epaway

Hi all,

Came across this forum just in the last couple of days as an opportunity has very quickly presented itself for me to take a 3 year post in San Jose. Haven't had much time to research, and i'll find out pretty soon if its a goer. Some questions that I hope the forum can assist with:

There are loads of sites for finding accommodation. Do any come highly recommended? I'm looking for a two bedroom apartment within commuting distance from Silicon Valley (ideally in a nice location), that is pet friendly. Would it be too much to have a private garden as well?
My work have said that i'll have "full medical". What does this mean? I currently take prescription medication for arthritis which I get on the NHS. Would the medical cover take over from this?

Got more questions, but these are the two key ones that i'd really appreciate your help with.

Thanks a lot

Paul

Cape Blue

craigslist is the place to find most things, including rental property

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/

Wintersong

Hi there Paul

Silicon Valley is huge. I mean enormous. It spreads across a fair number of cities, of which San Jose is only one. And San Jose is the 10th largest city in the US, with a population of around 1,000,000.

So, before thinking about finding accommodation, you would need to know where exactly you were going to be working. Most of the IT industries are around the Santa Clara/Mountain View/Sunnyvale/Palo Alto areas, then spreading further south into San Jose. These areas vary considerably in terms of cost of living. South San Jose is one of the cheaper areas but the commute if you're working in e.g. Mountain View would be about an hour or so in traffic. Palo Alto is nicer and a more central area, but considerably more expensive.

There's a lot of choice in apartment living over here, which would probably be ideal if you don't have a family. Most apartments are in large complexes with community swimming pools, gardens and facilities. In Santa Clara area you'll probably be looking at $2000-$2500/month for a 2 bed apartment in a nice complex. You're unlikely to get a garden (other than the mutual community facilities) unless you go for a single family home.

Have a look on craigslist - http://sfbay.craigslist.org/apa/ - that's usually the first stop when accommodation hunting and it's not all private tenancies: most of the large apartment complexes advertise on there as well. I would recommend searching in the south bay, since this is the area which encompasses San Jose and is most likely to be within commuting distance of your work.

Nicest locations (imo) would be Palo Alto (NOT East Palo Alto!), Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Campbell, Los Gatos. If you know exactly where you'd be working, I'd be happy to give recommendations based on commute time etc.

Full medical means full medical coverage but different plans have different co-pays, prescription charges, deductibles etc etc. Most co-pays for surgery visits are in the region of $15-20. $50-$100 for ER visits. Prescription charges vary based on the medication so I'm afraid I have no idea what your charges would be for that.

Good luck with everything

epaway

Thanks guys for the super fast replies. The zip code is CA95131. I don't know America at all, so i really appreciate the in depth advice. I think location will be key to this working for me and my wife. We have a small dog, which was the reason for a small yard being handy, but its not an absolute requirement as it would restrict us quite a lot from what i'm reading.

Wintersong

95131 is the Santa Clara/Milpitas/San Jose border which actually gives you a lot of choice when it comes to where you want to live. Mountain View is a feasible location, as is Sunnyvale or Santa Clara. Of those, I'd say the nicest is Mountain View but it's also the furthest away - you'd be looking at maybe a 30-45 minute commute, depending on the traffic. Santa Clara has some really nice areas.

North Park is a very nice apartment complex in that area, but I'm not sure what their pet policy is. With a dog to think about, you're probably better off looking for a single family home. They generally work out slightly cheaper as well, because with the apartment complexes you pay a lot for the maintenance and upkeep of the grounds. On the other hand, being new to the area, you might find that the closer community of an apartment complex would make meeting people easier.

Wintersong

A bit of context from Google maps - to the north and east of 95131 is Milpitas and Alum Rock. I'd steer clear of those. To the west is Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Cupertino, with Mountain View a little further out - they all have some very nice areas and plenty of parks for walking the dog. You're probably going to want to avoid a commute on 101, which rules out most of San Jose

epaway

thanks Wintersong. I'll check out your recommendations!!

Bob

Ask them.

It could be anything from them offering the medical, dental and vision and paying 100% or paying nothing or more likely a mix, so you'd paying anything from not very much to $1500 a month. If you're young, healthy and single it'll probably be lower.

Your drugs, depends on your plan on what they'll cover for prescriptions, if generic drugs, expect say $10 a month, if they aren't generic then perhaps more, depends on the plan.

babybyrd

Off on a slightly different tangent here - but you mention the post being for 3 years and you mention bringing your doggie. Depending on how old fido is - have you stopped to think about the quarantine time he and yourselves would have to endure when/if you bring him back to UK at the end of the 3 years?

Sorry to throw another issue at you to consider

epaway

Hi Babybyrd,

No I hadn't actually? This is something I'd better read up on. Thanks for the headsup.

Paul

rallybug

Here's the guide sheet from DEFRA regarding the Pet Passport(PETS) - as I read it, and the other information on Direct Gov, as long as you follow all the requirements then quarantine is not required.

babybyrd

my mistake there then and apologies if i caused concern
i thought PETS was EU only
sorry

MtbbikeVanlife

I used hotpads.com and apartmentratings.com to find suitable apartments/houses.

Carl.