With an impending (but unhurried) decision about whether to continue living in San Jose or to move back to Santa Cruz, I figured I would write up a quick list of pros and cons about San Jose versus Santa Cruz:
San Jose pros:- San Jose is closer to my work than Santa Cruz (by about half an hour).
- My good friend and cigar buddy, Mike, lives just a few blocks away.
- Rent is more affordable in San Jose than in Santa Cruz (by about $400 or so).
- Downtown Campbell has a very nice farmer's market on Sundays, which I frequently enjoy.
- Campbell also has music in the park on Thursday summer nights, which has a quaint small-town feel (for a big city).
- As a result of my recent jury duty service, I have made several new friends in the area, which has helped make San Jose feel more like home than it would otherwise.
- San Jose is extremely crowded (urban sprawl at its worst).
- Traffic in San Jose is horrendous. It can take at least half an hour to get anywhere.
- San Jose gets hot, muggy, and smoggy in the summertime.
- Grocery stores are crowded and unfriendly in San Jose.
- There is very little nature or wilderness in San Jose.
- We seldom get out to do things around town (dinners, walks, movies, and so on), which is good for the pocketbook but too isolating for me.
Santa Cruz pros:- Living by the ocean; enough said!
- Santa Cruz has more temperate weather than San Jose.
- Quirkier, more unpretentious people on the street
- Santa Cruz has a much better selection of restaurants and shops.
- Santa Cruz is significantly less crowded than San Jose; it is quiet enough to hear yourself think.
- It is easier to have a healthy and balanced lifestyle in Santa Cruz (nature, health awareness, spas, an so on).
- Santa Cruz has cleaner air; in San Jose I am being poisoned one breath at a time.
- Generally I was happier living in Santa Cruz than I have been in San Jose; the importance of this cannot be overstated!
- Sometimes the Santa Cruz local mindset is just too much to handle.
- Moving to Santa Cruz entails that I must commute to work over Highway 17 (that is, a deathtrap) three days per week. My commute would be at least an hour each way.
- With gas prices so high, the commute could also be costly.
- Santa Cruz is farther from my hometown (Vacaville), and from my family and friends who still live there.
- Santa Cruz is much more expensive (probably $400 per month more in rent). It would probably be much more difficult to purchase a home in Santa Cruz.
So what do you think? San Jose or Santa Cruz? For what reasons (financial, lifestyle, climate, and so on)? What would you do?
1 comments:
I forgot to add that Santa Cruz has much better backyard bird feeding than San Jose. I miss the chestnut-backed chickadees and juncos. Of course, that is more of a quality-of-life concern than a financial concern.
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