Living in Redwood City: My Rating

For those not familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area, Redwood City is on the west part of the bay about a 15 minutes drive from San Francisco. It is a few minutes north of Palo Alto, and about 25 minutes northwest of San Jose. Redwood City, is considered part of the Silicon Valley, the tech capital of the world.

A Map of the SIlicon Valley Region of the Bay Area

Living in the Redwood City was a new experience for me. I am originally from Ohio, but I had spent about 2 years in the Santa Clara area near San Jose. Overall, I spent about 8 months in Redwood City, and was a different and enjoyable experience.

How I Got There

I ended up in Redwood City, after studying for the California bar exam after law school. I was living with alumni law student while studying for the bar exam, but it came a point where I was struggling to find a job after graduation, and I needed to make a decision whether I would leave or not. The decision to leave or stay needed to be made by a Sunday, and I chose to leave even though rent was cheap for the Bay Area, around 1550 dollars (it is possible to find affordable places to stay in the Bay Area if you are willing to live with people). Literally the day after, I got a job interview with a patent law firm in Redwood City. It was crazy because I did wind up getting the job, but I had to find a place to live. I could not go just go back to the place I was living before because I already decided I was leaving and the landlord found new tenants. So, although I did not have to go back to Ohio to wait for bar results, I had to find a new place to live.

I only had a few weeks to get out of my old place and find a new one, so I immediately began looking for places near or in Redwood City. I settled for a place in Redwood Shores, which was peaceful but isolated as well. This place was an apartment complex, and it was the first time I ever lived in an apartment. It was also the first time that I was living solo as well. It was unfortunate that I was rushed into making a decision because I believe if I had more time I could of found something at and better price and better fit for me.

How I Liked My Apartment

In the Bay Area, you do not get very much for your money. I was paying 2700 dollars a month for a bedroom apartment. The apartment was an average apartment in the Bay Area. The applicances were also average, but notable was the dryer which was the worst dryer I have ever used. I spent several hours drying clothes. Eventually, I bought a clothes rack for the towels because the towels were a lost cause to try to dry. Other than that the apartment was fine. I would give the apartment a C all around, but I enjoyed the new experience of me living by myself.

Living in the Apartment Complex

From what I could observe there was much diversity to who was living in the apartment complex. There were families, there were young professionals like myself. There were many immigrants of different backgrounds. My two closest neighbors in proximity spoke different languages, so I never communicated with them at all. In fact, I do not think I talked to one neighbor one time that lived in apartment complex. I talked to some people that lived in the area when I ran to the nearby park to condition on their turf field.

So, although my experience at the apartment complex was a isolated one, the caveat to this is they had get togethers at the leasing office, but I was always at work when it happened. The complex would have food trucks, which I appreciated. Overall, my experience in the apartment complex has affected my entire perception of the Bay Area. The experience at the apartment complex was an F, although the people who ran the apartment complex were very nice and help me out a number of times.

The Management

The apartment complex, Riva Terra, was very well managed. It is apart of the equity apartment chain. So they are large corporation and lease apartments all over the country. From the time I was moving in until the time I moved out they were helpful and kind. Even when I had to move out early, they were helpful and were quick to re-rent the room, which helped me immensely. I loved the management, everyone in the leasing office was so nice. I would give them an easy A.

Redwood Shores and The Broader Redwood City Area

The first thing that you should now about Redwood Shores is that it is very peaceful. It borders the bay, so there are areas nearby where you see lagoons, and the bay water itself. It is overall a very affluent area, and houses in the area because many border the bay cost even more. The average home is probably over 2 million dollars, more expensive than what you would find in San Jose. As you might know, I play alot of tennis and there are 6 tennis courts in the Redwood Shores area, which is not a lot but they were good courts and I used them frequently although the were crowded.

Another thing to know about Redwood Shores is that there is one Supermarket in the area called Nob Hill. I actually loved that Supermarket, but all the other supermarkets were further away. Safeway was about 10 minutes away in Belmont, and Trader Joes is around 12-15 minutes away depending on traffic, which is getting closer to Redwood City. Also, there is a target about 10 minutes away if there is no traffic in Foster City, a city north of Redwood Shores.

As far as Redwood City, it seems that most of the young people in the area live in actual Redwood City proper area. It is a beautiful place, but in my opinion there is not enough space. I saw cars with two tires on top of the curb because the streets were so narrow. Then again, I never ventured around alot in Redwood City. I spent more time in Belmont and Redwood Shores. I will say that the food in Redwood City, is not as good or as numerous as it is in the South Bay. Also, I feel there is less to do in Redwood City itself. Although, most people in this area probably go to San Francisco for events because it is is not that far away.

Traffic

Traffic in the west part of the bay is just as bad as everywhere else in the Bay Area. I actually hate being stuck in traffic, and that is part of the reason I chose to live in a place that was closer to work, so the commute would be quick. The problem is that there are just so many people that live in the Bay Area. There are people from all over the world moving in all the time, which creates diverse cities, but also leads to some of the problems about I mentioned before.

Conclusion

Most websites that rate cities for livability give cities in the Silicon Valley area high scores. There is generally a lot to do in Redwood City, but just not as much as other cities in the area. Palo Alto, in my opinion is a better place to live and it’s just a 10 minute drive south. You have Stanford University, more restaurants, shops, and your closer to Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and even San Jose.

Overall, for me, since the cost of living and rent offsets the beautiful weather, the outdoor activities, and other pluses to living in Redwood City, I give Redwood City a C+. Personally, Redwood City is not a place I would chose to live if I were to live in the Bay Area again. I did like Santa Clara better.