Relocating to Bay Area - Advantages

Hi all,

I would like to get some opinion on shifting to Bay area. Me and my husband are working in Software industry, currently situated in Los angeles. We are thinking of shifting over to Bay area mainly for these reasons
1. Take care of our daughter - 7 month old
2. Bring her up in more Indian fashion
3. To have good intraction with south indian community.

Could anyone please give us insight into the advantages bay area would provide in these aspects.

Would I be able to find reliable nannies for baby sitting and good daycare when she is a toddler in close proximity to house.
Will the cost of living be very high when compared to LA (2 bd apartment ,I pay 1175 with all inclusive.)
What would be the travelling time to office & traffic in general. Here I travel 25 miles daily taking more than 1 hr one way.

Anyone who has experience in both the cities could please help in getting a comparison betweent the cities.

Thanks in advance

Regards
Nithya

Hi,
Though i have not been in the bay area for many yrs,, i think with my 1.5 yrs of experience here, i can afford to tell that the bay area is the best place to live in the US if u need a indian community and a indian way of life. especially our kids get to grow with other indian kids. my daughter goes to the challenger pre-school wherein all the students in her class r indians,, a few chinese kids r there. anyhow u can get good day-cares and nannies here.
also i have heard that the traffic in LA is high,, wheras in bay area i think it shouldn't take more than 30 min one way.
my friends keep telling that i still live a indian life,, though i stay in the US.
The rent is higher in some apartments,, but still u can find decent apartments with the same amt as in LA.
Overall, if u need a indian life-style,, bay area is the best. indian stores, indian restuarants, indian people.. ..there r many apartments where 90% of the residents r indians.
hope this helped.
bye

I agree with damsel...

Hi Nithya,

I have been in the Bay area for over 10years now. The cost of living is definitely high comapred to LA. Multiply everything by at least 1 and 1/2 times.
1. regarding commute, it can be as less as 15 minutes to over 1 hour. It depends on where you live and where you work. Suppose for instance you go to work in Oracle which is in Red wood city and live either in the south or east bay, please give yourself a commute time of atleast 1 hour( 45 minutes on a good day). I know how the LA traffic is and please assure yourself that it is no different here.
2. The general rule of thumb regading apartments, the closer to work you look , the more expensive they are. I have been out of the apartment scene for some time so I would not know. But i think a 2 bedroom can be rented for about 1500 bucks a month.
3. Nannies are quite expensive . be prepared to shell out atleast 800 to 1200 buck for a full time nanny at home. Sometimes they may want to be picked up and dropped off too.
4. Yes there is a large Indian community , and plenty of South Indian classes available .
6. Since your kid is still so young, you might want to consider whether indeed you want to move now? I think LA has big SI population too ( i should say Orange county) .

Finally , yes there are a whole bunch of Indians here, but i would definitely not say that Bay area is one of the best places in the US. In terms of cost of living etc.. it probably comes somewhere in thelast. Why not consider Naperville, IL . It was voted the second best place to live in US. Software jobs can be found a plenty, rents are low, there is a big South indian population there too.

Goodluck with your plans.

Vandhana
5.

Hi,

Vandhana is right... Cost of living in Bay area is the highest..

Renting apartments is a pain which I am going thro' for the last 5 years as we plan to go back to India in a couple of years and hence didn't want to buy a home.

A reasonable 2 bedroom aprtment would cost easily 1500 + per month.
If you have to go for cheaper rent where lots of indians live, then you have to compromise on quality of your living.

Commute isn't as bad as LA.. but again, depends on the distance and the direction of your travel.

Lots of Indians live all parts of bay area especially south bay )santa clara, sunnyvale, mountain view etc.,) Sunnyvale is even called Chennaivale by many. But in my experience, not many Indians are NOT very friendly here...as in other parts of US.

Regarding grocery stores, eateries, music and other cultural interests bay area is very good.

My personal opinion is Houston TX is the best place for south indians due to a large middle class SI community, with its inexpensive, decent, affordable brand new houses and very good education system for kids...and if you are into Sai Group, you do have a very cooperative Sai gang who are very helpful for the newcomers in Houston..

Geeth Priya..

Good information to know about relocation.
Even myself and my husband were thinking of moving to Bay area from Boston.
I need to consider all the above points mentioned by ILites.

Thanks,
Punitha