Los Altos vs. Los Gatos (buying, live, price)

[t_thibaud]

Agree with Denver_ hacker's input, and would add that it's not at all clear to me that LG schools are better than the Campbell Union schools in the adjoining part of San Jose, which is where we live. The tech gazillionaires here are, by comparison to the elites in Europe or anywhere east of the Rockies in this country, surprisingly shallow and badly educated. They don't particularly care about reading up on or investigating ideas that aren't connected to a Total Available Market that's less than $2b.

Which is to say, don't be surprised if the school you're getting, for your LG mortgage payment that's equal to 2 private school tuitions, isn't exactly up there with Philips Andover in terms of rigor or overall quality. In terms of elementary schools, the only really good one in LG is Blossom Hill. Dave's Avenue is supposedly pretty bad. Van Meter's so-so.

In short, don't buy the hype. LG's a beautiful place, and we'd gladly live there if the real estate prices were at all reasonable, but they're absurd. Better to buy intelligently in in the adjoining Noddin Elementary district of Cambrian north of Blossom Hill / south of 85, and save enough to keep private schools-- really good ones, with smart as opposed to spoiled kids-- as an option if you don't think Noddin, Union and Leigh HS are good enough.

[LexusNexus]

Originally Posted by mrzod

Which one is more expensive to live in? Prestigious?

Los Altos is far more prestigious. Los Gatos is for pretenders.

[t_thibaud]

Originally Posted by Alexus

Los Altos is far more prestigious. Los Gatos is for pretenders.

Just curious - care to define your terms?

IOW, if these towns were east coast universities, "prestigious" would equal Harvard-Yale-Princeton, while "pretender" would equal second-tier safety schools like Tufts or Vassar?

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Alexus

Los Gatos is for pretenders.

Not if one appreciates mountain living, and/or living near Santa Cruz. The place isn't exactly a cheap hood, either. Not like the residents are pretending to be rich - they are.

[vdy1985]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Not if one appreciates mountain living, and/or living near Santa Cruz. The place isn't exactly a cheap hood, either. Not like the residents are pretending to be rich - they are.

Exactly, it is about what you want. Want to be closer to SF, go to Los Altos. Want to be closer to the Coast and in the mountains, go to Los Gatos.

[LexusNexus]

Originally Posted by t_thibaud

Just curious - care to define your terms?

No, I don't care to.

[LexusNexus]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Not if one appreciates mountain living, and/or living near Santa Cruz. The place isn't exactly a cheap hood, either. Not like the residents are pretending to be rich - they are.

This is true.

[proteus]

Los Altos is considered more prestigious, but I prefer Los Gatos. I also prefer the rural feel of Los Gatos Mountain (Santa Cruz Mtns) as well as the proximity to the beach. Los Altos is in closer proximity to shopping, Stanford, San Franciso. Bit more excitement. Bit more diverse.

[JohnSoCal]

We lived in downtown Los Gatos for 3 years and loved it. I don't buy all this pretender, etc. stereotypes that some people are talking about. Like most places people are just people except the folks in Los Gatos are richer than average but that doesn't make them bad people.

We liked being able to walk out our door to the main street downtown.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

We lived in downtown Los Gatos for 3 years and loved it. I don't buy all this pretender, etc. stereotypes that some people are talking about. Like most places people are just people except the folks in Los Gatos are richer than average but that doesn't make them bad people.

We liked being able to walk out our door to the main street downtown.

I think Los Gatos has a nicer downtown than Los Altos. It is livelier in general and equally as prestigious. The issue is that Los Altos is much better situated centrally than Los Gatos, which may be why the price point is higher.