Which Town Should We Choose?: San Mateo, Redwood City, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, San Jose?

Question

Hi, I'd REALLY appreciate your advice on which community my wife and I should live in. The choices are: San Mateo, Redwood City, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, & San Jose.

We'll be moving there in about a month. My new job is in San Jose. We're in our mid/late-twenties. We prefer to live in an apartment or condo, hopefully with some nearby cafes, restaurants, shops, nightlife, etc. It seems like all of these towns sort of blend together in one big urban sprawl, but ideally we'd be in an area that feels like a real distinct community with its own character and scene.

By the way, Palo Alto would be on this list too, but it appears to be too expensive (I need to keep our one-bedroom apartment well under $2K/month). I disincluded a few other Silicon Valley towns because they aren't on the Caltrain line. (An important criterion for us is to have a Caltrain stop within walking distance, because my wife doesn't have a car yet.)

THANK YOU FOR ANY ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE!

Answer 1

For your needs, I recommend Mountain View, especially if you can get within walking distance of Castro Street, anywhere between Central and El Camino. TONS of restaurants, a bookstore or two (though it's not the same without Printers Inc.), a brewpub, and the Caltrain station. It's the closest of the cities you mention to San Jose with the least feeling of suburban sprawl.

That being said... I lived in Sunnyvale for 12 years, but I was solving for a different set of needs than you are. The downtown center of Sunnyvale is lovely, but very small -- Murphy Avenue is only a block long (they tore down the rest when they built the mall in the Seventies), but it's a restored piece of early-1900s architecture, and there is (or was when we lived there) a farmer's market there on summer weekends. Sunnyvale is also a good 10-20 minutes closer to San Jose than Mt. View is, and has a charming Caltrain station of its own.

(Caltrain is the only reasonable way to get from that part of the Peninsula to San Francisco, and I've used it to get from Sunnyvale to San Jose as well. And I'm a car freak... it's just that I'd much rather drive a 35-year-old Alfa Romeo along Highway 84 to San Gregorio or Stage Road through Pescadero than along Hwy 280 in stop-and-go traffic.)

As for Palo Alto, you're right about the cost, but for a visit it's only a short hop (either by car or train) from Castro Street in Mt. View to University Avenue in Palo Alto, and that's a happening place -- I was there last week (I work for a company based in Mt. View but I live just outside Portland, Oregon). They still have the old Stanford Theater, I understand, which dates back to the silent era and has a restored theater-style pipe organ; we went to the first recital after the restoration, it was a great evening.

Oh, don't overlook Menlo Park, the next town north of Palo Alto; it's worth going to for lots of reasons, but there are two that would make it worthwhile if nothing else: Draeger's and Kepler's. Draeger's is a great high-end gourmet grocery store; Kepler's is an old-fashioned independent book store. (Not the best book store on the planet -- that'd be Powell's, up here in Portland. :-) I'm not sure what the rental situation in Menlo Park is like, but it's worth taking a tour through there when you're "neighborhood shopping."

Still -- Mt. View is probably the best blend, for what you're looking for. There's even a local theater (I've seen the signs along Castro Street -- that's Mt. View's Castro Street, not the famous one in San Francisco), though I haven't been to it. That's become one of my must-have criteria for where I live -- first-rate theater within half an hour, and a good, sincere community theater in my home town. I'll have to give it a try if I get a free evening on my next trip -- one of the posters shows a still from "Bat Boy: The Musical," so it MUST be good!

Best of luck in your move, and welcome to the Bay Area!

Answer 2

All those towns are fairly similar in terms of quality-of-life issues, but I think Mountain View has the most apartment buildings, condo complexes and shops/cafes in close proximity to a Caltrain station. San Jose is the only city on the list that has anything like a big-city downtown nightlife.

Answer 3

If you like to party a lot then towns close to SFO would be best. San Mateo and Redwood City - you can take trains to SFO to party. If you like good neighborhoods, less crime rate, good schools etc then you should go for Sunnyvale, Mtn View, Cupertino area. I specifically like Mtn View downtown, not too big but great food(a lot of options) and other things that you mentioned.

If you need to use CalTrain, then Sunnyvale(2 caltrain stations), and Mountain View(2 caltrain stations) are the best places. There are so many good apartment complexes in these two towns but they are not so cheap compared to Palo Alto. May be a little bit. For your age group, i highly recommend Mtn View.

Answer 4

Hands down: Mountain View. It's central location makes getting to both SF and SJ easy. Near the bay, it is a little milder than San Jose and warmer than San Mateo. It has a lively downtown with new restaurants opening every week and there are many new condo/town house buildings within a short walk of Castro Street which has a "happening" urban ambiance to it. It has an advantageous tax base with many electronics companies including Google in town. It has newer city hall, library, performing arts center, jail. Thanks to Google it has free wireless Internet city wide. MV has three Cal Train stations and also is the northern terminus for the light rail system. Check out Craigslist housing for some ideas.

I don't live in MV -- I just wish I did.

Answer 5

Newark is a great place to live. The neighboring cities of Fremont, Union City, and Milpitas are also great. Between these four cities, you'll find good restaurants, shops, and Newpark Mall (in Newark). Nightlife!?!?.... Nothing much happening in these cities, but you would be right in the middle of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. The great part about living in the Tri-city area (Newark, Fremont, Union City) is that you're far enough from the fast life of the bigger cities of the bay area, but not too far when you want to be apart of it. But if you want "character" and night life all around you all of the time, I would suggest San Jose 100%. San Jose is a beautiful city but its just too big for me. I love living near San Jose, but I wouldn't want to live there. Of these cities that surround Newark, you'll find the best apartments/condos in Milpitas, Fremont, and San Jose. But....I wouldn't suggest living in Sunnyvale, San Jose, or Campbell if you work in Newark unless you like traffic. Trust me your drive will be more than 30 minutes. Some of these answerers obviously have never been to Fremont. Fremont is now the fourth largest city in the Bay area. We have malls (a brand new shopping center as a matter of fact) and many restaurants (any type of cuisine you desire you can find in Fremont). We have some nightlife, but nothing that compares to San Jose. The Oakland A's are even moving to Fremont in the coming years. The thing I like about living in Fremont is that I am in a big city that has just about everything, but I don't feel like I am in a big city. These bigger cities are so crowded and crime ridden especially Oakland and San Francisco. People that I know like living in Fremont and the only reason I hear for why some want to leave is because it is so expensive to live here, but it is that way in the whole bay area.

Answer 6

South San Jose would be my choice (actually it is my choice - that's where I live). I live in a condo next to Almaden Lake. Oakridge Mall is approximately 2-3 blocks away. Lightrail is approximately 1 block away. Lightrail does have a stop so that you can connect to CalTrain. Downtown San Jose for the nightlife is only 15 minute drive away.

Answer 7

Sunnyvale, Mountain View is best city to live (in your list)

Answer 8

Mountain View... I think it's nicer than the others.

Answer 9

none of the above, California will be destroyed in the coming rapture