[net.travel] San Jose Area Information

pat@ih1ap.UUCP (Patrick A. Fargo) (08/17/84)

I am interested in receiving information about housing, schools
and apartments in the San Jose/to Palo Alto area of California.
Specifically, I would like to know:

	1). What is typical rent? Are their townhomes for rent?
	    How much of a problem will a dog be in renting?

	2). What areas have goood housing for the money?
	    I have heard about Redwood City, Los Gatos, and
	    Milpitas. Any others? How about Almaden in south
	    San Jose?

	3). What are interest rates like? How about ARM's?
	    How is traffic on 280, 237, or 101 towards San
	    Francisco in the a.m.?


Thanks in advance.

	Patrick Fargo
	AT&T Bell Labs
	!ih1ap!fargo
	(312)-979-5324

deborah@avsdS.UUCP (08/29/84)

I have posted this reply because our mailer could not find the
addressee. Sorry if it's not of interest to you.

Let me try to answer your questions about San Jose in the order you
asked them:

1) Rents:  I live in Menlo Park, on the east side, very near 101. I pay
	$750 a month, and that's cheap. I live in an 1100 sq.ft. house
	in an ok neighborhood with lousy schools. You can expect rents
	of at least $500 for apartments anywhere between Redwood City
	and San Jose, excepting maybe East Palo Alto. There may be some
	townhomes to rent, but I was looking for a rental house, so I know
	more about that. Renting an apartment or even townhome with a dog
	may be more difficult than without. It doesn't seem to make as
	much difference with houses.

2) Good Housing for the money:  Ha. Ha.
	Seriously, it depends on what's important to you. If you have children,
	or want to live in a pleasant neighborhood, you'll have to pay for
	it. Palo Alto and San Jose have the 1st and 2nd highest median housing
	prices in the nation, respectively. Redwood City (where I work) has
	lower cost housing because a lot of the city is lesser quality housing.
	If you decide to move here, stay away from the mixed industrial and
	residential areas near 101. Milpitas has a real traffic problem (see
	#3). Alviso floods severely (it's below sea level). Some of the hilly
	areas are prone to mudslides, but the USGS prints a map that shows
	areas more likely to slide. East Palo Alto just incorporated, and
	is largely minority, and crime prone.

3) Traffic: depends on where you are.
	The traffic on 237 is bad just about all the time. It's an overloaded
	road. State highway 85 is almost as bad. The traffic on 101 is bad
	from the Santa Clara line southward (towards San Jose), but acceptable
	further north. 280's dividing line is about 85, or Sunnyvale-Saratoga
	road. Further south towards San Jose can be bumper-to-bumper, further
	north it's not too bad. If you hate traffic you should live between
	Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, and work from Sunnyvale north. Will you
	be driving to the city? If so, I can give you an idea what it's like
	up there too. 

I've lived in the area for 2.5 years. I'm just now considering buying a
house. My husband (who also works) and I just now have enough cash.

If I can be of more help, send mail back to:

ucbvax!dual!amd!fortune!dsd!avsds!deborah

good luck!
deborah gronke bennett