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Originally posted by maladat:

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Originally posted by oddball:

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Originally posted by armored: that she might make enough money that she could actually buy a home

Living in Menlo Park, the odds are stacked against her ever buying a house in town, or outside the city. Not unless she is married to a highly paid tech guy or something. A cheap 780 sq ft house is $1.5 million, townhouses and condos are in the million dollar range.

This is a little misleading, because the area Menlo Park is in is basically one continuous fully developed urban area divided into a bunch of small incorporated cities butted up against each other.

Menlo Park is on the higher end of the property values range in the area, but even the "lower" property value areas are very expensive compared to most of the rest of the country.

You're not wrong, if you're of the 'working class' you're likely living in communities either up El Camino: Redwood City, Belmont, San Carlos and San Mateo or, down El Camino: Mountain View & Sunnyvale. The reality is, hour-long commutes are not uncommon, while working in Sunnyvale about 15-years ago, I had an assistant who drove-in from Tracy, a 2-hr commute...one way.

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Originally posted by corsair:
You're not wrong, if you're of the 'working class' you're likely living in communities either up El Camino: Redwood City, Belmont, San Carlos and San Mateo or, down El Camino: Mountain View & Sunnyvale. The reality is, hour-long commutes are not uncommon, while working in Sunnyvale about 15-years ago, I had an assistant who drove-in from Tracy, a 2-hr commute...one way.

Yeah, Redwood City is SO much better for affordability

$769,000 for a 1 bed 1 bath 600 sq ft house. $875,000 for a 1000 sq ft condo. $2 million for a 1700 sq ft ranch house. Hell, maybe buy a house in Brentwood or Antioch in the $600k range, with a fucked up commute.

Is the chef Sara Bradley? If so, that place will have a bright future.

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Originally posted by oddball:

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Originally posted by corsair:
You're not wrong, if you're of the 'working class' you're likely living in communities either up El Camino: Redwood City, Belmont, San Carlos and San Mateo or, down El Camino: Mountain View & Sunnyvale. The reality is, hour-long commutes are not uncommon, while working in Sunnyvale about 15-years ago, I had an assistant who drove-in from Tracy, a 2-hr commute...one way.

Yeah, Redwood City is SO much better for affordability

$769,000 for a 1 bed 1 bath 600 sq ft house. $875,000 for a 1000 sq ft condo. $2 million for a 1700 sq ft ranch house. Hell, maybe buy a house in Brentwood or Antioch in the $600k range, with a fucked up commute.

The median sale price in Menlo Park is almost twice what it is in Redwood City. I don't know if it is still the case, but for a while, the nearby city of Atherton had the highest median sale price of anywhere in the United States.

"Silicon Valley" is a narrow strip of urban development between the San Francisco Bay and some pretty serious mountains, with San Francisco at one end and San Jose at the other. There's nowhere for it to spread out, and basically nowhere with a reasonable commute in, and there's a huge concentration of businesses with well-paid employees (tech companies - tons of them, including 30 in the Fortune 1000) headquartered there.

Wikipedia says the San Jose metro area has the third highest per capita GDP in the world behind Zurich and Oslo.

Of course the home prices are absurd compared to almost anywhere else. That's just economic reality.

What I've not seen discussed is how old is your daughter and where is she in her career?

I was in the Bay Area and know Napa and Menlo Park. I honestly can't imagine her compensation for Menlo Park could make up for the living conditions in Menlo Park. It would have to be double what she's making in Napa assuming same level of position. Napa is where people go to get away and relax. The place in Menlo Park would be a place where people go to find respite from the pressures of their environment just outside the restaurant doors. Hopefully, that comparison conveys the difference in what she'll be managing.

If she is still relatively young and developing her career, I would advice she bite the bullet, sweat it out and make Menlo Park a learning stop from which she can catapult to a better gig. If she is mid to late in her career, I would advice taking the KY position. While I'm sure it will still be a grind, I think it would be multiples less than Menlo Park and a good segue to prepping for retirement.

If she'll be the GM, finding good staff in Menlo Park would also be a herculean effort compared to KY.

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Originally posted by maladat:
The median sale price in Menlo Park is almost twice what it is in Redwood City. I don't know if it is still the case, but for a while, the nearby city of Atherton had the highest median sale price of anywhere in the United States.

I used to live in the Bay Area before moving to Texas, for 37 years, and the last 10 years were fucking miserable. But the numbers I have posted are real numbers of homes for sale right now. Menlo Park is NOT twice the price of Redwood City. The numbers I have posted are more for the benefit of the 99% of people who can't fathom the insane real estate prices of the Bay Area, and the idea that $769,000 for a 600 sq ft house is considered inexpensive for the Peninsula area.

My wife's cousin and her husband finally bought their first house, a 1800 sq ft townhouse in Redwood City for almost $2 million 4 years ago. It was crazy, because it left them very little wiggle room in case of emergency. And then Covid rained hard on them, he lost his job, and it took a year for him to find another. They had to borrow money from his family to keep the house.

There used to be a family near me that had moved to Louisiana from Paducah . Last name was Snyder . Good folks .

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Originally posted by oddball:

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Originally posted by maladat:
The median sale price in Menlo Park is almost twice what it is in Redwood City. I don't know if it is still the case, but for a while, the nearby city of Atherton had the highest median sale price of anywhere in the United States.

I used to live in the Bay Area before moving to Texas, for 37 years, and the last 10 years were fucking miserable. But the numbers I have posted are real numbers of homes for sale right now. Menlo Park is NOT twice the price of Redwood City. The numbers I have posted are more for the benefit of the 99% of people who can't fathom the insane real estate prices of the Bay Area, and the idea that $769,000 for a 600 sq ft house is considered inexpensive for the Peninsula area.

My wife's cousin and her husband finally bought their first house, a 1800 sq ft townhouse in Redwood City for almost $2 million 4 years ago. It was crazy, because it left them very little wiggle room in case of emergency. And then Covid rained hard on them, he lost his job, and it took a year for him to find another. They had to borrow money from his family to keep the house.

There are often individual properties that are not representative of the overall market, but Menlo Park is a more desirable location with homes that are, on average, larger and nicer and more expensive.

Five year median sales price data from Redfin:

Menlo Park:



Redwood City:



Over the last five years, the median sale price in Menlo Park has mostly been around 60-70% higher than in Redwood City, and at times has been double.

Personally, I’d probably opt to live in a different location if I worked in MP. Like Los Altos / Los Altos Hills. Something off 280 rather than 101.

I’d still think that either location is livable, each with pros/cons. Due consideration to the 5 year plan with these two opportunities as different stepping stones is warranted. It’s not like either is Watts or Harlem. Or even SF or Chicago.

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Originally posted by maladat:
Over the last five years, the median sale price in Menlo Park has mostly been around 60-70% higher than in Redwood City, and at times has been double.

"Median price" is skewed because Menlo Park has far more larger "luxury" estates than Redwood City, but if one does the comps at the more "affordable"( ) homes, price per sq. ft in Menlo Park is not really going to be 2X. But this bullshit was never my point to begin with, but to say that the real estate situation in Menlo Park and the surrounding towns makes it almost impossible for most normal people to afford, even in high paying tech jobs. You guys still live in CA, and are used to the mind-blowing prices, most of America can't even fathom the insanity.

Back to the OP, since I have experienced the sheer bullshit in CA, I would ALWAYS recommend that anybody that wants a good future life, do NOT move to CA unless they absolutely love living under the thumb of extreme leftist Democratic insanity. If the OP's daughter is aligned with this way of thinking, so be it. If she does not lean this way, Paducah KY to me is a slamdunk choice. If I was given a free and clear house in Hillsborough or Piedmont, with the stipulation I must live there, I would say no in an instant, it just ain't worth it.

I lived 4 years in California when it was more or less sane (1960s). You could not pay me to live there now.

I've never been to Paducah, KY but I'm pretty sure I'd like it. I lived 4 years in Sumter, SC and it was very enjoyable. Same kind of folks.

flashguy

Seems that many folks are arguing over rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

From a submersible……….

Armored,

What was the final decision?
Paducah or CA?

Best,

Jake

I hope she picked Kentucky.

I lived and worked in LA for two years. During that time, I was able to travel some on the weekends and be a tourist in CA. I also spent several decades living in KY. I would pick darn near anywhere in KY over the nicest parts of CA to live in.

CA has some very scenic spots, but competing to live there and afford living in safer areas was not worth it for me. Even with lower pay, the quality of life and pace of life in KY are better overall.

Florida used to be more affordable, but it is becoming more and more similar to the way my time was in CA. If I could move back to KY tomorrow, I would probably do it at this point.

She went to Paducah but found that this would not be a good fit. Shes back in Napa.
Still looking.