Where to live when working at Apple HQ?
Early 30s. Just got a new job at Apple HQ. I'm moving in a month but will keep wfh until June. I'm having a hard time picking a city to live, but I'm leaning towards Palo Alto. My girlfriend is going to rent a place in SF, but that commute to Cupertino will drive me crazy. I figure Palo Alto is kind of in the middle of both SF and Cupertino. Looking for good food and activities but peace and quiet when I want it. I like newly renovated places versus older styles. I like having both nature and urban areas nearby. Any advice is appreciated. I've barely spent any time up there (interviewed remotely). Are there any other cities I should be looking at? Are there certain areas of these cities that are better than others? TC 1M+ (side hustle + apple) #housing
Holy shit nice TC OP
Buy a good home in Cupertino. The interest rates are low. You can get a decent house for $2M
I'm more interested in quality of life than the finance side of it. I hear Cupertino is pretty boring
You're early 30s and past your prime, so Cupertino is perfect! /s
I would say Redwood City or San Mateo would be meeting your GF midway. Both of you will Caltrain in the opposite directions in the mornings, nice newer (maybe cheaper) residential apartment buildings.
This is a good tip, thanks. How does quality of life compare to Palo Alto and other areas?
I've lived in redwood city. Not much to do in redwood city, but pretty midpointish to SF and cupertino etc. My views of redwood city is a bit biased: I had recently moved and didn't have a car for the most part when I lived in redwood city.the commute from redwood city to San Jose was 45mins on avg, peak traffic times.
Palo Alto is a great choice. If you are going to consider San Mateo, then I would rather suggest Burlingame. But both would be farther out from Apple though.
Thanks. I'll look into Burlingame. What makes you say Palo Alto is a great choice? The other posters haven't been too enthusiastic about it
You said “Looking for good food and activities but peace and quiet when I want it. I like newly renovated places versus older styles. I like having both nature and urban areas nearby.” Palo Alto offers all of this. Great downtown with lots of restaurants, coffee shops, bars. Minutes away from a bunch of hikes, biking tracks etc. lots of quiet neighborhoods. Mountain View and peninsula are very easily accessible from PA in case you need a change of scenery every so often. I don’t think most other suggestions here offer all of these things. Cupertino is for after you have a family/kids. I am quite surprised to see RWC as a recommendation here tbh. If possible, drive around before you decide. PA is no comparison to SF, but I think you already know that.
OP tell us about that side hustle....
Can you share your Apple offer and breakdown?
Apple is okay with your side hustle?
You can live in SF and take shuttles to Cupertino - a lot of employees do that. It’s going to be 90 minutes 1 way but you can stay connected and work/read/sleep. No other suburban city in Bay Area is like SF. Mountain View is a good choice if not SF - better than RWC IMO.
What's your side hustle?