One thing that might not obvious to people moving here is most of silicon valley is very suburban, and if you work in the south bay, most of your coworkers are going to be married with families in their 30s at the very least. Even in the startups. If your single, try to live and work in SF proper. Far more of your coworkers will be in your age range and the gender ratio will be somewhat more balanced. The commute from SF to the South Bay is a frustrating hour minimum.
Rent wise, SF and Palo Alto have about the same rent, even though half of Palo Alto and Mountain View is 1930s craftsman track houses.
> half of Palo Alto and Mountain View is 1930s craftsman track houses.
Huh? Tract houses are a 1950s (and newer)s thing and Craftsman is a 1910-20s thing.
While PA does have old areas, San Jose, founded in the 1770s, has more. My house is 1902 and there are neighborhoods where that era dominates. Other neighborhoods are dominated by Victorians. Pick a decade, and there's a couple of neighborhoods.
PA's Eichlers (which are 50-70s) are nice if you like that sort of thing.
This is one of the reasons I decided to move to New York instead, after having lived in the suburbs for my entire life, I just couldn't take it anymore. There are so many more things to do in Williamsburg (where I live now) and the easily accessible areas of Manhattan (East Village, SoHo, Union Square, even Midtown if you really feel like that) than there were even in college.
Rent wise, SF and Palo Alto have about the same rent, even though half of Palo Alto and Mountain View is 1930s craftsman track houses.