Silicon Valley | Imamother

amother

Ecru

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 12:46 am

I currently live and grew up here. I'd be happy to answer your questions if you could be a little more specific on what advice you're looking for. What would you like to know? Are there specific areas you're looking at? What sort of community are you looking for?

And welcome, I hope you come join us!

doctorima

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 10:31 am

It's one of the only Jewish communities in the US that's more expensive than Brooklyn, as real estate prices have been driven through the roof by the rapid expansion of SV companies and employees needing places to live. The largest communities are in Palo Alto and San Jose, and there's also a small community in Sunnyvale. You could also look into SF or Berkeley if the commute would be doable.

amother

Babyblue

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 4:19 pm

Hello,

I live in Berkeley, and a number of our community members commute to various places in Silicon Valley. We are MO and love it here. We have a MO day school with grades bridge kindergarten through 12th (Oakland Hebrew Day School), our shul in Berkeley is Congregation Beth Israel. Oakland also has a MO shul, Beth Jacob. Kids from the Berkeley and Oakland shuls send to OHDS.

Berkeley has a eruv, Oakland does not. Both communities are very expensive to live in. (As is Palo Alto, which is the most expensive I think).

Oakland Kosher Foods is our local butcher/kosher store. Some other stores have some kosher foods (Mollie Stone's in Palo Alto has a kosher butcher who provides fresh meat and has lots of kosher products at this and other locations). San Jose has Pars Kosher Market, but I haven't shopped there regularly as it is far away.

Commuting around here can be very hard. I assume that you are moving for work. Where is the job located? Google, Facebook and other companies have commuter busses that run from Berkeley (and SF and other locations) each morning and evening. That way, workers can "log on" to work and get work done while they commute and don't have the hassle of driving. Wherever you decide to live, I would definitely check to see if that bus service is available. My friends who use it love it.

Berkeley may be farther than you are willing to commute for work, but we looked at all of the MO communities in the area (Palo Alto, San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley) and decided this was the best fit for us. Good luck in your search! I'm happy to help answer any questions you may have.

ETA: I think San Jose got their eruv up - I know they were working on it.