Cool, that opens up a lot of options.
Anything near Evelyn and Castro is going to be a solid option, as that’s walking distance to downtown MV, which is absolutely awesome for lots of shops, restaurants, bars, etc… The Caltrain station is also right there, so you can get up to San Francisco easily without having to drive, which opens up a ton more options for evening and weekend entertainment.
Some friends of mine lived in the Madera Apartments and liked it a lot. They recently bought a place in Willow Glen over in San Jose (just south of there is my neighborhood) as they wanted to get out of apartment life and into a house.
Rents in general in the Bay are very hard to predict other than that they keep going up. Suggest trying to leave room in the budget to be able to handle some expansion there over the next few years
Downtown San Jose is also an option, with a very different vibe (more urban) and also lots of things to do. Also right on the train line, so that would possibly be a commute option depending on where you’re working.
If you have a relocation package from work, you’ll probably have a month or so where they’ll put you up in a place while you look for permanent housing. Use that aggressively and spend time in a few neighborhoods, both during the day and the evening. Drive through at night and check the feel then, etc…
Housing prices are very strongly correlated to school districts here. Since it’s just you, that’s not a relevant factor, so you may be able to use that to your advantage.
If there are any specific areas you become interested in, I’m sure there’s a few of us around who can dive into more details.
For that matter, I’d be happy to grab coffee or whatever when you’re in the area and talk in person. Maybe we could convince a few others to turn it into a mini-Qt3-meetup. ;)
