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We almost moved last year. But chickened out at the cost of living. Well, that and we were offered a gig here in Toronto that we accepted instead

@sunny: my friend moved from the Bay Area to Seattle (about 2 years ago) bc it was too expensive to raise a family there. I'll put you in touch with her so you can chat (she just went back for a visit a few weeks ago). She was in the Greenlake area and just bought a house on the eastside

@sunny: I have a love/hate relationship with the Bay. I've lived here for nearly 12 years now, and I totally consider it home. I love the diversity, the abundance of opportunities that my kiddos will have to experience a wide variety of cultures, and it's undeniably beautiful! I was stuck in traffic the other day looking out over the bay and the Golden Gate. How could life be so bad with a view like that? I grew up in Southern CA, so I very much miss having an actual summer though. So much of your life depends on the neighborhood where you end up though. Each spot has its benefits and drawbacks.

Housing sometimes seems overwhelming, but it really depends on your life circumstances now. Most companies offer more to their employees who live in the bay because they know it will cost more. Do I think it's an easy place to raise a family? No, not really. But people make it work. Though, if I hadn't lived my entire adult life here, I'm not sure I could swallow the cost of living increase.

We're in escrow for our first house, but only thanks to a gift/loan from my husbands parents, which is how most people who don't have a small personal fortune get into the real-estate market. Well, either that or they wait until they're 40-something. (I think 36 is still the average age of a first time home-buyer around these parts)

I'm not super familiar with the South Bay, but if you have specific questions about neighborhoods in the East Bay (or deep east), ask away!

Hi Sunny,

I have lived here all my life except for college (lived in central CA during college years). I lived in Hayward (east bay area) till I was 18, than from 22-27 I was in Sunnyvale, and then when I was 27+ I lived in San Jose/Milpitas (San Jose is huge so I wanted to say we live close to Milpitas part of the San Jose, pretty much one street over from Milpitas southern boarder).

I have a love and hate relationship with the bay area. One of my main reasons of being here after college is my family.

Everyone seems nice here but at the same time closed off. It's really hard to make friends that you didn't grow up with. I have been trying to make new friends since I started working here after college (8 years ago) but I always seem to fall back on my high school/middle school friends because it's just easier to hang out with them and get them together since we have those school day bond and I know a lot of people are not that lucky. I am hoping when LO is older we can make some friends with other parents but I'm not holding my breath... so hard to make new friends!

Housing is a big minus. DH and I are big savers, we barely spent anything outside of rent while we were single and were only able to buy a house by combining both our savings 3 years ago (I was 27 (4 years of savings for me) and he was 33 (10 years of savings for him)). We were able to put 20% down on a townhouse with our savings. So it is possible to buy something from savings but you have to save quite a while and be good about not spending but it's hard because there is so much fun stuff to do here!

That is the big plus - the culture, there is everything you would ever want and need right here. There is no reason to ever say you are bored here. There is just always something to try and do if you keep your eyes open. There is always something to do with LO and most of the time free or fairly cheap. There is always new foods and experiences to have.

As much as I joke with DH about moving somewhere else I really do think I'll miss it here if we ever did leave.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

@sunny: Well you can't really go wrong in life in either Seattle or SF area. I've always described Seattle as San Francisco's little sister. I find that Seattle needs not answer to the greater world as much for the random quirky things there. SF is more aware of its stature in the world and sometimes gets defensive. Though a friend in Seattle was looked down upon by others in her mother's group about not breastfeeding, it's worse in SF. My most tiger-mom friends are all in the Bay Area, too. "What?!? Your child doesn't speak fluent Mandarin and play the piano?!?" There's also more keeping up with the Joneses happening in SF (no place like Santana Row. Though that can be a good thing, too, because that means more things are available. Food is definitely better (and cheaper, though that might be because I shop at Asian markets and there are more Asian markets in the Bay Area), stores and products are launched first more often there (like Uniqlo), and when I go to Target, the stuff I want is actually stocked (I used to go to Northgate Target and it often had bare, naked-as-a-newborn shelves where the stuff I wanted used to be).

If you're moving to MtView area, it's more like Woodinville/Bothell area. Residential, some cool places, easy freeway access to other places. If you're not familiar with the architect Eichler, just know that the dimensions of some of his architecture mean many commercial products (like curtains) don't fit well. There are special Eichler stores if one is looking for perfection.

Biggest difference: weather. It's more like you live on the other side of Steven's Pass if you live in MtView/Sunnyvale.

What I miss of Seattle: again, walkability. I lived between Fremont/Wallingford so I was spoiled. San Juan Islands. There's less random interaction between humans and nature in SF (i.e. I used to see bald eagles hunting all the time in Seattle). I've always felt that eternity could be defined by four Seattle drivers at a 4-way stop (oh, no, you go... oh please after you... you first... eternity). I miss being the arsewipe Cali driver who would go 'don't mind if I do!' Since California has state income tax, that's an extra 10% of your income gone (though they pave the freeways more often and no bridges collapse... without earthquakes).

Hope that helps. Don't mind answering questions and stuff

@fert: Don't answer if this is none of my business, but in saying that low income is under 105K and that you could get a condo for 389--is that to actually purchase it? cause wow!

Hi Sunny,

We are actually pretty "lucky" my mom takes care of LO while we work. Though she lives in Hayward and we live in San Jose so it's tough.

DH works in Redwood City and he drops off/picks up the baby from Hayward which is about an 1.5 hr drive each way. When he doesn't have to drop off/pick up baby than it's about a 45-60 minute commute each way.

I work in Sunnyvale and it takes me about 15-25 minutes to go to work each way. I hate commutes and when I pick up the baby (which is rare) it's about 1.5 hrs for me too because I have to do a little bit of back tracking.

I will say I don't think the commute is bad at all. I have coworkers that live in Pleasanton which is far north east bay area and some that live in SF and they are fine with the commute.

There is definitely good commuting options like BART if you are in the east bay or CalTrains if you are in the peninsula but they are slow and sometimes trains run once every 15 minutes which means if you just miss one you will have to wait 15 minutes for the next.

I have some friends that went into day care centers the application process is pretty straight forward with filling out a few pieces of paper.

There are a lot of good day care centers in Campbell but that's a pricy city to live in.

@Raindrop: Yep. Sorry I wasn't clear. But the number I quoted is considered low income for the Millbrae area. For a couple.

@Raindrop: Yes, our family qualifies for low income in Millbrae because as a couple, we make less than $105k. Yes, this isn't for all condos but for the one we found, which was designated as low income housing. Which is why its fair market value is more than double.

I currently live in SF, but we moved here from Seattle.

Advantages to SF:
- Hands down, the weather. I mean, come on...
- Better job opportunities for tech. If you're into that sorta thing... my husband works in tech, which is what brought us down here in the first place.
- "Better" food, but also pricier and less accessible. Any fancier restaurant in SF will need at least a 2 week advance reservation.

Advantages to Seattle:
- Better traffic. Seattle traffic can suck, but Bay Area traffic sucks way more. I commute for at least an hour each way for work. While many people do live close to work, A LOT of people commute 1 hr or more as well. My husband works in SF, so he has a great commute, but since our work places are so far apart, one of us will always get screwed. Also, since I drive so much during the week, I'm too sick of the car to drive much on the weekends. And while the Bay Area has the beach, wine country, etc... it's still a decent drive, especially with weekend traveler traffic. I thought Seattle's perks (the lakes, hiking, skiing) were far more accessible.
- Better housing! Bay Area prices are double Seattle prices, easy. And half as nice.
- Prettier! Depends on your personal preference, but I'll take lakes, snow-capped mountains, and greenery over fog, smog, and dried out hills any day.

We're actually thinking of moving back to Seattle or elsewhere in the next few years. We have a little one on the way in August, and while you CAN raise kids here, it's not ideal. We eventually want a nice house with a yard, and that's just not gonna happen here.

@sunny: I have a love LOVE relationship with the south bay! That being said, I'm totally biased since I grew up here (San Jose). I have also lived in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Tokyo.

Pros:
**The weather is so nice! The south bay is completely different than SF even though SF is only 45 min. away. It's generally 10 - 15 degrees warmer in the south bay, and it's sunny most of the year.
**It's well connected by freeways and highways. In SJ I can get to pretty much anywhere I need to go in 10 - 15 min. The traffic isn't bad at all if you're driving around the south bay. If you go north, or significantly south you can hit bottle necks.
**Great public schools (if you live in the right neighborhood).
**Great food and SHOPPING!
**Very diverse area.
**Clean (especially compared to Philly..)
**Not too many homeless people
**Safe
**Lots of activities!

Cons:
**High cost of living.. not just housing, but state income tax is HUGE (9+%), sales tax is ridiculous (9+% added onto EVERYTHING except groceries), services are more expensive because everyone needs to make a living.
**You need to pay 10 cents for a bag.. even at the mall.. Carrying around $$$ of clothes in a reusable bag is lame.

Even though it's expensive I always say that you pay to live in the bay.. it's that nice.

Btw, if you have any questions about the South Bay message me!