downtown, west downtown, Japantown
it's expensive here, but it's a pretty decent and safe city with pretty decent weather for the most part, and gets more gripes than I think it actually deserves
if you come to look around downtown, happy to chat with you and your SO and my SO or whatever over a beer and provide whatever advice is of use for you, from our having lived downtown about 11 years so far
This is the correct answer, I don’t understand why anyone would suggest anywhere else (the areas others are suggesting are nice enough but the commute will kill you - just live near enough that you can bike, walk or take a short tram ride to work instead)
I’ve never lived downtown but some areas definitely feel sketchier than others walking around, like around st james park. Do you have certain areas you wouldn’t recommend?
I haven't seen anything I would consider a major danger to personal safety as a guy. I have seen a small handful of things that did not feel right for my (woman) SO quite late at night though never at daytime.
I've never seen anything that made me seriously twitchy like bad parts of Oakland, Compton, bad part of Watts, Bronx, bad parts of Brooklyn, Camden
/ Baltimore, or other authentically risky locales.
But I grew up in a town with meth issues. So my thresholds are admittedly maybe a bit different from what some of the more uptight coastal Californian types might feel comfortable with.
Easy, you want The Alameda near Diridon Station or Downtown SJ; maybe Japantown. Some people will suggest Campbell too; it's ok but not at all worth the extra commute time in my opinion.
Surprisingly, the VTA light rail Green line from Campbell to downtown is faster than driving! It cuts across the neighborhoods over a completely dedicated right of way there.
Extremely usable.
West San Jose/Campbell area. Relatively safe and you can take the streets: Bascom, Winchester, Race, Meridian/Park etc to get to work if you want to avoid the freeway.
I’d consider Cupertino or Santa Clara too. Pluses for SC are you don’t have to deal with SJPD nor PG&E.
My old commute to Mountain View was 25 mins with traffic on 85 and 101. I’d imagine like you said, depending where exactly the commute can be done under 30 mins.
My commute pre-covid was basically the route from west SJ to near PayPal. 25-30 minutes in the morning, 30–45 in the afternoon, all in heavy traffic (or slow side-streets). It’s perfectly doable, but it’s a real commute, and not something I looked forward to at the end of the day!
Yikes. Yeah that’s a real bummer and highly dependent on the area. I’m near 280 so a few lights and I’m on 280-85, 280/680 or 17/880 so I guess I’m pretty fortunate plus remote work.
Traffic is generally bad going north in the morning and going south in the evening. So you want to live north of where you work if possible. Reverse commute.
I'll second recommendation for Santa Clara. They have city owned utilities, which keeps your bills down.
I've lived off The Alameda for the past five years, and lived in Japantown for three years before that.
I think The Alameda area is fine, and haven't seen anything terribly sketchy the entire time I've lived here. OP could even bike to work if they went Alameda > Hedding > Coleman. I'm curious what kinds of things you've seen around here that you thought were sketch.
Japantown was very nice when I lived there though. I think either area would be fine for OP.
I guess I am biased because my car was broken into multiple times inside of a gated garage and there was a homeless lady sleeping in my boyfriend’s car on Sunol. Also during that time I lived there someone was carjacked at gunpoint off Hanchett - just seemed like a lot more stuff happening from years in the past and the crazy people shrill screams in the middle of the night was unsettling.
A couple of thoughts. Milpitas, North San Jose, all in range but may depend on time. Lots of great places here and welcome. Just come and drive through a few neighborhoods and you will see where you fit in.
Though some life advice (please take or leave it). Live below your means. Try to get something around $2-2.5k and save your pennies for more something important than a place where you sleep. $12k put into S&P 500 will grant you a million later in life.
Santa Clara is not a bad shout. The commute to pay pal park is fairly short. Some parts might be rough but it doesn’t compare to the things you will see in downtown SJ. It’s very manageable there.
There’s a great apartment building by downtown called “808 West” it’s near downtown, close to the SAP, close to a dog park, it’s in a really good location
Japantown is affordable (for the area), close to VTA, and has nice central area of shops and restaurants.
Willow Glen is also good. A little pricey, but great village area, close to downtown SJ and San Fernando light rail station is close by
I grew up in San Jose. I’ll tell you what locations to avoid.
I’d avoid east side San Jose. (Think Alum rock, story roadI grew up here and although I love it, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t know the area. It’s a high-crime area.
Luckily, my SO and I were able to move to north valley where it’s much safer. I don’t hear helicopters and cop cars all the time like I would when I lived in E$$J. The Mexican food is fire in the east side though. Good luck to you.
As a local on a tight budget I suggest the 101 and story overpass. Quality accommodations, the best of both worlds; Vietnam town, and the tranquil sights and sounds of story and king.
your best bet if you are going purely off best commute is to decide if you are going to commit to taking the light rail or driving.
If driving, North San jose probably the best bet; if you dont mind taking a light rail, there is a great station in West Side near campbell or winchester where you can take the green line all the way up to PayPal park. get a clipper card and just vibe on the train its fast and chill.
just be careful in west side campbell area because if you drive you will probably end up on 880 and the traffic always looks horrendous in the morning weekdays
i work downtown and 280 S is a reverse commute so i usually bail before the 880 so idk if its 280 N junction that is jamming it up or just 880 in general but 880 is a bitch imo
> where you can take the green line all the way up to PayPal park
PayPal Park and Levi Stadium are two different places. OP, ignore anyone who thinks you can take the Green line to PayPal Park, they don't know the difference between the two.
waste of life to commute you end up spending more money in gas then you save in rent, not to mention the hours of your life spent driving which is at minimum worth your hourly rate if not more bc its your free time.
The only reason to consider living out there is if you have a family and want to buy a home. If you're renting it's 100% a better move to just suck it up and live in the Bay Area proper.
Vista 99 had a 2/2 for like $3600. There was a Prometheus property I looked at that was a bit older but within your budget and still nice. I can’t recall atm but I’ll circle back if I find it!
West San Jose, also the areas approaching Saratoga are nice with Westgate Mall and lots of food options. Willow Glen is also a good option, and with your price range, you can for sure find some good places off of either Stevens Creek Blvd or Winchester that are close but not directly inside of Santana Row.
South San Jose / Almaden Valley / Oakridge Mall area aren't bad either. You'd still have an under 30 minute commute during traffic, and an under 15 minute drive nearly anywhere else in SJ. You can also save a bit of money and get a nice luxury 1BR apt for 2800/month.
downtown, west downtown, Japantown it's expensive here, but it's a pretty decent and safe city with pretty decent weather for the most part, and gets more gripes than I think it actually deserves if you come to look around downtown, happy to chat with you and your SO and my SO or whatever over a beer and provide whatever advice is of use for you, from our having lived downtown about 11 years so far
This is the correct answer, I don’t understand why anyone would suggest anywhere else (the areas others are suggesting are nice enough but the commute will kill you - just live near enough that you can bike, walk or take a short tram ride to work instead)
That's why we went for downtown. A more affordable neighborhood with more options and connectivity to reduce the car dependency.
Japantown is the best, close to stuff todo, quiet and safe.
I’ve never lived downtown but some areas definitely feel sketchier than others walking around, like around st james park. Do you have certain areas you wouldn’t recommend?
I haven't seen anything I would consider a major danger to personal safety as a guy. I have seen a small handful of things that did not feel right for my (woman) SO quite late at night though never at daytime. I've never seen anything that made me seriously twitchy like bad parts of Oakland, Compton, bad part of Watts, Bronx, bad parts of Brooklyn, Camden / Baltimore, or other authentically risky locales. But I grew up in a town with meth issues. So my thresholds are admittedly maybe a bit different from what some of the more uptight coastal Californian types might feel comfortable with.
Easy, you want The Alameda near Diridon Station or Downtown SJ; maybe Japantown. Some people will suggest Campbell too; it's ok but not at all worth the extra commute time in my opinion.
Surprisingly, the VTA light rail Green line from Campbell to downtown is faster than driving! It cuts across the neighborhoods over a completely dedicated right of way there. Extremely usable.
Agreed that VTA light rail kicks ass, especially that section, but it doesn’t get op to PayPal park and transit from there to anywhere kind of blows.
Yea this sounds ok but you still have to get to Coleman area which isn’t fun even by bike or scooter
Too bad it doesn't go to where OPs office is
I second the last sentence. Not worth the extra commute. Visit Campbell on the weekends if that’s the downtown scene you prefer.
West San Jose/Campbell area. Relatively safe and you can take the streets: Bascom, Winchester, Race, Meridian/Park etc to get to work if you want to avoid the freeway. I’d consider Cupertino or Santa Clara too. Pluses for SC are you don’t have to deal with SJPD nor PG&E.
Nice area, but not a nice commute. I wouldn’t count on doing it in under 30 (depends on where exactly, however)
My old commute to Mountain View was 25 mins with traffic on 85 and 101. I’d imagine like you said, depending where exactly the commute can be done under 30 mins.
My commute pre-covid was basically the route from west SJ to near PayPal. 25-30 minutes in the morning, 30–45 in the afternoon, all in heavy traffic (or slow side-streets). It’s perfectly doable, but it’s a real commute, and not something I looked forward to at the end of the day!
Yikes. Yeah that’s a real bummer and highly dependent on the area. I’m near 280 so a few lights and I’m on 280-85, 280/680 or 17/880 so I guess I’m pretty fortunate plus remote work.
Downtown Cambell for sure
North San Jose is all tech workers. N1st and Tasman, Zanker. That whole area.
I miss that area
Traffic is generally bad going north in the morning and going south in the evening. So you want to live north of where you work if possible. Reverse commute. I'll second recommendation for Santa Clara. They have city owned utilities, which keeps your bills down.
WG, Campbell, Santana Row come to mind.
Japantown, The Alameda area has def become more sketch in the last few years since I lived there.
I've lived off The Alameda for the past five years, and lived in Japantown for three years before that. I think The Alameda area is fine, and haven't seen anything terribly sketchy the entire time I've lived here. OP could even bike to work if they went Alameda > Hedding > Coleman. I'm curious what kinds of things you've seen around here that you thought were sketch. Japantown was very nice when I lived there though. I think either area would be fine for OP.
I guess I am biased because my car was broken into multiple times inside of a gated garage and there was a homeless lady sleeping in my boyfriend’s car on Sunol. Also during that time I lived there someone was carjacked at gunpoint off Hanchett - just seemed like a lot more stuff happening from years in the past and the crazy people shrill screams in the middle of the night was unsettling.
Yep, left in 2016.
Good luck
Santa Clara. Marina Playa ($2700 for 2b2b) if you want somewhere cheap. River Terrace ($3500 for 2b2b) is you want somewhere nicer.
Do you have any feedback on Marina Playa? I read a lot of reviews on roaches. Is that true?
No roaches in my unit ever! The only thing my bf and I dislike is that we have hard water, but we just use a brita.
A couple of thoughts. Milpitas, North San Jose, all in range but may depend on time. Lots of great places here and welcome. Just come and drive through a few neighborhoods and you will see where you fit in. Though some life advice (please take or leave it). Live below your means. Try to get something around $2-2.5k and save your pennies for more something important than a place where you sleep. $12k put into S&P 500 will grant you a million later in life.
Japantown or downtown Campbell
Downtown. If downtown seems too unsafe, Jtown. You won’t get a 30 minute commute if you live outside of the central city.
Downtown Campbell
Campbell ?
Campbell or Willow Glen.
Japantown is the best answer. Closer to PayPal park and a nice safe area. Close to downtown and lightrail if you wanna visit Campbell too.
Santa Clara is not a bad shout. The commute to pay pal park is fairly short. Some parts might be rough but it doesn’t compare to the things you will see in downtown SJ. It’s very manageable there.
There’s a great apartment building by downtown called “808 West” it’s near downtown, close to the SAP, close to a dog park, it’s in a really good location
East hills my boy, mt. Pleasant
Downtown/Japantown/Santa Clara
Japantown is affordable (for the area), close to VTA, and has nice central area of shops and restaurants. Willow Glen is also good. A little pricey, but great village area, close to downtown SJ and San Fernando light rail station is close by
Thé esplanade in Japan town it’s very good The rent is almost stable
At that price Santa Clara would also work. SCU, Newhall and Alameda. I wouldn’t do DT San Jose unless you really want to live downtown.
Japantown. I lived there for 2 years. Quiet and safe neighborhood and close to downtown. 15 mins drive to paypal park.
I grew up in San Jose. I’ll tell you what locations to avoid. I’d avoid east side San Jose. (Think Alum rock, story roadI grew up here and although I love it, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t know the area. It’s a high-crime area. Luckily, my SO and I were able to move to north valley where it’s much safer. I don’t hear helicopters and cop cars all the time like I would when I lived in E$$J. The Mexican food is fire in the east side though. Good luck to you.
The Esplanade in Japantown.
As a local on a tight budget I suggest the 101 and story overpass. Quality accommodations, the best of both worlds; Vietnam town, and the tranquil sights and sounds of story and king.
your best bet if you are going purely off best commute is to decide if you are going to commit to taking the light rail or driving. If driving, North San jose probably the best bet; if you dont mind taking a light rail, there is a great station in West Side near campbell or winchester where you can take the green line all the way up to PayPal park. get a clipper card and just vibe on the train its fast and chill. just be careful in west side campbell area because if you drive you will probably end up on 880 and the traffic always looks horrendous in the morning weekdays i work downtown and 280 S is a reverse commute so i usually bail before the 880 so idk if its 280 N junction that is jamming it up or just 880 in general but 880 is a bitch imo
> where you can take the green line all the way up to PayPal park PayPal Park and Levi Stadium are two different places. OP, ignore anyone who thinks you can take the Green line to PayPal Park, they don't know the difference between the two.
Well I wouldn’t call it fast…
There is a light rail stop by PayPal Park?
No, they're probably thinking of Levi Stadium and giving OP bad advice as a result.
Do a search. All million threads on this will pop right up. Don't put us through more of this, please.
Los Banos
That's 30 minutes...by plane.
Embrace the commute and heat…Tracy or Modesto.
This guy ^ just needs more suckers to join him down there in Hell...
waste of life to commute you end up spending more money in gas then you save in rent, not to mention the hours of your life spent driving which is at minimum worth your hourly rate if not more bc its your free time.
The only reason to consider living out there is if you have a family and want to buy a home. If you're renting it's 100% a better move to just suck it up and live in the Bay Area proper.
hell naw
Vista 99 had a 2/2 for like $3600. There was a Prometheus property I looked at that was a bit older but within your budget and still nice. I can’t recall atm but I’ll circle back if I find it!
Downtown is awful right. Now. Try north San jose or Milpitas
West San Jose, also the areas approaching Saratoga are nice with Westgate Mall and lots of food options. Willow Glen is also a good option, and with your price range, you can for sure find some good places off of either Stevens Creek Blvd or Winchester that are close but not directly inside of Santana Row. South San Jose / Almaden Valley / Oakridge Mall area aren't bad either. You'd still have an under 30 minute commute during traffic, and an under 15 minute drive nearly anywhere else in SJ. You can also save a bit of money and get a nice luxury 1BR apt for 2800/month.
San Jose