patrick.net

How's the commute to 101? The only downside of Evergreen is that you have to pass through some rough areas to get to and fro.

It seems awfully expensive, but apparently real estate prices only go up, so my opinion on that should be taken with great caution.

2400 sq ft is pretty big, though.

Did you want to be a fireman when you were little ? Do you like lights and sirens 24/7 ?

RUN.

Like San Jose real estate, HOA's only go UP as well.

RUN FAST.

Lemme guess, immigrant, right?

Dude don't buy in evergreen. You can commute from san Ramon faster than any place in evergreen . It's surrounded by sucky neighborhoods from 3 sides.

Send me a private message , I would even be willing to help . Would be nice to have a good neighbour.

I lived across from an old school sugar factory AND a fire station. You absolutely must not mind horns, sirens hose cleaning several times a week, and yelling. I loved it, but that's just me.

Rufta, those neighborhoods are very quiet. They'll hardly ever hear the sirens.

Thanks for the advice folks. Indeed we decided not to go for it. It's a nice area, but with close boundaries that make you think there is lack of consistency in general.

You guys rock!!!.

B.A.C.A.H. says

Lemme guess, immigrant, right?

Yep. For 14 years now.

Which brings me to the following question. I would love to be in a place where there is real diversity. I do not want to live in a place where a single ethnicity is 80% of the population. That's why I do love Los Altos, and I've been targeting to buy there for a long time.

Are there any good school districts where you can find a nice 33/33/33% (i.e. 33% white, 33% asians, 33% Latinos and AM).

Whatever good school district out there it would seem like the caucasian population is running away from it, and it's sort of impossible to find Latinos and AMs.

The only exception: Los Altos. But dude, even there it would seem like caucasians are really escaping that area (maybe after being paid millions of dollars by chinese investors? )

I don't want my kids (if I ever have kids) to grow up thinking of stereotypes. And the best way is to have balance.

FunnyBayAreaBuyer says

Are there any good school districts where you can find a nice 33/33/33% (i.e. 33% white, 33% asians, 33% Latinos and AM).

you might first check with the costs on private schools and compare how much a premium are you spending on these school districts. Be warned Palo Alto, Menlo, to Los Gatos and such were not that expensive for decades up to year 2000 even with the good school districts and tech boom we had in the 70s 80s 90s.

frankly many are leaving due to poor job growth.. its not the same economy we had
decades ago.. more of consolidations of industries and jobs occurring. It should be obvious that many employers have vast numbers of workers outside Santa Clara County in lower cost cities/states. I wish it was different but high Real Estate costs are driving jobs out.

If it makes you re-think, I bought a place for 500K in the SC mountains that's 3000 sq ft on an acre. It's absolute paradise.

It takes me 30 minutes to get to work. Working from home it takes me 30 seconds.

Evergreen is ghetto in comparison. Try Scotts Valley or if you're hardy, do Boulder Creek.

Beyond that try Campbell. It's my favorite town in the pit.

Hey, Scotts valley has decent schools! Very nice!

An additional question for some of you experts in the bay area. What's the catch with some houses in Los Gatos? They do have great schools, they do have great views, but they are like 850K?

Is it the sceptic tanks and the lack of public water?

Scotts Valley is very very nice.. trees, air .. brisk mornings clear your mind..
stress and worry vanish ! nice people and not that far from everything...

@Funny... the homes with a view are sitting on top the hill. Are those the ones ?
Homes skyrocked back in late 90s by 100% than another 100% by 2006-7..
Lots of people sold/moved out. Why did some pay so much ?
Answers are many... I found none makes any sense.

CrazyMan says

If it makes you re-think, I bought a place for 500K in the SC mountains that's 3000 sq ft on an acre. It's absolute paradise.

It takes me 30 minutes to get to work. Working from home it takes me 30 seconds.

Evergreen is ghetto in comparison. Try Scotts Valley or if you're hardy, do Boulder Creek.

Beyond that try Campbell. It's my favorite town in the pit.

I would live in the Santa Cruz area if it weren't so far from my work.

thomaswong.1986 says

Scotts Valley is very very nice.. trees, air .. brisk mornings clear your mind..

stress and worry vanish ! nice people and not that far from everything...

@Funny... the homes with a view are sitting on top the hill. Are those the ones ?

Lots of people sold/moved out. Why did some pay so much ?

Answers are many... I found none makes any sense.

Yep, I was talking bout those top-of-the-hill houses that seem to be super cheap, although the great views and great schools. They are at around 850K.

But now that I think of it, it seems to be the lack of public water the reason they are so cheap.

FunnyBayAreaBuyer says

Yep, I was talking bout those top-of-the-hill houses that seem to be super cheap, although the great views and great schools. They are at around 850K.

They were $250-300K... so not sure about being super cheap now.
The ones without public water are deeper in the santa cruz mountains.
The large mansions indeed were going for $1M.. no surprise there...
gotta see the place to know better...

Funny, that neighborhood you are considering, and those schools you cite, all are in your demographic.

That alone your first (and only?) consideration was the Standardized Test Score indexes speaks volumes about how serious you are about "diversity". In those schools your kids will get High Standardized Test Scores and high grades and AP credits. They will fit right in with their peers and get accepted and goto prestigious UC's just like their peers. Their mom will get her bragging rights in her Social Pecking Order.

And when they finally grow up they will only fit in in the tiny little bubble slice of the USA you're in now, and they won't be able to do a brake job nor a timing belt change nor construct a piece of furniture (from scratch! Ikea-type particle board assembly kits don't count) nor a home repair to save their lives.

Welcome to the New Cool and Hip Silicon Valley in the Cool and Hip Bay Area.

DO NOT BUY IN THE BAY AREA

nuff said.

FunnyBayAreaBuyer says

I don't want my kids (if I ever have kids) to grow up thinking of stereotypes. And the best way is to have balance.

If you are serious about that racial diversity requirement, you will move to Berkeley. You won't get much political diversity, but you didn't specify. I lived in the hills for years. Very safe and extremely diverse. And what in heck is an AM? You sure left out a lot of folks in your 33% split there. So you don't want your kids exposed to Pacific Islanders or Native Americans? I think my husband might be the only Native in San Ramon though.

Yea, if you really want racial diversity, why don't you want to live in a city that has at least 20% blacks?

4/3.5,,,,,and you don't have any kids? Are you dumb, or just stupid?

Funny , I recommend 95124 / Cambrian . It's way better than living in Evergreen. You can drive to LG downtown, Campbell , Santana row - all in less than 10-12 mins. You have racial diversity too, with great schools. check out this thread from Menya and she ended up buying in Cambrian.

http://patrick.net/?p=654426

I dunno Cloud, in that neighborhood the kids might do some shameful thing like choose to go to SJCC, or a CSU.

Shame the family name!

OP -
Cambrian is pretty nice. It is somewhat more expensive than Evergreen, but traffic is better. Evergreen seems to have bad traffic every day, even weekends. Cambrian seems to have more ethnic diversity than for example Cupertino. Los Gatos seems to have few nonwhites. The state web site that reports APIs also reports ethnicity by percentages so you can look at that.

BTW Milpitas may have more overall diversity including Latino and Asian and African-american so you could check that as well.

Scotts Valley or LG mountains - try the drive yourself and see. Get up early, drive to the site, and drive to work in the morning a few days. Do it now, during the school year; not in summer when traffic is lighter. And try the home commute too. There's people who can make it in 30 minutes, but that depends on where they are going to, and what time. If you can arrange your work so you get in at 7 and leave at 3, that will change the traffic situation. OTOH if/when you have kids, you can't drop them off at school at 630 am.

BACAH - while trained as an EE, I have done brake pad replacements. Never a timing belt though, I am concerned about making a mistake resulting in valve/piston crunch. I've never needed to make furniture, but I have made some repairs. Fortunately, with some specialization of labor, I can buy furniture when needed.

thomaswong.1986 says

you might first check with the costs on private schools and compare how much a premium are you spending on these school districts.

I agree with Thomas on this. If you have one child, private school tuition is probably cheaper than paying the school district premium. And looking at Harker, it seems better than PA, LG, Saratoga, etc. If you have two or more though, then the math changes.

It also depends on if you want your children to be strong academically; some parents have other priorities.

@ BACAH.

There used to be 19 students per class in Carlton elementary but with the test scores going through the roof . Now we have 26 students per class. With more and more Chindians moving here chasing these scores , I only hope that it doesn't turn out to be another Cupertino kind of situation. I really relish the diversity.

To be honest , I really like the LG Mountains too but My wife wonders what's the point of living almost alone in acres . May be certain people enjoy complete isolation but I don't .

cloud15 says

May be certain people enjoy complete isolation but I don't .

Happiness is knowing your neighbors exist but never seeing them...

Still trying to figure out what an "AM" is? African 'Merican? A Mediterranean? Asia Minorean? Arizona-Mexican? Arkansas Mulatto? Aryan Macedonian? You want there to be 33% of this, but what is it? Help a sister out.

errc says

Yea, if you really want racial diversity, why don't you want to live in a city that has at least 20% blacks?

4/3.5,,,,,and you don't have any kids? Are you dumb, or just stupid?

Who would want to live in a neighborhood bursting with crime?

rufita11 says

Still trying to figure out what an "AM" is? African 'Merican? A Mediterranean? Asia Minorean? Arizona-Mexican? Arkansas Mulatto? Aryan Macedonian? You want there to be 33% of this, but what is it? Help a sister out.

Audi/Mercedes driver as opposed to the more common BMW owners.

rufita11 says

Still trying to figure out what an "AM" is?

Absent Minded. We're an under-appreciated group, so it's nice to be included, but I think we're more than 33% of the population, and I don't know why FBAB's comment lumped us together with Latinos specifically.

You mean the Acid/Methhead Audi/Mercedes drivers?

drew_eckhardt says

rufita11 says

Still trying to figure out what an "AM" is? African 'Merican? A Mediterranean? Asia Minorean? Arizona-Mexican? Arkansas Mulatto? Aryan Macedonian? You want there to be 33% of this, but what is it? Help a sister out.

Audi/Mercedes driver as opposed to the more common BMW owners.