Life in the Bay Area
Life in the Bay Area
I would like to know what are the issues in raising family in the Bay Area?
Life in the Bay Area
If wife's friends send their kids to Kumon, then hard for guy to convince her against it for their own kids. Same for Balvihar, ballet, tennis, swimming, piano, Carnatic vocal, Hindustani vocal and violin.
-
hayagreeva
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:22 am
Life in the Bay Area
Pazham,
Inputs from one of our very close friends - who had R2Ied to Chennai for 2 yrs and now back in SFO area. We are in touch with them on a day to day basis for last 15 years or so, and from what they say- life is really awesome but for the cost of living and quality of life wrt. to 'space'. I am sure these are known factors to everyone. They spent around half a million and could afford a 3 level town home in a city 30 mts from Fremont which is around 1600 sqft ! Apparently this home was 800K 2 yrs back. So if you ( and spouse) are fine with the smaller living space, nothing like living in CA is what they say. Sure, the lady of the house whines all the time thinking of their previous home in NC. I am also told that Bay Area people have so many friends within them that it is hard to break into their friends circle and be 'one of them'. Most of them do not leave the area as jobs are plenty and you get decent weather all year around.Needless to say this guy travels 40 miles one way . Schools are one more thing- mission school district and cupertino/saratoga area are said as MOST DESIRABLE but they come only with million dollar home tags ! hope this helps..
Inputs from one of our very close friends - who had R2Ied to Chennai for 2 yrs and now back in SFO area. We are in touch with them on a day to day basis for last 15 years or so, and from what they say- life is really awesome but for the cost of living and quality of life wrt. to 'space'. I am sure these are known factors to everyone. They spent around half a million and could afford a 3 level town home in a city 30 mts from Fremont which is around 1600 sqft ! Apparently this home was 800K 2 yrs back. So if you ( and spouse) are fine with the smaller living space, nothing like living in CA is what they say. Sure, the lady of the house whines all the time thinking of their previous home in NC. I am also told that Bay Area people have so many friends within them that it is hard to break into their friends circle and be 'one of them'. Most of them do not leave the area as jobs are plenty and you get decent weather all year around.Needless to say this guy travels 40 miles one way . Schools are one more thing- mission school district and cupertino/saratoga area are said as MOST DESIRABLE but they come only with million dollar home tags ! hope this helps..
Life in the Bay Area
pazham;292182I would like to know what are the issues in raising family in the Bay Area?
You have to be more specific in your qn. As far as I am concerned, I see a problem in raising family itself but there is nothing specific to bay area about it
. As some one already mentioned money is a concern in bay area but from your profile you were a 2 income family if I remember correct. So, there is no issue if you can earn some good $$$$. All clear. Take the next flight to bay area 
-
bigdreamer
- Posts: 1079
- Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:15 am
Life in the Bay Area
pazham;292182I would like to know what are the issues in raising family in the Bay Area?
Bay Area is just awesome place to live in the US.
Pluses are:
1. Weather
2. Tech Jobs
3. Restaurant choices
4. Desi Crowd
5. Stage shows/ cultural events
Minuses are:
1. The ever increasing taxes
2. Expensive RE in good school-districts
3. Independent Business Owners (Quikstar) prowling in every shopping mall looking for victims
-
BeeAndButterfly
- Posts: 645
- Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:10 am
Life in the Bay Area
Advantages:
1. UC system, access to state schools like UCLA and UC berkeley when kids are ready to go to college.
2. Lots of places to visit
Downsides:
1. High cost of housing, pay way too much for what is available.
2. If one does not have enough resource quite a bit of stress to pay of home loan.
3. Lot of competition for the same jobs with desis with similar qualifications
4. Strain on inter-desi relationship due to the above
5. More exposure to immigrants than americans (depending on your point of view this could be an advantage too)
1. UC system, access to state schools like UCLA and UC berkeley when kids are ready to go to college.
2. Lots of places to visit
Downsides:
1. High cost of housing, pay way too much for what is available.
2. If one does not have enough resource quite a bit of stress to pay of home loan.
3. Lot of competition for the same jobs with desis with similar qualifications
4. Strain on inter-desi relationship due to the above
5. More exposure to immigrants than americans (depending on your point of view this could be an advantage too)
-
Old-Spice2
- Posts: 1898
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:38 pm
Life in the Bay Area
>>>Advantages:
>>>1. UC system, access to state schools like UCLA and UC berkeley when kids are ready to go to college.
Competition is fierce as there are many smart Chinese and Indian kids. Sometimes I find it a tougher place than India to get decent education. Try East Coast for better quality education for the kids (I mean college level) and relatively easier admission. There are very few good school districts. You will be confined to Fremont Mission or Cupertino School district if you are looking for free education. SFH prices in both these areas are in $1M range. Purchase the home if your annual income is above $200K.
>>>2. Lots of places to visit
I disagree. After 2 years you will be bored with no places to go. CA is bound by ocean on one side and desert if you go south/east. There is nothing north of SF. Except for LA and SD, every other places are far away. Even Vegas is not within driving distance. It is good if you are into water sports and surfing. But the beaches are cold for most part of the year.
>>>1. UC system, access to state schools like UCLA and UC berkeley when kids are ready to go to college.
Competition is fierce as there are many smart Chinese and Indian kids. Sometimes I find it a tougher place than India to get decent education. Try East Coast for better quality education for the kids (I mean college level) and relatively easier admission. There are very few good school districts. You will be confined to Fremont Mission or Cupertino School district if you are looking for free education. SFH prices in both these areas are in $1M range. Purchase the home if your annual income is above $200K.
>>>2. Lots of places to visit
I disagree. After 2 years you will be bored with no places to go. CA is bound by ocean on one side and desert if you go south/east. There is nothing north of SF. Except for LA and SD, every other places are far away. Even Vegas is not within driving distance. It is good if you are into water sports and surfing. But the beaches are cold for most part of the year.
-
BeeAndButterfly
- Posts: 645
- Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:10 am
Life in the Bay Area
:)
I was hoping that you would disagree with the downsides that I had stated.
I wanted to point out at least a couple of good things I can see. I do see your point though. One can spend some extra money to visit the touristy places.
I was hoping that you would disagree with the downsides that I had stated.
I wanted to point out at least a couple of good things I can see. I do see your point though. One can spend some extra money to visit the touristy places.
Life in the Bay Area
Old-Spice2;292357>>>Advantages:
>>>2. Lots of places to visit
I disagree. After 2 years you will be bored with no places to go. CA is bound by ocean on one side and desert if you go south/east. There is nothing north of SF. Except for LA and SD, every other places are far away. Even Vegas is not within driving distance. It is good if you are into water sports and surfing. But the beaches are cold for most part of the year.
Dont think so. If you only want to visit LA, SD & other big cities you will be bored. There are many other weekend places / outdoor things you can do in Bay Area throughout the year (and multiple times) compared to other places in the US.
I will never get bored of Tahoe/Yosemite/Monterrey/Mission peak & the numerous hiking trials around valley how many ever times I have been there.
Life in the Bay Area
Old-Spice2;292357>>>Advantages:
>>>1. UC system, access to state schools like UCLA and UC berkeley when kids are ready to go to college.
Competition is fierce as there are many smart Chinese and Indian kids. Sometimes I find it a tougher place than India to get decent education. Try East Coast for better quality education for the kids (I mean college level) and relatively easier admission. There are very few good school districts. You will be confined to Fremont Mission or Cupertino School district if you are looking for free education. SFH prices in both these areas are in $1M range. Purchase the home if your annual income is above $200K.
>>>2. Lots of places to visit
I disagree. After 2 years you will be bored with no places to go. CA is bound by ocean on one side and desert if you go south/east. There is nothing north of SF. Except for LA and SD, every other places are far away. Even Vegas is not within driving distance. It is good if you are into water sports and surfing. But the beaches are cold for most part of the year.
If your kid is educated in bay area, he can probably make it to these east coast colleges even if he/she couldnt make it to UCB/UCLA , however the reverse will not be true:)
I got to disagree with the response to point 2. There are in fact so many places to visit that you cant cover them all in 2 years normal stay. Whether one is serious adventurer types or normal desi interested in getting out of car and clicking some pics, bay area has it for everyone. And all these places are within 5 hours of drive (including LA). If you want to drive a bit more 8-10 hours you can make it to SD and LV. Not bad I would say.
North of SF - Napa/Tahoe/Reno and Mount Shasta just to name a few. The whole coastline including point reyes and nearby region is simply a delight including Muir wood.
West: Yoesmite and Mammoth lake - The whole high sierra region is great place to visit in early summers when snow is melting and passes open. Hikers and campers paradise.
what about santa cruz/Montery bay 17 mile drive and big sur. Half moon bay and pacifica beaches. If you want a warm, uncrowded beach to laze around just drive on highway 1.
And I havent even mentioned the city of SF and nearby (usual) attractions like GG bridge, treasure island and alcatraz
The best part is great weather enables year round activities in most of these places. One can go to so many events round the year such as blue angels show during the fleet week. Not to mention good desi events too.
Overall best place to live for Desi community. Lot of diversity in the place and acceptance for brown skin in jobs or social life. You meet all sort of desi people from second generation highly successul VP/PE funds type to confused FOBs (sounds familiar) which ensures that life doesnt have a dull moment here for non immigrant aliens.