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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Possible move to San Francisco - help!
My sister is being relocated to San Jose and wants to live in the San Francisco area. She is being transferred from the Washington DC area and the company will pay for her relocation. We don't know anyone in CA and she has to make a decision by the end of the week.
Is that an ok commute? Living in the DC area already, she experiences a fairly long commute, but via public transportation.
She is still negotiating salary/package and is keeping in mind that SF is even higher cost of living than DC. Any advice on areas to live? Or anything to consider that she might not have thought of?
Thanks for all your help! I know the nest boards can be so helpful.
(I'm a nestie on the International Nesties board since I live in England now.)
Re: Possible move to San Francisco - help!
So she's going to be working in San Jose but wants to live in the city? Personally, I wouldn't want to do that commute every day but other South Bay nesties can probably give you more advice on doing that trip, by car or public transportation.
Like any other big city, living in San Francisco is expensive, especially if you want to have a car (parking is a nightmare). If you're really into the city life, then it might be worth it. Personally, I prefer the outlying areas that still feel urban and have access to lots of cool stuff with better housing prices and more access to open space.
What does she like to do? That might help narrow down the housing choices.
What I've told the last few people who posted on here about moving to CA is that, if at all possible, get a short term rental to start. Come out here, get to know the area and then find something more long term. There are so many options out here and what's right for one person won't work for another. Good luck to your sister!
It's about a hour between SF and San Jose. Of course, it depends on traffic and where you're going in each city.
There is the CalTrain that runs between cities. I forget how long it takes, but it's not super fast (even the express) and it's somewhat pricey (maybe something to negotiate -- CalTrain passes).
That said, I'd do it and know people who have. There are also nice (more suburban) cities between San Jose and SF.
No way in hell would I want to commute between SF and San Jose. Also, San Jose is a really big city, so depending on where exactly she would live in the city and where exactly her office is, the commute could be well over an hour.
Personally, I'd recommend living in Mountain View or Palo Alto instead. I don't know San Jose very well, but Willow Glen is a nice area. I just think if it's her first time living on the west coast she might want to be at least a bit closer to San Francisco, though to be honest I was too lazy to drive up to the city most weekends when I lived in Palo Alto
i live in san jose and i wouldn't want to commute to the city everyday. san francisco is fantastic, but i'd shoot myself if i had to drive that five days a week. and i say this as someone who lived in santa cruz and commuted to san jose for over a year, which is an hour drive but with much more predictable traffic.
if she absolutely must live in the city and wants to use public transit, i'd recommend living in a neighborhood near caltrain, which is pretty much south of market financial district (i personally wouldn't want to live there but lots of people do), the mission or potrero hill. depending on what part of the city you're in, it can take 30 - 45 minutes just to get to caltrain.
if i were her i'd check out some of the towns on the peninsula... mountain view, palo alto, redwood city, burlingame, if she wants relatively easy access to both san jose and san francisco.
To go along with the people who are suggesting CalTrain, make sure the job in San Jose is actually near a station (that is remaining open). If it's really far away from the station she would need to figure out a bus, which in San Jose is not a great system.
Like pp said, San Jose is a very large city. Any chance you can narrow down the neighborhood the job is in?
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i second the living off 280 suggestion. very good call.
Thanks so much everyone! I think she would have a car so she could also do the commute in her car...I'm not sure that really makes a difference to you guys as it would still be a long commute.
She's single and in her mid-20s so I know she doesn't want to be too far away from the action but also in a safe area where she can run outside and have a nice place. And generally just making leaving her very social and fun life in DC worth it!
Info about that area says the median salary is $71k and rent is about $1300/month for San Jose, obviously more expensive in SF! She doesn't know her exact package yet since she's still in negotiations but this is all really helpful. Thank you!
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The commute is long, but also in bad traffic. With $4+/gallon of gas, I would not do it... but I don't crave the social scene of SF either. She's young and will be wanting to meet people and make new friends, so it might be worth it to her to commute.
Again, I recommend finding a short term rental, moving out here and getting to know the area before she commits to something long term. Of course, once she knows how much money she'll be making, that might help her make the decision about housing in the South Bay/Peninsula vs. the city.
Another thing she can ask about is if there's a shuttle from SF to SJ that her company provides. My husband's company, in order to lure workers to work in their Palo Alto office, offered a shuttle from SF to Palo Alto. And I know a few other companies offer this. His company also had a shuttle from CalTrain to their office.
A company other than Google does this? I bet Facebook does it now, too. Where were these perks when I lived in the Bay Area???
I believe Genentech and some of the techie companies do this too.
Hubs pretty much has this commute ( a bit further even) He is at a big tech company that has shuttle service to and from various Bart stations and around the campus. He takes advantage. This benefit can be found in certain companies.
That being said if we knew he'd be having the job he does now when we bought this house, we'd live MUCH closer to San Jose.
Count me in camp would not commute from SF to SJ if I had a choice.
With that commute she won't have that much time for socialization anyway.