Anyone here works in Silicon Valley?

I think the sales tax is different in each city. In San Francisco, I pay 8.5% sales tax. In some places in the East Bay like San Pablo, its 8.75%

 

I think there are variation of percentages imposed by each city or county. %8.25 is what the State imposes, if I am not wrong.

 

same in texas 8.25% sales tax

 

An hour each way is nothing in bay area. That's like the average commute time.

 

I dunno about apartments and renting, but as far as homes go there is no comparison at all. The average house in Beverly Hills will go for twice or three times as much in Woodside or Marin County...

 

Just remember a Cali commute is measured in minutes and hours more so than mileage.

A commute of 10 miles could be 15 minutes or 2 hours depending on traffic flow.

 

I hate the commute also. It takes me 35-45 minutes to get to work. People typically have a drive time of 45min to 1hr even 1.30hr. Mine is not that bad but I would kill to 15-20 minutes commute. I would strategize to find a place near your employment especially if its in a nice location. You can either walk or bike it. Youd be saving gas, experience the weather/landscape, excercise and not have to worry about the traffic which is horrific

 

Or you could take the Caltrain and read a book on your way to work.

 

Thats fine too

 

I work for Flickr -- I'd say that if you are living in the S. Bay, entry level salary shared for two people would get you by but you'd have little savings. If you are thinking of living in San Francisco (an hour away), then it would be harder to be comfortable -- it can be done, but rent is comparable to NY and you'd have to think about ways to commute (car payments, etc.).

Can't beat the weather, culture, people and the industry, though. Good luck.

 

Both - I switch off between Sunnyvale and SF.

 

I'll be working in the South Bay starting in July, but commuting from San Francisco. We'll have a car pool set up to help ease the stress of commuting 40 miles to work.

 

Here is a somewhat depressing story about how engineers who make 50K in Silicon Valley live in homeless shelters b/c housing is too expensive in the area.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E0DE1730F933A15751C0A9669C8B63&fta=y

Note: The article is from 2000, but it still is somewhat relevant.

 

i lived in cupertino for a couple of years. what you've read here is true.


housing is expensive.
the weather is the reason.


11 of the 12 months the temp varied between 50-80. in august it might hit mid 90s.




oh and the scenery. it's amazing to be able to look around and see mountains. a 45 minute drive to see snow toped mountains in one direction, and 45 minutes in the other direction to reach the beach. yosimite is a must.

 

Get a roommate and you'll be fine. It's pretty common out there.

 

varies by county, same as California.

is Marin up to 10 percent yet?

 

Once I finish grad school I'm also hoping to land a job out there, same field, preferrably after "The Big One" hits. That would suck to take the trouble to move all the way out there only to get Katrina-ed/Rita-ed.