Top Law Schools

Just did some looking around on Craigslist. Everything seems expensive and I'm lost. Assume 160k. Any wisdom?

Welcome to the Bay Area, my friend. Redwood City and San Mateo are less expensive than Palo Alto, Mountain View, Portola Valley, etc. You could also look to San Jose or East Bay--have to imagine those cities are cheaper than most of South Bay.

BioEBear2010 wrote:Welcome to the Bay Area, my friend. Redwood City and San Mateo are less expensive than Palo Alto, Mountain View, Portola Valley, etc. You could also look to San Jose or East Bay--have to imagine those cities are cheaper than most of South Bay.

OP here:

East Bay seems like an insane commute down the 80, right? Used to live in the Bay Area for a long time, but always in Berkeley/Oakland.

What are the differentiators between Redwood City, San Mateo, etc.? Is it all just the same type of place with different names? Where do younger (read: more broke) professionals live? I know SF and East Bay like the back of my hand, but am generally lost in Silicon Valley.

EDIT: I know of a good Ramen place in San Mateo. This may be enough to go by...

Anonymous User wrote:

BioEBear2010 wrote:Welcome to the Bay Area, my friend. Redwood City and San Mateo are less expensive than Palo Alto, Mountain View, Portola Valley, etc. You could also look to San Jose or East Bay--have to imagine those cities are cheaper than most of South Bay.

OP here:

East Bay seems like an insane commute down the 80, right? Used to live in the Bay Area for a long time, but always in Berkeley/Oakland.

What are the differentiators between Redwood City, San Mateo, etc.? Is it all just the same type of place with different names? Where do younger (read: more broke) professionals live? I know SF and East Bay like the back of my hand, but am generally lost in Silicon Valley.

EDIT: I know of a good Ramen place in San Mateo. This may be enough to go by...

SV native here. Redwood City is sketchier than other places, although their downtown has gotten significantly nicer recently. Lots of young tech worker people in Mountain View. Los Altos is filled with more senior citizens. I don't know too much about San Mateo, although I think it really depends on what part of San Mateo (i.e. some parts are nicer than others). Menlo Park and Palo Alto are quite nice. There are tons of (somewhat more) affordable apartments in Mountain View. The East Bay would be a bunch cheaper, but I don't recommend that commute. Another note: 280 has way less traffic than 101 does.

Check Sunnyvale. It's nice enough and cheaper than the surrounding communities.

gotmilk? wrote: SV native here. Redwood City is sketchier than other places, although their downtown has gotten significantly nicer recently. Lots of young tech worker people in Mountain View. Los Altos is filled with more senior citizens. I don't know too much about San Mateo, although I think it really depends on what part of San Mateo (i.e. some parts are nicer than others). Menlo Park and Palo Alto are quite nice. There are tons of (somewhat more) affordable apartments in Mountain View. The East Bay would be a bunch cheaper, but I don't recommend that commute. Another note: 280 has way less traffic than 101 does.

Thanks!

parts of Menlo Park near East Palo Alto are not nice

Where do Stanford kids live?

Anonymous User wrote:Where do Stanford kids live?

the ones with rich parents paying for everything or the other ones?

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Where do Stanford kids live?

the ones with rich parents paying for everything or the other ones?

Lol, other. Imagine they have 200k in debt and make 160k/year.

Anonymous User wrote:

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Where do Stanford kids live?

the ones with rich parents paying for everything or the other ones?

Lol, other. Imagine they have 200k in debt and make 160k/year.

Surprisingly, a lot of them manage to eek out an existence in Palo Alto. Others live in EPA, Redwood City, and Mountain View.

Mountain View is a nice balance of easy commute, nice downtown, and reasonable-ish prices.

chimp wrote:Check Sunnyvale. It's nice enough and cheaper than the surrounding communities.

True. I'm from Sunnyvale. If you're looking at Sunnyvale (or other nearby areas), feel free to PM me and I'll give you the scoop. Depending on where exactly you're working, it may not make sense (a half hour commute isn't bad, but just isn't necessary around there).

Fuck the burbs

Anonymous User wrote:Fuck the burbs

What does that even mean? The only place on the peninsula that isn't the "burbs" is San Francisco (some might also include San Jose).

chimp wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Fuck the burbs

What does that even mean? The only place on the peninsula that isn't the "burbs" is San Francisco (some might also include San Jose).

Right, please explain. If you are suggesting living in SF and commuting to SV, we're all ears.

Anonymous User wrote:

chimp wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Fuck the burbs

What does that even mean? The only place on the peninsula that isn't the "burbs" is San Francisco (some might also include San Jose).

Right, please explain. If you are suggesting living in SF and commuting to SV, we're all ears.

I'm not suggesting that. You apparently are if you made the "fuck the burbs" comment.

If you are SUPER trendy and single, living in SF and working in SV might make sense. But everyone I know who does this is special in a very unique way.

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:If you are SUPER trendy and single, living in SF and working in SV might make sense. But everyone I know who does this is special in a very unique way.

Haha. I'm pretty lame and far from single. A lot of my friends live in SF, but other than that, I could care less.

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:If you are SUPER trendy and single, living in SF and working in SV might make sense. But everyone I know who does this is special in a very unique way.

Really? I knew tons of people that worked for consulting firms in menlo or PA, and they all lived in SF, close to either caltrain or the highway.

I have a few Stanford friends who live in Mountain View post-grad. Definitely more affordable than Palo Alto, Atherton, Menlo Park, etc. A couple of people also live in SF and commute down to Silicon Valley using the Caltrain, but I wouldn't recommend this (it takes forever, but if you're good at doing work on the train and you really want the fun of living in San Francisco, more power to you).

Anonymous User wrote:

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:If you are SUPER trendy and single, living in SF and working in SV might make sense. But everyone I know who does this is special in a very unique way.

Really? I knew tons of people that worked for consulting firms in menlo or PA, and they all lived in SF, close to either caltrain or the highway.

Understandable. People who work for consulting firms are inordinately trendy.

On a related note, how important is keeping up with the Joneses in the bay area?

If I want to live in a trailer or crap apartment to save maximum cash... do people care

Struggling between LA and an offer in Palo Alto. Married, preschool age child, and another on the way. Thoughts?

Anonymous User wrote:Struggling between LA and an offer in Palo Alto. Married, preschool age child, and another on the way. Thoughts?

Hell-a??? You do not want to raise your children in southern California. Basically, norcal and socal are diametrically opposed.

SOCAL:
--Image and status oriented
--Hollywood money
--Sprawling and ridiculous traffic
--Terrible public transit
--Concrete, concrete, concrete

NORCAL:
--Merit based, casual, more laid back
--Tech money
--Great public transit, easy to get anywhere
--Amazing private schools; some of the best in the nation (CPS, Head Royce, Harker, Bellarmine, etc etc)
--Fantastic places to go with your spouse and kids on weekends. An hour in any direction and you are in SF, Santa Cruz, the beach, wine country, redwood trees, etc.
--Great job opportunities for your spouse if they are in technology. In LA the jobs are more in media/tv.

You would be crazy to pick LA over the Bay if the choice was just about location.