How is the Marina District? it seems for 1500-2000 a month I can get a studio or 1 bedroom there. Is that commute a total bitch?

 

I don't know what part of town it is exactly, but my friend has a house in Willow Glen and his neighborhood is pretty nice. You can walk right down the street and do all your shopping or dining, and the houses are pretty nice ('cept for that some of them are too old for garages)

 

The Marina District is a wondeful neighborhood. I grew up there and went to school there, as well. Chestnut street is a great place to hang out. The Marina itself affords many activities. However, I don't know if you are willing to make the cross town drive to get to the freeway. This neighborhood gets quite crowded in the evenings and weekends. Parking is always an issue, unless you can get a garage/parking stall.

 

How long do you think the commute will be from Marina to Cupertino? 2 hours?

Keep in mind the commute will be done during rush hour...7-9am in the mornings and 5-7 in the evenings

 

You are going to work in Cupertino and you want to live in SF??? That doesn't make sense at all. It's more expensive to live in The City and why would you want that commute??? Find a place to live that's close to where you work and then you can drive to The City on the weekends to party. If you want to grab a drink after work there are tons of places in and around San Jose to chill at.

 

I guess it's just that I'm not use to SF and it's traffic and what not. San Diego only has traffic from 8am-9am then from 4:30pm-6pm, and even that is 10-20mph traffic.

I guess I'll have to wait and see the areas when I get up there. Thanks for all the advice so far.

 

I am an apartment building manager in san jose, ca... Right off the freeway (12 mintue drive to cupertino via 280). We are going to have an opening in April for a one bedroom.. prolly will go for $700 w/ parking, water, garbage, internet. One block from San Jose State

 

so I got back and I drove up to visit my friend in SF marina (laguna and lombard) Great area, very safe, close to bars and night life. The commute took about 50 mins from cupertino to his house (around 7pm Tues night) and about 45 mins from SF to cupertino (11pm at night). The 280 didn't seem that bad, and the way my friend explained it, I would be going against rush hour the whole time. There are also many people in the new company that I'm looking at that live in SF and commute. I saw how the 101 goes through the city but the lights all seemed synced, so I only caught 3 red lights to get in and out.

Is SF a good place to buy a house? or rent? Are prices dropping or going up? I've checked the newspapers but the numbers seem wrong, I think personal experience is better.

 

okay, guys.....i don't know why ppl are making it out like san jose is ghetto?!?! san jose is like any big city in america--there are nice areas and there are bad areas. of course, you want to avoid the bad areas like downtown san jose, parts of south san jose near story or senter, or some areas in central san jose. san jose also has some of the nicest (one of the most expensive areas in silicon valley) neighborhoods around like the silver creek area or almaden area. you can definitely find a nice apt or townhome for under $2k per month in many south bay cities. the ongoing rate for a two bedroom apt./townhome in nice areas within san jose and neighboring cities is about $1500-2000 per month.

of course, there are really nice areas in neighboring suburbs like cupertino, fremont, mountain view, saratoga, los gatos, etc. but, you'll be paying much more in rent. living in s.f. is fine, but expect to pay A LOT more for rent or the mortgage. as others have mentioned, if you plan on working in cupertino, it's crazy to live in s.f. it's like working in jersey but living in new york city....it's the opposite of what ppl are doing!

 

The area is very safe... we even have cops patrol our car ports at night...

 

+1. Don't get all caught up in wanting to live in The City just for the night life. #1 You'll be driving to work five days a week and going out two. #2 San Jo has a very good nightlife. #3 Rent will be cheaper in the areas around Cupertino than it will be in SF.

 

yeah, I actually was talking to a college friend tonight who told me the same thing. He said, don't let san jose fool you, it's coming up in nightlife.

Plus I know someone who lives in the marina district right now, so I can probably just crash at his place when I want to party.

Thanks for the help, looks like cupertino, sunnyvale, mountain view, or los altos are the places I'm going to start looking.

 

just fyi, the nightlife in SJ is very different from SF. the stuff you can find in SF cannot be found in SJ. i used to be really into house music and SF is AMAZING for checking out a lot of the best house artists but there's no such scene in SJ. in my experience, SJ is a lot more about the ghetto booty scene and SF has a lot more of the "club kid" experience at a lot of its clubs. nothing's good or bad with either, just saying, there's definitely a diff if you're really into clubbing.

 

I'm not into hardcore clubbing. I'm more of a lounge kind of place on the weekend, and normal bars on the weekdays. As long as the girls are good looking and out number the guys, I'm happy.

Hardcore clubbing is meant for Vegas.

 

i dunno imo vegas clubs suck. but maybe i just haven't had the best experiences there i go for the music.