<p>Need some help from fellow parents who can recommend rental options near Palo Alto, for son who is contemplating accepting an offer to work for 9 months.</p>
<p>He is a freshman and will complete 1st semester in december and take a leave of absence for 1 semester.</p>
<p>I am not too keen he does this…but I may not have much choice in the end. He does have a couple of good full time offers (his clients from contract work in iPhone app world).</p>
<p>Decision aside, I am also worried how he will manage the move from LA to SF, find a rental apt and live by himself. He lives in a dorm right now but has never lived alone.</p>
<p>He is doing well in college so it’s not that he is doing this to get away from it. But he feels that by studying full time he cannot take advantage of all the opportunities that are coming his way now. The salary he will get is similar to what recent college CS grads are getting. He loves his college and wants to go back.</p>
<p>I know PA is expensive, I checked a few websites and saw rents are high. He will not have a car. I would love to get some info from folks who know the area well and can give pointers regarding safe and unsafe pockets. He will have to travel to SOMA once or twice a week. Rents seem to be in the 900-1200 range from what I see.</p>
<p>How about looking at him renting a room in a house. I live in another part of Ca and I know several families who rent rooms to college students as a source of extra income in this economy.</p>
<p>When I did a summer engineering job in another town, I was able to rent a room in a house. The landlady let me use kitchen, laundry room… I think even sheets. It was $40/week in a small town… but that was in 1982. </p>
<p>I got the lead from the co-op coordinator. Sometimes other coworkers can help give ideas. Also these days Craigslist might have good leads.</p>
<p>I live in Palo Alto and agree with mom60 that shared housing is his best bet. There are a number of places shown on Craig’s List that would probably work. If he will be working right in Palo Alto and wants to live there he can’t really go wrong as there really isn’t a bad neighborhood. College Terrace and Barron Park/Ventura are nice, but less expensive than many parts of town, and home to many students. Both are neighborhoods to consider. They are also adjacent to the Stanford Industrial Park home of Facebook and many high tech firms. Palo Alto’s immediate neighbors to the north and south, Menlo Park, Mountain View and Los Altos are also quite safe. East Palo Alto is sketchier, but rents are lower, and there are some reasonable areas. He should be aware that public transportation is not good anywhere on the SF Peninsula so he should consider a bike for local transportation. He may want to look for housing close to a Cal Train station if he must go to SOMA weekly.</p>
<p>I know nothing about Palo Atlo or even northern Ca in general. But my son (20 yrs old) found a job last summer on his own in San Francisco (also after some experience with iPhone app development) and decided to move there for the summer (with about 4 days notice). He found a room on Craig’s List for about $800/month; contacted the owner by email and phone. His landlady was a professor at University of San Francisco and he had use of a bedroom, kitchen, laundry, etc. He did not have a car and figured out the public transportation pretty quickly. It was quite an adventure, and while we were skeptical at first, he ended up having a great time.</p>
<p>I’ve been following your story. At the end of the 10 weeks, my son was offered a full-time job at about $80k + stock options, and there was considerable pressure not to return to school for his senior year. We felt strongly that he should finish his degree; he may always regret not taking the opportunity. But we are happy that he did decide to return to school for his final year. I asked him, “Do you really think the tech industry is going to disappear between now and next June?” I expect that he will find similar opportunities then; and the bonus is that he will also have a BS on his resume.</p>
<p>Anyways…kids are adaptable, and a move like that can be done. Good Luck to him.</p>
<p>Thanks all! Yup I went on craigs and saw home stays…infact I think it would be ideal for him, but so far he says he wants to live alone and be able to have his own kitchen!!</p>
<p>Probably he would like to have a studio in a apartment complex. He will have a bike he says and the co-workers will help find a place. </p>
<p>I am really worried - thought the college process was over and I could stop worrying about S1 and concentrate a bit on S2 who is a junior in HS. </p>
<p>Archiemom, you are lucky your son went back to college! This is one risk I need to really evaluate.</p>
<p>I am a realtor from the area, there is no cheap apartments in PA, if he wants to live alone. So what you see is what you are getting. Besides, it will be difficult to get less than one year lease at a reasonable rate. Your observation of prices on Craig’s list is for one year lease. Do you mean SOMA in San Fran? There are buses from PA goes to downtown SF, but since it travels on El Camino Real, it takes almost 2 hours to get to SOMA. Not sure where he is going to work, but it might be better to live near the train station.</p>
<p>He is going to be working near Page Mill/El Camino. He is home now for the break.</p>
<p>Craigslist looks promising, I also saw some reviews on an apartment rating website for individual apts, but he would need to buy furniture I guess. Can’t really do much from here right now, will have to get there first.</p>