On July 1 I picked up from my northern NJ apartment and moved out here to California. I'm currently staying at the Extended StayAmerica in Dublin, CA, near San Francisco. I don't want to bore anyone with my ranting, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to share my opinion having been raised in NJ and exposed to Northern CA for four days.
Before I came out here, I asked everyone I could about California. People on EQ, FFXI, family, friends, co-workers... It's quite the leap of faith I made, after they told me that people were 'too fake', that traffic was too slow, that jobs were too sparse, and that gas (and living in general) was too expensive. They were so far off key that I don't even want to try and correct them.
In the past three days, I've been enjoying being a tourist in San Francisco. My friend Tony, who drove out here with me, came along as we saw Pier 39 and Japantown, as we drove from Marin county through S.F. to San Jose (stopping at Mitsuwa and the bookstore next to it). On Monday at 4 PM, we took 101 to 92, the bridge that leads to Oakland, and saw about 10 miles of 20mph traffic. On Tuesday at 5, we took 101 to 84, across another bridge, and saw slow-downs at road merges only. Today, we went down 1 along the coast (shur was perty) to Half Moon Bay, cutting back east and onto 280 to go down to San Jose and saw 5 miles of 25mph traffic and another 2 miles on 84 as we went back to Dublin (around 7 PM). Now, I don't know if we've been lucky or if we're looking for trouble in the wrong places, but I have to say that this kind of traffic really pales compared to commutes through the NYC tunnel system, waits at the Driscoll toll booths of the Garden State Parkway, or meandering down Rt. 1 past Woodbridge. Sorry, I'm not scared of the traffic here at all. If anyone has some good routes out of S.F. for me to try tomorrow, I'd be happy to take an extra ride. However, the roads out here in California don't have dashed lines between lanes, instead replacing them with round reflectors creating rumble strips between each and every lane! It's very intimidating.
Gas varies depending on the brand, from 2.12 to 2.35 per gallon. It's really strange to me, not seeing any of the Exxons, Mobils, and Raceways that were native to NJ, and I don't know which gas stations are the 'good' ones and which are the 'cheap' ones, but gas prices are really comparable. When I left, I was paying anywhere from 2.00 to 2.25, which is all still a fraction of what our European bretheren are forced to pay (although I'll never be able to compare, since their rate is in pounds per liter). Restaurant eating has all been comparable, though our lunch today in a Japanese restaurant in Novato left a little to be desired, and groceries seem to be the same except for an additional recyclables deposit (and, again, without the Pathmarks, A&Ps, or ShopRights I don't know whether Albertsons or SafeWay is the place to go).
I was told that the rent would break my wallet. Well, the rent seems to be higher than (New Brunswick) NJ's in the Fremont area that I was shopping in. What I was paying $950 for in NJ is priced around $1100 here, but all the apartment complexes here have covered parking, a pool, and some sort of excercise room. Rentals of rooms from shared houses seems to be comparable, but I may not have an accurate idea of that since the only room prices I looked up in NJ were in a 'college town'. So although I may be asked to pay more per month, I'd say that price-per-feature is probably the same or close to it.
I don't know anyone here in California personally, yet, and I haven't found a job yet (though I haven't looked since I left NJ), so maybe I'm too quick to judge... but California isn't as scary as I was told it would be. I haven't driven around to find cars with smashed windows and would-be professionals lying on the streets. The traffic here is certainly more dense than the traffic in Montana, where you could almost drive 120 mph across the entire state without another vehicle getting in your way...
I hope to add more to my 'Review of California' later, as I get more familiar with it, but to anyone else afraid to leave NJ for Northern CA, I'd say that it's alot easier than you think.
I need a place to live. This hotel isn't friendly on my wallet, and was planning on signing up with Amber Courts Apts in Fremont by the end of the week, if I don't find someplace else to live. Originally, Iw as intending to get a 1-BR aptment, but someone suggested that my adjustment would be easier if I found a roommate or someone else who was renting out a single bedroom. Furthermore, I'm looking for work. I want to work in the IT department of a Biotech/Pharm. company or help with Bioinformatics programming, someplace comfortable that will support my getting a Master's in Biochemistry while still utilizing my B.S. in Electrical/Computer Engineering and minor in Genetics. I'll take any leads I can get, even if I don't have a return address to put at the top of my resume yet. Entelos, Perlgen, BioMarin, Genentech, Xenogen, Affymetrix, Valentis, B-Bridge, etc... none would give me the time of day while I was in NJ. Next week, I'll be hunting them down and knocking on doors, though I had a bad start today when I went to Novato and BioMarin, where every door on the building was locked and said 'Please use Main Entrance'.
I know I always ask for things from the people here, but I'll take whatever is being given out. I want restaurant suggestions, club reviews, road previews, town opinions, and employment tips. I'm feeling too alone to go boldly forward on my own two legs, and don't have the savings to spend six months using trial-and-error, so like the beggar I saw this afternoon in Golden Gate recreational area, I'll take whatever little bits I can have and add it together into something fantastic.
Thanks, everyone.
--Ed
Before I came out here, I asked everyone I could about California. People on EQ, FFXI, family, friends, co-workers... It's quite the leap of faith I made, after they told me that people were 'too fake', that traffic was too slow, that jobs were too sparse, and that gas (and living in general) was too expensive. They were so far off key that I don't even want to try and correct them.
In the past three days, I've been enjoying being a tourist in San Francisco. My friend Tony, who drove out here with me, came along as we saw Pier 39 and Japantown, as we drove from Marin county through S.F. to San Jose (stopping at Mitsuwa and the bookstore next to it). On Monday at 4 PM, we took 101 to 92, the bridge that leads to Oakland, and saw about 10 miles of 20mph traffic. On Tuesday at 5, we took 101 to 84, across another bridge, and saw slow-downs at road merges only. Today, we went down 1 along the coast (shur was perty) to Half Moon Bay, cutting back east and onto 280 to go down to San Jose and saw 5 miles of 25mph traffic and another 2 miles on 84 as we went back to Dublin (around 7 PM). Now, I don't know if we've been lucky or if we're looking for trouble in the wrong places, but I have to say that this kind of traffic really pales compared to commutes through the NYC tunnel system, waits at the Driscoll toll booths of the Garden State Parkway, or meandering down Rt. 1 past Woodbridge. Sorry, I'm not scared of the traffic here at all. If anyone has some good routes out of S.F. for me to try tomorrow, I'd be happy to take an extra ride. However, the roads out here in California don't have dashed lines between lanes, instead replacing them with round reflectors creating rumble strips between each and every lane! It's very intimidating.
Gas varies depending on the brand, from 2.12 to 2.35 per gallon. It's really strange to me, not seeing any of the Exxons, Mobils, and Raceways that were native to NJ, and I don't know which gas stations are the 'good' ones and which are the 'cheap' ones, but gas prices are really comparable. When I left, I was paying anywhere from 2.00 to 2.25, which is all still a fraction of what our European bretheren are forced to pay (although I'll never be able to compare, since their rate is in pounds per liter). Restaurant eating has all been comparable, though our lunch today in a Japanese restaurant in Novato left a little to be desired, and groceries seem to be the same except for an additional recyclables deposit (and, again, without the Pathmarks, A&Ps, or ShopRights I don't know whether Albertsons or SafeWay is the place to go).
I was told that the rent would break my wallet. Well, the rent seems to be higher than (New Brunswick) NJ's in the Fremont area that I was shopping in. What I was paying $950 for in NJ is priced around $1100 here, but all the apartment complexes here have covered parking, a pool, and some sort of excercise room. Rentals of rooms from shared houses seems to be comparable, but I may not have an accurate idea of that since the only room prices I looked up in NJ were in a 'college town'. So although I may be asked to pay more per month, I'd say that price-per-feature is probably the same or close to it.
I don't know anyone here in California personally, yet, and I haven't found a job yet (though I haven't looked since I left NJ), so maybe I'm too quick to judge... but California isn't as scary as I was told it would be. I haven't driven around to find cars with smashed windows and would-be professionals lying on the streets. The traffic here is certainly more dense than the traffic in Montana, where you could almost drive 120 mph across the entire state without another vehicle getting in your way...
I hope to add more to my 'Review of California' later, as I get more familiar with it, but to anyone else afraid to leave NJ for Northern CA, I'd say that it's alot easier than you think.
I need a place to live. This hotel isn't friendly on my wallet, and was planning on signing up with Amber Courts Apts in Fremont by the end of the week, if I don't find someplace else to live. Originally, Iw as intending to get a 1-BR aptment, but someone suggested that my adjustment would be easier if I found a roommate or someone else who was renting out a single bedroom. Furthermore, I'm looking for work. I want to work in the IT department of a Biotech/Pharm. company or help with Bioinformatics programming, someplace comfortable that will support my getting a Master's in Biochemistry while still utilizing my B.S. in Electrical/Computer Engineering and minor in Genetics. I'll take any leads I can get, even if I don't have a return address to put at the top of my resume yet. Entelos, Perlgen, BioMarin, Genentech, Xenogen, Affymetrix, Valentis, B-Bridge, etc... none would give me the time of day while I was in NJ. Next week, I'll be hunting them down and knocking on doors, though I had a bad start today when I went to Novato and BioMarin, where every door on the building was locked and said 'Please use Main Entrance'.
I know I always ask for things from the people here, but I'll take whatever is being given out. I want restaurant suggestions, club reviews, road previews, town opinions, and employment tips. I'm feeling too alone to go boldly forward on my own two legs, and don't have the savings to spend six months using trial-and-error, so like the beggar I saw this afternoon in Golden Gate recreational area, I'll take whatever little bits I can have and add it together into something fantastic.
Thanks, everyone.
--Ed