Moving from Ohio to San Francisco/Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, San Mateo: apartment complex, rental)

[vgs]

At the end of this month we are moving from Ohio to San Francisco/Silicon Valley area, and I still have no idea where we are going to live. I would really appreciate any advice from all the local people here.

Here is our situation. We are a couple in mid-30s, no kids yet, so one bedroom apartment would suffice. We have a french bulldog, so the place should be dog-friendly. My office is going to be in Sunnyvale , and my wife is currently looking for a job. We are not 100% certain now, but it looks like she is going to be working in downtown San Francisco. We would like to find a place to live somewhere in-between. On one hand, it should be close to public transportation for my wife going to and from SF. On the other hand, I want as easy of a commute to Sunnyvale as possible. Is San Mateo a good starting point for me to start the search?

We are not millionaires either. Is $1500 too small of a budget for rent? If it is, I guess I can add couple more hundred to it. If somebody can recommend a particular apartment complex/townhouse/castle with an ocean view, that you think would fit our needs, it would be especially appreciated.

[mayorhaggar]

For one thing landlords are generally very tough here so it's hard to find apartments that allow pets, especially in San Francisco. It would probably be easier in the suburbs on the Peninsula but it might still be harder than if you didn't have a pet. It's annoying but landlords really run the show in the Bay Area.

Your wife will need to take Caltrain to SF so pick a suburb that is near a Caltrain station. Best would be a "Baby Bullet" station where she can hop on the bullet trains which have fewer stops and would get her to SF quicker. Unfortunately Caltrain dumps you about a 20 minute walk to where most office buildings are in downtown SF, though you can take Muni light rail between Caltrain and downtown, but it is pokey. Here is a schedule for Caltrain, the tables in red are for Baby Bullet trains.

Weekday Timetable

You could live in Redwood City or San Carlos and she could take the Baby Bullet from Redwood City and get to downtown SF in 30 minutes.

As for rent I'm not really familiar with rental prices on the Peninsula. Rents in SF start around $1400 for a 1 bedroom in a decent location, and that will probably be a small apartment that is a bit run down. $1500 would be better but not by a lot. But that is just for SF, hopefully some people here can chime in with rental prices for the Peninsula.