San Jose in the house!

[gone down south]

It's official, I'm about to become a West Coaster for the first time!

My wife is from the East Bay and we had always talked about moving out there at some point, and out of the blue she got a relocation offer from her company. Even though I don't have a job out there yet, we're getting our closing costs and moving expenses covered so we really couldn't say no. She's out there already getting everything lined up and I'm going to follow as soon as we sell/rent our condo in Philly. We just signed a lease for 2BR apartment in Los Gatos and I'm starting the process of packing and boxing up our stuff.

I'm nervous and excited at the same time - I've never lived on the West Coast and i'm about to quit my job and move across country with few prospects. In the middle of the worst economy of the last 75 years Actually, I do have some interviews lined up, I'll probably have to take a bit of a pay cut but Erin got a cost of living increase as part of her transfer so we should more or less break even.

Do we have any members out that way? Any insider tips on good places to hang out, things to do? I'm looking forward to catching some Sharks games, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep cheering against the Giants

 

[SpyvSpy]

Congrats! I'm a shark fan myself.

 

[GoldenMonkey]

Grew up in San Jose (Yeah, GO SHARKS!), still live in the bay area, and probably always will. San Jose is my spiritual home as well, and I make frequent pilgimages to my Mecca, HP Pavilion...

 

[tg16]

Its been awhile, but I was born and lived in San Jose until 10, then went back for some high school. I remember attending Dillworth Elem and Camden High. It was beautiful out there.

 

[gone down south]

The most important question for an expat Canadian - which is the best rink in the area to play senior league hockey?

 

[GoldenMonkey]

The most important question for an expat Canadian - which is the best rink in the area to play senior league hockey?

There's a good place in Oakland, Oakland Ice, and the Sharks practice facility (open to the public and hosts junior and adult leagues), Sharks Ice at San Jose. Come get some!

 

[GMen]

I live in Santa Clara, just a few minutes from Los Gatos, your going to love the Shark Tank atmosphere, if you love music, the Bay Area offers everything, from really great free concerts downtown to Opera. We have MMA fights and Pro. Boxing, you can find professional teams in every sport. Your going to love living here Oh, yeah, downtown Los Gatos isn't bad itself..

 

[GoldenMonkey]

Oh, yeah, downtown Los Gatos isn't bad itself..

Except for all the douchebaggery and MIL...well, young mothers with their copious amounts of offspring and baby SUVs hogging up all the sidewalks...I wish they'd just hurry up and all move to Danville already...

 

[gone down south]

Except for all the douchebaggery and MIL...well, young mothers with their copious amounts of offspring and baby SUVs hogging up all the sidewalks...I wish they'd just hurry up and all move to Danville already...

I'm buying my pink Lacoste shirt right now!

 

[VR6ofpain]

We just signed a lease for 2BR apartment in Los Gatos and I'm starting the process of packing and boxing up our stuff

Damn, Los Gatos? That is a very expensive place to live. It is beautiful though. You have Santa Cruz right over the 'hill' from you. My grandmother lives in Monte Sereno (neighbor of Los Gatos) and I have a bunch of cousins in Saratoga and Los Altos Hills.

I grew up in the East Bay, but moved up north for college and relocated to the Sacramento area (northeast of Los Gatos) since college. If you can find a job that pays well I am sure you will love Los Gatos. The downtown little area is pretty cool. Very small town, but they have a decent coffee shop and what not. Go to Icing on the Cake, they have great cookies, cakes, etc.

 

[VR6ofpain]

I'm buying my pink Lacoste shirt right now!

Wrong color, you need a pastel green.

 

[gone down south]

Damn, Los Gatos? That is a very expensive place to live.

Don't worry, we'll drag the tone down a bit

 

[Stubblefield]

Except for all the douchebaggery and MIL...well, young mothers with their copious amounts of offspring and baby SUVs hogging up all the sidewalks...I wish they'd just hurry up and all move to Danville already...

You mean Walnut Creek. (same place, really)

Lots to do here, while I really don't get down to the Southbay much I can tell you that there is a ton of stuff to do in the Bay Area. And if you like the outdoors there is definitely plenty.

 

[Rughi]

Congratulations on moving to the South Bay.

I'm impressed that you've just arrived, yet already write "My wife is from the East Bay" not "My wife is from East of San Francisco." Not all of us allow their lives to revolve around the City.

But, as far as rooting against the Giants, the Phillies needed your help tonight because they just got shut down and shut out by the Once and Future Cy Young Award winner.

Roger

 

[GoldenMonkey]

You mean Walnut Creek. (same place, really)

LOL..indeed. I hated nearly every minute of living in Walnut Creek, but I made great friends and met my wife there, so I can't complain too much. Lafayette and Danville on the other hand...ugh...living and working in both made me want to kill whitey.

 

[kongjie]

The question is: how will you pronounce it?

I find the standard radio pronunciation of "Los Gatos" to be rather bizarre, but a lot of people say it that way.

 

[Stubblefield]

LOL..indeed. I hated nearly every minute of living in Walnut Creek, but I made great friends and met my wife there, so I can't complain too much. Lafayette and Danville on the other hand...ugh...living and working in both made me want to kill whitey.

The thing to remember about Lafayette is that they have more banks per capita then anywhere else in the Bay Area.

I don't miss the WC. I grew up there, and hate how it and most of the the surrounding towns have become Yuppified.

Thankfully there are no Yuppies in Marin.

 

[GoldenMonkey]

Thankfully there are no Yuppies in Marin.

LOL...just Jerkeley hippies that figured out that having money is a good thing, sold out, and needed a house with a big enough garage to hold their Prius fleet...

 

[just1nsturm]

San Jose born and raised! It doesn't have the high density and beautiful architecture of Philly, but it's still a rapidly growing city. The downtown area has changed a lot in just the last 10 years. We've recently hit over a million in population. I'm very anxious to see that SJ will look like in another 10 years or even 5 years. As far as big cities go, we're a relatively young city, and often criticized for it's lack of big-city-feel. Especially being so close to SF, a very old and urban city. But I think you'll really enjoy it here. Lots to do in San Jose.

 

[Oden_Flagship]

san Jose is very culturally diverse. Not sure about los gatos. My buddy wants to move there after his wedding - apparently it's very expensive part of town. There's a lot to do there - I'm from Sacramento and we have to drive down there for a lot of the shows we want to see. You'll never get bored if you don't want to be.

As far as the douchebaggary goes I'm going to put the ratio of douchebags to solid dudes at a 5 to 1 ratio. But that goes for pretty much all of california.