I have a potential job opportunity in Redwood City, and just wanted to see if anyone has any advice about moving to the area, pro or con. Yes, I already know about the housing prices and weather . What about everything else? Do y'all like living there, all things considered, or would I be happier in TX? If I go, any areas to esp. look at or avoid? I'd prob. rent for at least my first year (possibly longer, since I have a lot of equity locked up in my TX house, and will rent it out since it's hard to stomach selling it), and having at least one garage space, preferably 2 is critical. Need parking for 2 cars and a truck. I'm targeting places in the $2K-2.5K range, though lower would certainly be better! Should I look in the East Bay area (Union City, Fremont, etc.) for better affordability, or do the negatives offset the savings?

I've hit Skyline Dr. and CA9 out of Saratoga - are there many other cool, light traffic roads in the area?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

Check out http://sfbay.craigslist.org/ this is where you want to look for all things rented and for sale in the Bay area

The weather is pretty consistent year round, norcal is a little bit on the colder side of things but i'm sure you can get used to it

 

I've never lived in Texas so I couldn't compare. I've lived in LA for a year but I'll always call the Bay Area my home. What do you like to do? Here's some activities you can expect to do around the Bay Area.

Reno / Tahoe is about 3-4 hours away (snow, gambling, fishing)
some good mtn biking all over the bay area.
Santa Cruz is about 1-2 hours away if your into surfing ( IMO the water is too freaking cold)
I've heard of some off road parks around Santa Cruz if you're bring a truck
SF has some night life and that's about 30-45 min. from Redwood City
SJ has Santa Row or Downtown if you want to go bar hopping
Yosemite is 4-5 hour away
wine country is around 1 1/2 hours away
LA is 5-6 hour drive but you can't beat jetblue or southwest for $59 flights
Vegas is a 1 hours flight

If you're working in Redwood City, I would suggest living on that side of the bay. Crossing the San Mateo or Dumbarton bridge is a pain depending on what time you work. In addition, its going to cost $5 to cross the bridge. That's another $100 a month plus your time sitting in traffic. On the other hand, you'll have a better chance at renting a house with a two car garage in the East Bay. I would check out www.sfgate.com or www.craigslist.org to get a feel on how much places are renting for. You'll probably have no problems getting one car space but two is pushing it. I would check out Fremont or Newark if you want to live on the other side of the bay. Its close to the Dumbarton Bridge. No offense, but I'd stay out of Hayward or Union City. There are some good places to live there but in general its blah.

For myself, if I was in my 20's and the job has serious career advancement I'd go for it. I'm an old fart so I'm looking for job stability and networking. You don't want to be in your late 30's trying to start all over again. Look at it this way, if you don't like it you can always move back. If you've never lived anywhere else it wouldn't hurt to add the Bay Area to the resume. Most people who are transplants from other places in the world like it here. The main reason why people move away is the cost of the houses in the Bay Area.

Hope that helps!

 

The East Bay would probably be a bit cheaper but your commute over the bridges is going to suck during rush hour. If you have flex time though then you can just commute before and after traffic and it's not too bad.

I worked in Redwood City for a while and most of my coworkers lived in the Peninsula region, which is basically the west side of the bay between Palo Alto and San Francisco. Some cities in that area include San Carlos, San Mateo, San Bruno, Menlo Park, South San Francisco, Belmont, etc. Traffic on the 101 sucks bad during rush hour though so keep that in mind.

My personal Pro's for moving here would be:

* Good pay and good standard of living.

* Lots of ourdoors recreation within 3 hours' drive. You can mountain bike all over the place, ski/snowboard in Tahoe, ride the sand dunes in Pismo Beach, go to wine country, surf, go fishing/crabbing, and so on.

My Con's would be:

* Not much night life outside of SF. Most of the bay area is a big ass suburb, which may or may not matter to you. Can't really call the night life boring but I wouldn't consider it very exciting either.

* People are generally obsessed with work, career, and making money. Could be a plus or a minus but it's a minus in my book. After living here for two decades, it's gotten a little old for me.

Not sure how any of this compares to Texas as I've only personally been to Dallas just once. It's probably pretty comparable though. Personally I'd prefer to live in LA as a young person (more fun IMO) and the bay area as an adult (better economy and more suburban) but of course that's up to the individual. Oh yeah the pot here is good.

 

Keep your house in TX and rent it out.

As for living here, avoid the east bay. Anything north of Fremont pretty much sucks unless you live in the hillside of any of those cities. The peninsula side is very nice. If you're working in Redwood City, I would choose a city nearby. Redwood City, Redwood Shores, Mountain View, Burlingame, and San Mateo. Those are "relatively" ok in terms of housing costs. More expensive cities on that side would be Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Belmont, Woodside, Atherton. The other benefit of living on the peninsula side is that if you want nightlife, it's a shorter drive up to SF for the fun. If you're not sure you'll be with that job for more than 5 years, look at housing further south which tends to be cheaper.

I live in Fremont and chose it because it's still a decent city (no ghettos) and the housing price is affordable. There's absolutely NO night life here. It's a suburb, but it's peaceful and safe. It's also close to Mountain View which is where I work.


California is MUCH better than TX. My gf is from Fort Worth and she says there's not much to do there. Living in the bay area, everything is within a 4hr driving range. You have mountain biking, camping, surfing, swimming, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, shopping, wine tasting, boating, amusement parks, sightseeing. Sunsets over the ocean, great weather, a good job market, and a diverse culture > TX.

 

What do you know about the East Bay?

 

So I'll weigh in a bit on the whole Bay Area versus TX issue. Which one is better depends alot upon what you are looking for. My sister lived up in SF for 5-6 years until they started to have a family and moved out to Austin where hosing was much less expensive and life was a bit less hectic. My mom also lives there too which played into the decision.

If you want city life then SF is a no brainer it's really not comparable to the Austin area, BUT you'll have a hard time dealing with 3 cars. Depending upon the place you might get 2 spaces but you won't get three and parking can be a pain in the ass.

For the rest of the bay area it's still suburbia, a little different/more refined in certain areas but not too dissimilar to where you are coming from. There are usually interesting things going on during the summer/spring/fall. Weather(except far east bay and far south) is usually cooler and nicer overall than TX. IN many places you really don't have a need for AC. Temp tends to stay around 70ish except in the winter where it can get cooler. It will be cooler in SF because of the moderating effect of the bay.

There are alot of things to do around here, and many are different than what you would get in Austin. There's nothing quite like 6th street, although SF has some interesting possibly more upscale alternatives. There are lakes around but I don't think anything quite as popular as travis. As mentioned you get Tahoe, things like wine country and a different set of choices. You have a different kind of people and it does tend to be more diverse. Unfortunately there's really no good BBQ here if you like it...some decent but none that really pass muster.

It's a toss up which is better. It will be different and depending upon what you want you may like it alot more. Cost of living is ALOT higher out here but so are salaries. If you want to experiment you can rent your place in Austin and live here for a year to see if you like it. Traffic isn't too bad depending upon when you go and which direction. Hell Mopac can be just as bad at the wrong times, but traffic does tend to last longer out here.

 

I was pretty much was raised in Fresno all my life. Not saying Fresno is similar to Austin, but I'm sure it's similar in more ways than the Bay Area or Redwood City.

GaryPhuD is right, if you want to live city life...the Bay Area or SF is the way too go. It'll be my 10th year this year living in SJ and I love every minute of it. However, you do pay a premium to live here. For what I'm paying here (in terms of rent), I can rent a pretty nice house in Fresno area. Actually I would have already bought a house instead of renting had I lived in Fresno. And having 3 cars is a bit of a hassle especially if you plan on renting. You'll be parking it outside.

My work is stationed in Mtn View and I do go to Redwood City at least once a week. It's a nice little city and the weather is nice year round.

 

Thanks for the info, guys - very helpful!

I definitely do NOT want to live in SF, it's way too crowded and congested (not to mention even more expensive) for my taste. Heck, if it wasn't for commuting considerations, I'd prob. live near Hollister so I could go dirt biking all the time...or Skyline Dr./CA 9 so I could enjoy the twisties w/ my car and street bike.