MCT567

Hey all - so a bit of an update. Will be employed on an L1 Visa - and with a criteria of needing to be in a 2hr commute of San Francisco....thoughts?!

scrubbedexpat099

So once they take you on you will work outside the US for a year and then be petitioned for on a L.

So will be some time before you would move.

morpeth

I think you should very carefully look at the numbers- paying California level rents, high state income and sales tax, and a commute of 4 to 6 hours a day (is it daily ?) , then add in federal income tax, I assume FICA tax as well- whether financially makes sense; let alone private school for the children necessary.- and how long you would be in the states would effect initial tuition at university for the children when they reach university age.

wisygreen

Sacramento region as I mentioned before. It is no longer the cow town of past. It has a great local airport, classified as an international airport but only for the occasional flight to Mexico. We call it the Inter Galactic airport but domestically it is very well served. San Francisco is under 2 hours by car and their is a good train service too. There is also a bus service but not necessarily recommended. Lots of high tech companies and dynamic growing area. Yes California is more expensive to live in than other areas but I have not found another state I would rather be.

morpeth

I still think anyone seeking to move to California with three children needs to very carefully look at the numbers. high income taxes, high sales taxes, high cost of living. plus public schools ranked 38th in nation- so cost of a decent private school alone for three children could be a few thousand a month.

It is a great state where some areas have the best weather one can find anywhere, and some very nice and varied natural beauty,

Glasgow Girl

if the OP is required to live within a 2 hour commute of San Francisco then he is required to live in California, so recommendation for cities within 2 hours of the city would be the advice he needs. As would specific information on the typical costs associated with living in California, that would help him negotiate salary. He needs California residents to chime in here.

destone

Berkeley and some parts of Oakland are really nice. I’d suggest the East Bay over SJ area for sure.

SanDiegogirl

You said earlier that this was new employer - New employers based in the US, can't sponsor you for an L visa. Current employers in the UK with offices in the US can transfer you to the US on an L visa.

Sure it's not an H-1b visa?

markonline1

I can whole heartedly recommend the Monterey peninsula. Good all round weather (mostly) on the coast, not as manic down here as in the city (and cheaper, although not cheap) good schools, plenty to see and do, and San Francisco is about a 90 minute drive or there are direct flights to both SFO and DFW from Monterey Airport. People are moving down here in droves from the Bay Area right now!

morpeth

I didn't understand whether the commute was daily or just a few times a month.

Area around Monterrey is nice, Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove both very nice. the private Stenson School in that area has a very good reputation. ( In general my opinion if one hears a California school is good, it might be good by California standards but they can be low by any other- such as Palo Alto High School people pay a of money to be in district of that state school- but I wasn't impressed at all). Also nice area for family with three children.

I would be very surprised for a family of three considering all the taxes, high costs and perhaps tuition at a private school, that a $100,000 salary is acceptable, I would think a minimum of $150,000 to be comfortable.

Monterey is about 120 miles form San Francisco. Maximum speed limit in California unless it has changed recently is 70 miles an hour. Wouldn't commute be more close to 2 hours ?

SFNative

Within a 2 hour commute of SF means you're going to be within the more expensive areas of the Bay; there's just no way around that. Have a look at Zillow or Redfin rental and sale prices of housing to see what realistic numbers look like. I have one school-aged kid and one coming up to school age and until there are problems, I don't worry about the schools. We're currently in the east bay because, pre-Covid, it was closer to work, but I'd really prefer to move into the city. Hard now, though, because older kid is already in school, so we're stuck for a bit.

How much you need to make to live here obviously is a "how long is a piece of string" question. If you want a bigger house and yard and are willing to drive everywhere, people have been moving to Walnut Creek, which is like an inner suburb- I think it's nice and liveable and easy commute access. Think about whether it's cheaper to rent than to buy.

If only one of you is working and your kids are old enough such that you don't need to pay for daycare, then your biggest expense is housing. On $150k/year, we'd live pretty comfortably in one of the bigger east bay cities, but the kids share a room and we accepted a small house (wfh from a desk in the bedroom) with little or no garden in order to be walking distance to shops, library and transit.

DaveLovesDee

This might be useful https://www.oalley.net/app/#hp I used San Francisco as the starting point and 2hrs travel time, though it would be useful to know what US immigration defines as as 2hrs travel time from San Francisco, does that include a 2hr flight?

Anyway, here's a map from the above site on the settings I used as to how much of an area it claims has a 2hr travel time to SF.

SFNative

Hah! That map is probably true at 3am in dry season. Seriously, though, some of those drives would be so miserable.

I have a friend whose work is in downtown SF and they moved to Santa Cruz. But she is definitely not going into the office every day, which helps. A 4-hr/day commute two days a week might be do-able. A 4-hr/day commute every day, though? Ouch.

Just for shits and giggles, I looked up 3-bedroom places in SF itself, and on the realistic low end, you can rent a place for $4500/month. The conservative rule of thumb is no more than 1/3 of your pay on housing, so you should look to make $162k/yr. I don't know whether that should be before or after taxes.

In Walnut Creek, the rentals are scarcer, but you'd spend $3500/month on rent, so you'd only need to make $126k/yr!

DaveLovesDee

Yeah, but if US immigration accept that it meets their '2hr travel time to SF' definition, that's a win though.

But the OP only has to visit the SF office 2x a month, and Dallas 1x a month.

danonash

California is not the place it was, by any measure. We arrived in 2013 to the Bay area and loved it, but SF has gone downhill, rapidly, we also visited LA recently and found it to be the same. However, if you do decide on California, the East Bay area of SF is a safe bet. Schools are ok (when open), prices are more affordable than elsewhere, but commuting to South Bay and SF are not fun.

Knowing what I know now, I would look at states where you get more for your money!