If things continue to go well, I may end up considering an offer for a job in Mountain View area. Although this is a little soon, I like to be a little prepared and would like to get a feel for if CA is even reasonable to consider since I have a family. I would like to be able to evaluate any possible offer but the real estate situation in CA is unreal, at least compared to where I currently live. Where do the non-millionaire families live in the Bay Area? Do normal people actually own houses and if so, what is the typical commute? Or is everyone a renter?
I wonder the same thing. It seems that the job market wants to lure me into places I have no interest in ever even visiting. I lived in the middle of Boston for a few years and it was complete hell for me. I never want to see a city again.
I am hoping that more and more places that could pay me will become open to collaborating from a distance, but until then, I’m pretty sure that inventing a flying house is the only way to work in CA and live a life suitable for an Earth creature.
Mountain View is tough. On that side of the Bay you have all of the high tech places ensconced and while housing is outrageous in the Bay area generally, that side is sincerely out of my price range. I had to rent in Oakland (a 1940s house right near a fault line on a steep hill with original wiring for $2500/month) even though I’d sold my house in Arizona and made a good deal of cash … I couldn’t afford a down payment.
In the entire bay area in my circle of friends I only know one person who owns and he owns two properties with one being over 10 acres. But being a high-up type at Apple means he can afford it.
You might try the west side of San Jose? Anywhere that you can hope on the CALTRAIN line which runs up the west side of the bay through Mountain View might be suitable, even way south of San Jose, assuming your new work is near the train station.
Otherwise, renting makes sense in many cases.
There are TONS of affordable places to live in California, it’s just that the SF Bay Area isn’t one of them… 
For more affordable options you should either look to the east bay (Walnut Creek, Concord, Freemont, Livermore, etc.) or out along the coast in Pacifica and/or Half Moon Bay. Although in saying that it’s worth noting that the east bay at least allows BART transit around the bay area, living out along the coast means you must have a vehicle to get yourself around (but HMB/Pacifica offer some beautiful terrain, easy coast access, etc).
For me and most folks I know living in SF, if you didn’t buy yet then you’re not likely going to buy now. I live in SF and am definitely a renter, although I’m thinking more and more of moving out of SF so I can buy a house. But even at that I’d have to move relatively far out of SF before I could find something reasonable to buy…
At least at this point the rental prices in SF are a LOT more reasonable than they have been in the past 10 years or so. I can’t speak much about the south bay cost of living 'cause, well, I don’t live there and don’t know that I’d want to… I’m a north bay kind of guy (having grown up in the Santa Rosa/Sonoma area 
).
cool - i was born there but my parents moved when i was still a toddler (NY’r for most of my life) so i have no memory of it - that’s an added bonus of going to unite i get to see my aunt who lives up there in the redwoods ; )
Yes but they all seem to bear a striking resemblance to Arizona
You don’t like the look and feel of Bakersfield?
How is it to life in/around San Rafael?
San Rafael is a nice spot, and it falls in a good gap between the expensive real estate. From there it’s a short enough trip into San Francisco or the east bay (although the highways are rather clogged during normal commute hours), but there is also good ferry boat service to/from SF and Oakland (if you don’t mind a 45 minute ride across the bay). The other benefit of San Rafael is that it’s right near some great hiking/coastal areas, especially if you live on the western side of town. Oh, they also have a fantastic weekly farmer’s market to boot!
Thanks! Hmm…