)

Janis, we have people here in the Rogue Valley that split time between the Bay Area on a 4/3 basis. It's worth the drive for the 3 days of less stress for them. They end up here full time, for the most part.

It could be helpful to know what part of Pennsylvania that you're currently living in.

Eichler for rent in Sunnyvale:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/174771357.html

A friend used to live in this tract.

mlgb: That's an awesome rental! Love that style of house architecture.

You might not want to own one, but renting would be okay. Nice starter homes. Birds on the roof make a heck of a racket though (no attic).

I understand this form of research, the best word of mouth!

Cupertino and Sunnyvale are very, very expensive due to the excellent schools. I have a friend who trying to buy a house there (she lives in San Mateo) and she has been looking for over 6 months now.

Try Evergreen in San Jose. It is very diverse, in a good way, and has sections of older homes you might be able to afford. Also very family friendly. Traffic in that area is a bear going North towards downtown, though.

Apparently the OP has moved on - she is now asking about Merced and Los Banos . . . . .

I think I'd rather be in Pa than Los Banos

To all: What areas of CA do you or have you lived in?

Hey janisj: ((n))

OK - I give??

You register today and have posted exactly two times on Fodors and somehow I've earned a thumbs down from you? whatever . . . . . . .

I think the thumbs down was for the two towns you mentioned - not you.

Starrsville: That's what I thought at first too - but then I looked at his other thread and don't think he knows from Los Banos or Merced . . . . .

oh well - maybe (hopefully) you're right.

I'm new on this site but just have to say...

It's soo expensive in CA! Come for a couple weeks...drive from SoCal up North and see what you think. It has all changed SO much even in the past two years. The people, the prices, everything. As far as I know our gasoline prices are close to the highest in the country even. Traffic is horrid almost everyplace you go, stay out of OC and LA if you hate traffic!!

Have fun and good luck with your move!! Funny thing? So many people want to move here...and I can't wait to move out and be able to have a house AND a nice-big yard and trees!

mlgb, I live in a Sunnyvale Eichler, and your photo definitely is not an Eichler! Here's a photo of an Eichler not far from where I live. It's in abominable shape, but note the selling price; I passed by recently and it's in the process of being sold, though I don't know the selling price.

http://tinyurl.com/gezg9

Betsy, thanks, I was going to mention the same thing, that first house is not an eichler!

I noticed that too - but since the OP probably couldn't afford (nor could most of the rest of us) an eichler, didn't bother w/ it

Betsy - lucky you. Up here in Sacramento we had a local builder who designed/built &quot;eichler - lite's&quot; in the late 50's early 60's and they are almost cult worthy. Get a real premium on the re-sale market.

Starrsville: Look at YoungExplorer's latest post on his other thread. Seems he has some sort of vendetta against me. Oh - well, school is out.

Janis, little did we know when we bought our house a zillion years ago. Seems as if people either love or hate Eichlers. I could go on and on about why I love ours--the zen quality, the radiant heat, the huge windows that lend a sense of living outside....

I rented one of the &quot;eichler-like&quot; places up here for a few years and I know what you mean. My decor is VERY traditional - having lived in the UK for several years mostly british/european period pieces, oriental carpets, etc - and one would think totally incompatible w/ that design.

But it was terrific - w/ the outdoors/in and the airy rooms. I miss that place. Even though I live w/ 18th/19th c. things I'm a BIG fan of mid-century modern and a real Eichler must be just this side of perfect.