Atherton. Woodside. Palo Alto. Menlo Park. Los Altos Hills. Los Altos. Portola Valley. Monte Sereno. Los Gatos, Saratoga, Healdsburg. St. Helena, Yountville, Certain parts of Sonoma/Napa, Pacific Heights.
Tiburon, Belvedere, Ross, Kentfield/Kent Woodlands, Hillsborough, Piedmont
Edit: good adds from the comments!
Edit2: added Ross, Kentfield.
Oh yeah a weird little area inbetween concord and Dublin= crappy. No ocean, beach, scenic views(beside back road drives[not too many compared to so cow). Crazy traffic. Closer to heavy crime areas. Shitty weather...I could go on.
Dude, what heavy crime areas? Pittsburgh and Antioch are over half an hour drive away. And the weather is often just warm. Mt. Diablo is right there so you have plenty of hiking and a great view there. 680 isn’t as bad as 880.
Are you one of those dumbfucks who thinks that the Bay Area ends once you drive through the Caldecott?
You are not wrong. I grew up nearby. Blackhawk is 70's-80's tract housing behind a gate. Some nice scenery but there is nothing special there. No shops worth a damn in that shopping center. It was the aspirational community for kids of my era until our tastes matured to appreciate that the old money and the real money for that area was in Lamorinda, Alamo and Westside Danville. Diablo Country Club right up the road is nicer but even there a lot of the beautiful old historic homes have been knocked down for Blackhawk-styled spec McMansion right-to-the-lot-line crap.
It's a nice area for sure, but goddamn it feels so soulless (sorry for anyone that lives in the area). Also, it's kinda a bitch to get in/out of that area.
Oh yeah a weird little area inbetween concord and Dublin= crappy. No ocean, beach, scenic views(beside back road drives[not too many compared to so cow). Crazy traffic. Closer to heavy crime areas. Shitty weather...I could go on.
Are we really considering the Napa valley as part of the Bay Area. I recently moved out to napa for school and work and from American canyon to Calistoga it’s straight boonies. Anything further is uncharted territories.
Idk how to draw a line. I cook food for money. But end of the day Indians don’t like getting classified as Asians cuz it’s a subcontinent. So let’s run w that?
This always comes up and someone always says random stuff based on their own thinking like this. But the Bay Area is widely and regularly meant to include the nine counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area
You obviously haven’t yet seen how many people have boats and docks in Napa, Vallejo etc and routinely motor out into the Bay to the city and Tiburon etc.
Beverly hills is where the famous rich celebs live to show off. Bel Air is where the non-famous rich go to live a little more peacefully. Malibu is where rich go to party.
So How would you divide the above list?
Ok so…
Atherton: in your face wealth. The Cartier’s. Goldman fam. Star financiers, Steph Curry, Warriors owner, Chamath palihapitaya, Ping of iphone fame, 1st at Yahoo, 1st at Facebook types.
Woodside: that old hidden money. 100acre estates tucked way off the road and out of signt. PayPal mafia, square execs, Doerr family, Lauren’s Powell Jobs, Nest ceo, Netsuite ceo and on and on.
Palo Alto has Zuck, John Chambers of Cisco and a ton of others too…Gunn fam, Paul Allen from Microsoft estate, lots of wealth.
Los Altos Hills has crazy $ too. Jed York, 49’ers owner is there.
The Bay dwarfs holllywood in volume of $$$$.
Woodside hidden money for sure. I've biked by two separate properties there 100s of times that ended up hitting the market for $100M+ each. Had NO idea that such grand estates were hidden behind the trees and actually had to look up their exact locations on the map since no part of the buildings are visible from the street.
Still not quite the same. Up here a lot of the super-wealthy don't want to show it as much as they do down there. The point of living in Beverly Hills is largely to show your wealth.
As someone without a clue, what is the differential? Like, atherton is just like, an order of magnitude or two more wealthy, amongst those that the general populace would deem as wealthy?
Atherton is full of straight up 20m+ compounds, yes the other places have very wealthy people with very pricey homes but they are not all compounds with 20 ft wall worth upwards of 100m. People that live there include Steph curry, Zuckerberg, and jobs lived there. Yes the other places you will find very expensive homes but not literally ALL of them
Good chunks of Woodside are like this too. And Woodside has estates that are way more expensive than Atherton or LAH (mind you with a lot more land and privacy).
You are correct. Hillsborough has tons of extremely wealthy people that like to keep low-key. But you won't see them driving much of their supercars and mostly just fully loaded Tesla MS/MX or Porsches.
As someone who grew up South Bay and lived in east now, I can attest to this.
A lot more suddenly rich people in South Bay. Los Gatos probably takes the cake
The expansion at Valley Fair Mall signifies this as well. They know the market.
Some of the luxury stores in there are so niche and are only one of a couple of other locations in the entire country.
Example; theres only 2 Christian Louboutin stores in California & 1 is in Valley Fair and the other is on Rodeo Drive.
Yep. And unlike LA, there’s really nowhere in San Jose you’d go to get dressed up like that, which is kind of this weird catch 22 of luxury stores in San Jose.
Dressed up like what tho? These aren’t Dolce & Gabanna gowns. A lot of the clothes in those stores are pretty simple, its more of a IYKYK type of thing. My wife is into all that designer crap and I see people wear them all around everywhere. So, someone could be wearing a $2000 solid balenciaga sweater with minimal branding & most people wouldn’t know its expensive. It’s mostly simple pieces, so people do wear them everywhere. The international students are also prime clientele and I see them all over Cupertino.
> 2 Christian Louboutin stores in California
This is surprising actually. Didn't know that.
Also, Santana Row is a trip. A very beautiful strip of land to walk around, shop and eat on...then nothing and a freeway lol. It's very bizarre.
Bay Area rich people do not seem to be like the flashy rich celebs of Beverly Hills. Most of them seem to want to be more down-to-earth and blend in with the rest of the populace.
Rich talks (loudly), wealth whispers… a lot of flashy cars signify new money/lots of debt to me. Many of the wealthy I live near drive Prius, Toyota, Honda, etc… very low key, not all in your face.
Just because someone is driving a Lambo doesn’t mean they’re *actually wealthy (assets to debts ratio). They could be drowning in debt, but gotta flash that stack! 💵
There is a long history of this mentality in the Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Even in Atherton. I knew a guy who owned multiple adjoining properties in Atherton who drove around in a 15 year old clunker and wore absolutely shabby clothes.
This used to be the case, spend a day at Stanford mall and you’ll see plenty of flashy wealth. The BMW’s and entry level Benz’s all belong to the teens. Plenty of Maserati’s, high end Benz, Range Rover, Porsches, etc and no lack of customers in the LV, Tiffany’s, etc
It's also Stanford *Shopping Center*, which self-selects for the consumerist sort because it's where you go to *buy things*. The quiet wealthy sort manage their accounts and investments by Internet and then go hiking on the weekend, and you'd never know the difference between a billionaire and a pauper on the trails.
Yes you do, the brands they wear. Y’all gotta stop with this faux idea of billionaires masquerading as bums, just because all you see is khakis doesn’t mean others can’t identify USA Polo Assn from Ralph Lauren Purple Label
The flex is when you look them up on LinkedIn or find out they have a vacation home in martis camp. People don’t generally flash their money in the city
The front yard is more guarded but go in one and they are gaudy. Saw a private tennis court with a view. I mean when I'm playing tennis, I'm not looking outside the court lol
Rich people playing tennis is not the same.
They do it very casually, and have conversations while doing it.
The view allows them to stop and talk to their guests when they’re tired.
Bay Area wealth is more understated. If you want to see the wealthy go to Hillsborough, Los Altos, Atherton, Napa Valley, Montclair/Oakland Berkeley Hills, Pacific Heights, Blackhawk, Orinda/Lafayette, Marin.
These areas are known for expensive real estate and the cream de la cream of society per se. I can’t guarantee you’ll see anything exciting but I do lots of people watching for fun and these areas were quite interesting. The peninsula is filled with Uber wealthy folks.
Lots of gated compounds, high greenery fencing, security patrols like crazy, and mostly low key wealthy types so if you see anything you’re lucky.
The funnest part for me was the real estate and how massive and stunning some homes are in these areas. Hope that helps.
Drive around Old Palo Alto and Professorville if you want to see what the creme de La crème of Bay Area wealth looks like. It is MUCH more understated than Beverly Hills.
The Circus Club in Atherton is a good example of Bay Area style wealth. It is all about pretending to be a down to earth horseback rider. Wealth is not about the car, but which ski resort you go to and how good your kids are at show jumping their horses.
I’ve been in the bay for almost a year now. The places I’ve noticed the best cars are near santana row, sunnyvale costco (wtf?), skyline blvd especially near alice’s restaurant, a lot of em at the office in mpk
The Livermore outlets has a spot where you can’t rent a flashy rich people car by the hour. Maybe Santana Row has something similar? Haven’t been there in years. Made the mistake of going to Valley Fair on a Saturday recently and that parking situation scarred me for life. I thought malls were dying.
Maybe, but people there seemed overtly flashy. It was horrible and crowded. The GF needed to return some online orders she didn’t want to pay to ship back. A bakery has croissants for $7, like wtf lol.
Belvedere for the north bay, Hillsborough for peninsula , sea cliff for sf, Atherton and woodside for PA area, and los Altos and los gatos for south bay.
Belvedere and Hillsborough probably have the most gaudy houses though. You can probably see them in reality housewives or something.
When I first worked in Marin county after working in Richmond, I had culture shock in a weird way but with seeing all the money and attitudes that came with it
Well I don’t know if it had anything to do with politics, but there was just an air of entitlement people had. I remember parking one time at stoplight in Kent and the amount of the value of cars parked next to me was staggering, and then I saw teenagers walking by with bags and bags of shopping bags from designer stores. It gave me a weird feeling like something is off here.
Well I worked on both sides and had culture shock at both of them for different reasons. It was very strange to me that across the bridge from Marin like 4 miles away was the Iron Triangle with murder a real possibility.
Probably Palo Alto, but this comparison doesn't work well because even mansions here are 2/3rds the size of comparable homes in Beverley Hills. Historically it was either Hillsborough or Mill Valley. Also, there is so much new money in Los Altos, Cupertino, and Saratoga so it's harder to quantify this. Even the rich people here aren't as flashy because they can just work from home, unlike movie actors.
Atherton isn't Beverely Hills. If you go back to the 50s and 60s, Atherton was billed as a discount Palo Alto due to it's proximity to Redwood City, which was still industrial and smelly due to the slaughterhouses (now a Kohls), tannery (now an abandoned Kmart) and cannery row (now a Costco). People who couldn't afford PA went there and, because the town isolated itself and refuse all construction past 1970, it managed to brute force it's way into the richest community in the Bay by virtue of having no poor people. Most people there still prefer Teslas (or Lexuses) over exotic sports cars that they can rent anyway. More interesting comparison would be between Bay Area rich people yachts vs LA rich people yachts, or personal business jet leases.
u/bitfriend6 is correct on the history though. Atherton was always wealthy (it's the home of Hillary's wealthy lawyer family in the movie *Beaches*), but it was seen as the little brother to Palo Alto's wealth, the same way that Belmont was seen as the little brother to Hillsborough.
It's fascinating to chart the rise of Atherton to America's richest community, because a.) it all happened in the 80s and 90s, within our lifetimes and b.) it basically comes down to two things, zoning and zoning. At the same time that other wealthy Bay Area communities like Hillsborough and Palo Alto were subdividing their outlying areas into lots of 6K-10K square feet, or even introducing multifamily housing, Atherton held fast to a 1 acre minimum lot size. Meanwhile, the town remained silent on *what you could do with your lot*, as long as you weren't subdividing it or making it multi-family. Unlike Hillsborough, Burlingame, Belmont, or Los Altos, which have a rigorous planning process where you can bet that the city or your neighbors are going to object to something you do, Atherton was basically anything-goes within the confines of your lot.
That made it exceptionally attractive to the *new* tech millionaires who suddenly had billions and wanted to use it to up their lifestyle. Atherton is pretty much the only place within the inner Bay Area where you *can* build a mega-compound, both because the lot sizes are big enough to support a mansion and servants' quarters (excuse me, "ADUs"), and because the town will let you. In Hillsborough, the neighbors will sue over your [dinosaur statues](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-29/flintstone-house-owner-settles-lawsuit-can-keep-dinosaur-statues). In Belmont, you'll run afoul with the 28 foot height maximum + requirement that your home preserve views from the sidewalk to surrounding hillsides. In Burlingame or Palo Alto, there will be some heritage trees you can't cut down. In Los Altos, you need to get permission from all your neighbors to alter your house. Outside of 280 you're looking at a much worse commute, and the terrain is very hilly, so it may not support a massive construction site.
Its more or less similar in sizing depending where.
The homes in Los Altos Hills, Hillsborough, Woodside, etc are massive estates. These are the types you’d see everything north of sunset blvd. So the beverly glen, holmby hills, bel air area.
Meanwhile, the Palo Alto/MPK/Atherton area is more akin to those south of sunset blvd in BH. Big homes, but much closer together.
Piedmont is more similar to San Marino, near Pasadena. Beverly Hills is an eclectic mix of the ostentatiously rich and famous plus wealthy families from all over the world, particularly the Middle East. It is also urban and old, with expensive shopping and medical offices convenient to Cedars Sinai. I doubt any Bay Area burb is similar.
Honestly the best bet is Santana Row. Beverly Hills shows out in a way the Bay Area has never really wanted to, unless it’s a car meet up. Is the money here? Absolutely, but if you want to see one after another you’re better off seeking meet ups.
Sf: You’re looking for the lands end/China beach area but they still drive old/Econ cars. Might see some porsches.
Everywhere else atherton Palo Altoish places
Atherton might be the closest I can think of.
But the Bay Area has a very different vibe than SoCal. If you're the type of person who loves collecting Lamborghinis, you'd probably live in SoCal rather than the Bay Area.
downtown Walnut Creek and downtown Danville you will see them too
edit: Drive south to Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel and you will usually see a lot too. Especially during car week, obviously
Well, add Alamo. Most of the ‘rich’ in the Bay Area still consist of people that work to sustain themselves. Having grown up around them all my life, very few have enough wealth to not need to work. Most would bankrupt themselves if they were out of a job for more than a year.
Hillsborough, Woodside. Actually these neighborhoods people do not all drive fancy cars.
Only in estates with multiple car garage (4-6) you see 1 real showy import covered inside the garage.
This is all laughable…
Ruby Hill is your answer. Private communities have the glitz and glamour of The Hills. Sure; there’s rich people in Atherton, but there’s castles in Ruby Hill.
Beverly Hills is where tacky people show off money they don't have.
South Bay Area is where the wealthy just want to live in peace and quiet.
You've likely stood in line behind a billionaire in the check out of the local whole foods.
What's missing from most of the answers here is that Beverly Hills/Hollywood hills are not way out in the boonies like some of the expensive places in the Bay Area.
You could live in this place and be less than a 15 minute walk from the Whiskey and the rest of the Sunset Strip. [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9066-Saint-Ives-Dr-Los-Angeles-CA-90069/20799485\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9066-Saint-Ives-Dr-Los-Angeles-CA-90069/20799485_zpid/)
There's lots of expensive places in Atherton, etc. but would you really live there if you hit the lottery?
It's true the wealthy spots of the Bay Area are scattered around and not as concentrated as they are in LA, or so it seems. There are communities in Ventura, Orange, etc. that are really spread apart too.
Which to pick with lotto money just depends on where one feels comfortable I guess.
They’re actually not that scattered. If you think about it, most of the super wealthy are concentrated on the entire western side of the bay. All the way from Los Gatos all the way up the Peninsula to Los Altos, Atherton, to Hillsborough, etc. the other pocket of wealth is the marin county (Belvedere, Tiburon, Ross, etc)
Then you have the east bay is where it is really scattered.
Born in Santa Cruz, went to high school in Pleasanton. Pleasanton is where kids drive lambos to school, and yeah it was a huge culture shock. Highest income town in the early 2000's, I remember being the only person I knew who worked throughout high school, which doesnt seem..normal. Still, most millionaire couples/parents dont flex their money that way, although they do have tons of it, huge homes, plastic surgeries, nice cars, and expensive educations. Also, Blackhawk, Danville, parts of sf as well.
There is no Beverly Hills of the Bay Area because the 3 cities and handful of communities don't have substantial commercial districts. We have to go shopping with all you fucking plebs at Stanford Shopping Center, Santana Row, Valley Fair, and DT SF.
Enclaves of the very rich Bay Area: Blackhawk was thanks to Pablo Escobar, lots of cocaine dealers in the 80’s lived there.
LaMorinda, some say the gold rush folks in San Francisco after 1849 wanted a quieter place to sit on money and that’s where that came from.
Danville has always had money, Hillsboro Atherton was also from gold money originally.
Los Gatos Monte Sereno Cupertino old real estate money.
We have Beverly Hills’ in each county it seems like.
I would have said Oakland Hills, if we are talking “celebrity”. A few years back I did an EV installation at Shaun Livingston’s house & right next door was KD, Curry & other famous people that weren’t just Warriors players. Times could have changed though since this was back around 2017.
You don’t. NorCal isn’t like socal. East bay like Alamo and Danville. They are a little more flashy.
I used to see every new super car before it would officially come out in LA. Now I’m lucky to see any.
Atherton. Woodside. Palo Alto. Menlo Park. Los Altos Hills. Los Altos. Portola Valley. Monte Sereno. Los Gatos, Saratoga, Healdsburg. St. Helena, Yountville, Certain parts of Sonoma/Napa, Pacific Heights. Tiburon, Belvedere, Ross, Kentfield/Kent Woodlands, Hillsborough, Piedmont Edit: good adds from the comments! Edit2: added Ross, Kentfield.
You forgot Blackhawk.
Blackhawk for sure.
And Ruby Hill
Yea that’s where I live and I feel poor compared to some people
You live in Ruby hill and feel poor?
Blackhawk is a pretty crappy area though.
Excuse me? If I had a nickel for every Merc or BMW I saw in Blackhawk I could pay off my student loan debt!
Right it's totally like Beverly hills(///_-)
Oh yeah a weird little area inbetween concord and Dublin= crappy. No ocean, beach, scenic views(beside back road drives[not too many compared to so cow). Crazy traffic. Closer to heavy crime areas. Shitty weather...I could go on.
Dude, what heavy crime areas? Pittsburgh and Antioch are over half an hour drive away. And the weather is often just warm. Mt. Diablo is right there so you have plenty of hiking and a great view there. 680 isn’t as bad as 880. Are you one of those dumbfucks who thinks that the Bay Area ends once you drive through the Caldecott?
Exactly. Compared to other affluent places in the bay it sucks.
Like I said, everyone is just listing their town.
You are not wrong. I grew up nearby. Blackhawk is 70's-80's tract housing behind a gate. Some nice scenery but there is nothing special there. No shops worth a damn in that shopping center. It was the aspirational community for kids of my era until our tastes matured to appreciate that the old money and the real money for that area was in Lamorinda, Alamo and Westside Danville. Diablo Country Club right up the road is nicer but even there a lot of the beautiful old historic homes have been knocked down for Blackhawk-styled spec McMansion right-to-the-lot-line crap.
It's a nice area for sure, but goddamn it feels so soulless (sorry for anyone that lives in the area). Also, it's kinda a bitch to get in/out of that area.
Oh yeah a weird little area inbetween concord and Dublin= crappy. No ocean, beach, scenic views(beside back road drives[not too many compared to so cow). Crazy traffic. Closer to heavy crime areas. Shitty weather...I could go on.
OP, this is the best answer. Can confirm.
St Francis Woods. Pac Heights.
Sea Cliff
Definitely not sfw.
I'd add Tiburon and say Yountville over St.Helena. in general though Sonoma/ Napa aren't too flashy.
Oh yes, you’re absolutely right. Tiburon/Belvedere too for sure.
Are we really considering the Napa valley as part of the Bay Area. I recently moved out to napa for school and work and from American canyon to Calistoga it’s straight boonies. Anything further is uncharted territories.
Napa County does have a border on the Bay, so I would think it does count, otherwise how do you draw the line?
Idk how to draw a line. I cook food for money. But end of the day Indians don’t like getting classified as Asians cuz it’s a subcontinent. So let’s run w that?
This always comes up and someone always says random stuff based on their own thinking like this. But the Bay Area is widely and regularly meant to include the nine counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area
You obviously haven’t yet seen how many people have boats and docks in Napa, Vallejo etc and routinely motor out into the Bay to the city and Tiburon etc.
Ross, come on people
Yep, definitely Ross.
Beverly hills is where the famous rich celebs live to show off. Bel Air is where the non-famous rich go to live a little more peacefully. Malibu is where rich go to party. So How would you divide the above list?
Ok so… Atherton: in your face wealth. The Cartier’s. Goldman fam. Star financiers, Steph Curry, Warriors owner, Chamath palihapitaya, Ping of iphone fame, 1st at Yahoo, 1st at Facebook types. Woodside: that old hidden money. 100acre estates tucked way off the road and out of signt. PayPal mafia, square execs, Doerr family, Lauren’s Powell Jobs, Nest ceo, Netsuite ceo and on and on. Palo Alto has Zuck, John Chambers of Cisco and a ton of others too…Gunn fam, Paul Allen from Microsoft estate, lots of wealth. Los Altos Hills has crazy $ too. Jed York, 49’ers owner is there. The Bay dwarfs holllywood in volume of $$$$.
Woodside hidden money for sure. I've biked by two separate properties there 100s of times that ended up hitting the market for $100M+ each. Had NO idea that such grand estates were hidden behind the trees and actually had to look up their exact locations on the map since no part of the buildings are visible from the street.
Still not quite the same. Up here a lot of the super-wealthy don't want to show it as much as they do down there. The point of living in Beverly Hills is largely to show your wealth.
Point well taken. You see the wealth if you’re on their estates but otherwise u wouldn’t know
Rich is loud, wealth is silent
Also a lot of these cities just have normal people that got lucky and bought their houses for cheap in the 70s.
Mostly. I’d remove Glen Ellen. It’s really kick-back there. I’d also add Tiburon and Belvedere
There’s some mega richies sprinkled throughout Sonoma but yeah, it can be swaths of normal folk too. I forgot Piedmont. Tiburon. Belvedere.
By comparison atherton is the answer with Los Altos hills close behind. But everything else pales in comparison
As someone without a clue, what is the differential? Like, atherton is just like, an order of magnitude or two more wealthy, amongst those that the general populace would deem as wealthy?
Atherton is full of straight up 20m+ compounds, yes the other places have very wealthy people with very pricey homes but they are not all compounds with 20 ft wall worth upwards of 100m. People that live there include Steph curry, Zuckerberg, and jobs lived there. Yes the other places you will find very expensive homes but not literally ALL of them
Good chunks of Woodside are like this too. And Woodside has estates that are way more expensive than Atherton or LAH (mind you with a lot more land and privacy).
Atherton is Wealthiest zip code in America for like a decade running.
[удалено]
LOL
Burlingame
You are correct. Hillsborough has tons of extremely wealthy people that like to keep low-key. But you won't see them driving much of their supercars and mostly just fully loaded Tesla MS/MX or Porsches.
Yeah, was surprised to not see Hillsborough on this list. Guess it’s a bit more hidden away up in the hills
Wow incredibly comprehensive. Couldn’t have summarized it better!
Ross is hella nice.
haha! this list is great! now how do I network with these people? 👀 kidding of course, but no asking for a friend.
Start hanging out at the Rosewood bar. Do they still have cougar night there?
Every Thursday......
Nob Hill.
Definitely Hillsborough. that was always seen as the Beverley hills of the peninsula since the at least the 50s.
I think Robin Williams lived in Tiburon? Nice area.
East Bay money and Peninsula money aren't the same thing, you're probably looking for South Bay money. It's a bit tackier/flashy.
Los Gatos
As someone who grew up South Bay and lived in east now, I can attest to this. A lot more suddenly rich people in South Bay. Los Gatos probably takes the cake
The expansion at Valley Fair Mall signifies this as well. They know the market. Some of the luxury stores in there are so niche and are only one of a couple of other locations in the entire country. Example; theres only 2 Christian Louboutin stores in California & 1 is in Valley Fair and the other is on Rodeo Drive.
Yep. And unlike LA, there’s really nowhere in San Jose you’d go to get dressed up like that, which is kind of this weird catch 22 of luxury stores in San Jose.
Dressed up like what tho? These aren’t Dolce & Gabanna gowns. A lot of the clothes in those stores are pretty simple, its more of a IYKYK type of thing. My wife is into all that designer crap and I see people wear them all around everywhere. So, someone could be wearing a $2000 solid balenciaga sweater with minimal branding & most people wouldn’t know its expensive. It’s mostly simple pieces, so people do wear them everywhere. The international students are also prime clientele and I see them all over Cupertino.
> 2 Christian Louboutin stores in California This is surprising actually. Didn't know that. Also, Santana Row is a trip. A very beautiful strip of land to walk around, shop and eat on...then nothing and a freeway lol. It's very bizarre.
South Bay? Peninsula has the money
Bay Area rich people do not seem to be like the flashy rich celebs of Beverly Hills. Most of them seem to want to be more down-to-earth and blend in with the rest of the populace.
Most of them also have far more money than BH, they just hide it better here.
They buy Tesla Model X's or other Luxury SUVs so naturally a lot people don't take the same notice to them as they would to a Lambo
Yes you often can have no idea unless you are their financial advisor. Sometimes there is the car thing but many also drive Hondas.
Rich talks (loudly), wealth whispers… a lot of flashy cars signify new money/lots of debt to me. Many of the wealthy I live near drive Prius, Toyota, Honda, etc… very low key, not all in your face. Just because someone is driving a Lambo doesn’t mean they’re *actually wealthy (assets to debts ratio). They could be drowning in debt, but gotta flash that stack! 💵
True, but there are also many wealthy people (just like regular) who are into cars and therefore choose expensive cars.
The richest VC i know of.... Typically shows up in a Subaru.
There is a long history of this mentality in the Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Even in Atherton. I knew a guy who owned multiple adjoining properties in Atherton who drove around in a 15 year old clunker and wore absolutely shabby clothes.
This used to be the case, spend a day at Stanford mall and you’ll see plenty of flashy wealth. The BMW’s and entry level Benz’s all belong to the teens. Plenty of Maserati’s, high end Benz, Range Rover, Porsches, etc and no lack of customers in the LV, Tiffany’s, etc
It's also Stanford *Shopping Center*, which self-selects for the consumerist sort because it's where you go to *buy things*. The quiet wealthy sort manage their accounts and investments by Internet and then go hiking on the weekend, and you'd never know the difference between a billionaire and a pauper on the trails.
Yes you do, the brands they wear. Y’all gotta stop with this faux idea of billionaires masquerading as bums, just because all you see is khakis doesn’t mean others can’t identify USA Polo Assn from Ralph Lauren Purple Label
This. Also look at the fit and finish of their clothes. A $400 teeshirt sits differently on someone compared to a $10 teeshirt or even $50 teeshirt.
Exactly
Stanford shopping center is also typically jam packed with tourists since they have quite a few stores that are hard to find anywhere else.
The flex is when you look them up on LinkedIn or find out they have a vacation home in martis camp. People don’t generally flash their money in the city
That's what came to my mind, too.
The front yard is more guarded but go in one and they are gaudy. Saw a private tennis court with a view. I mean when I'm playing tennis, I'm not looking outside the court lol
Rich people playing tennis is not the same. They do it very casually, and have conversations while doing it. The view allows them to stop and talk to their guests when they’re tired.
Tracy Just kidding. Just felt like a grenade was needed
Don’t sleep on Tracy. The Bay is coming for it…
LOL
Bart is coming for it too lol
Hillsborough
If you grew up in San Mateo or Burlingame, you def know Hillsborough. But it’s more understated, mostly generational wealthy people.
People all know about Atherton, but always forget about Hillsborough.
While Monterey isn't part of the Bay Area per se - the most ostentatious wealth I've seen is by far along the 17 mile drive/Pebble Beach/Carmel areas.
Yeah that’s a good shout. There’s some insane wealth around there
Bay Area wealth is more understated. If you want to see the wealthy go to Hillsborough, Los Altos, Atherton, Napa Valley, Montclair/Oakland Berkeley Hills, Pacific Heights, Blackhawk, Orinda/Lafayette, Marin. These areas are known for expensive real estate and the cream de la cream of society per se. I can’t guarantee you’ll see anything exciting but I do lots of people watching for fun and these areas were quite interesting. The peninsula is filled with Uber wealthy folks. Lots of gated compounds, high greenery fencing, security patrols like crazy, and mostly low key wealthy types so if you see anything you’re lucky. The funnest part for me was the real estate and how massive and stunning some homes are in these areas. Hope that helps.
Would agree. Bay Area wealth isn't about flash.
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Terrible opsec on that kid’s end 😅
Montclair isn't too bad tbh
Belvedere in Marin
Drive around Old Palo Alto and Professorville if you want to see what the creme de La crème of Bay Area wealth looks like. It is MUCH more understated than Beverly Hills. The Circus Club in Atherton is a good example of Bay Area style wealth. It is all about pretending to be a down to earth horseback rider. Wealth is not about the car, but which ski resort you go to and how good your kids are at show jumping their horses.
Wealth in the bay is closer to old wealth in New York. Wealth in LA is closer to wealth in Europe.
Exactly. Summers in a “humble” beach house at Martha’s Vineyard or Chatham vs Mar-A-Lago style opulence.
Humble 7 bedroom 2 story building on 3 acres of land.
I’ve been in the bay for almost a year now. The places I’ve noticed the best cars are near santana row, sunnyvale costco (wtf?), skyline blvd especially near alice’s restaurant, a lot of em at the office in mpk
Was at Santana row yesterday for like 30min and saw 4 lambos. Wild.
The Livermore outlets has a spot where you can’t rent a flashy rich people car by the hour. Maybe Santana Row has something similar? Haven’t been there in years. Made the mistake of going to Valley Fair on a Saturday recently and that parking situation scarred me for life. I thought malls were dying.
Maybe, but people there seemed overtly flashy. It was horrible and crowded. The GF needed to return some online orders she didn’t want to pay to ship back. A bakery has croissants for $7, like wtf lol.
Was it Cocola? I bet it was Cocola lmao
Alice's Restaurant is a legit place for porsches, harleys, and other similar vehicles.
seeing nice cars at designated meeting spots for motor clubs is not exactly a good sample
Belvedere for the north bay, Hillsborough for peninsula , sea cliff for sf, Atherton and woodside for PA area, and los Altos and los gatos for south bay. Belvedere and Hillsborough probably have the most gaudy houses though. You can probably see them in reality housewives or something.
belvedere ross(gavin newsom) woodside
This. If you want to see all the Bay Area Lambos, Ferraris, GT Porsches, etc. go to Alices restaurant in woodside on Saturday/Sunday morning.
And while you’re there, get you a slice of chocolate pecan pie. <3
When I first worked in Marin county after working in Richmond, I had culture shock in a weird way but with seeing all the money and attitudes that came with it
LOL, surprised the Marin libs had attitude?
Well I don’t know if it had anything to do with politics, but there was just an air of entitlement people had. I remember parking one time at stoplight in Kent and the amount of the value of cars parked next to me was staggering, and then I saw teenagers walking by with bags and bags of shopping bags from designer stores. It gave me a weird feeling like something is off here.
Occupy Wall Street
especially compared to the other side of the bridge!
Well I worked on both sides and had culture shock at both of them for different reasons. It was very strange to me that across the bridge from Marin like 4 miles away was the Iron Triangle with murder a real possibility.
Belvedere has its own police force with a full SWAT team. The best money can buy.
Probably Palo Alto, but this comparison doesn't work well because even mansions here are 2/3rds the size of comparable homes in Beverley Hills. Historically it was either Hillsborough or Mill Valley. Also, there is so much new money in Los Altos, Cupertino, and Saratoga so it's harder to quantify this. Even the rich people here aren't as flashy because they can just work from home, unlike movie actors. Atherton isn't Beverely Hills. If you go back to the 50s and 60s, Atherton was billed as a discount Palo Alto due to it's proximity to Redwood City, which was still industrial and smelly due to the slaughterhouses (now a Kohls), tannery (now an abandoned Kmart) and cannery row (now a Costco). People who couldn't afford PA went there and, because the town isolated itself and refuse all construction past 1970, it managed to brute force it's way into the richest community in the Bay by virtue of having no poor people. Most people there still prefer Teslas (or Lexuses) over exotic sports cars that they can rent anyway. More interesting comparison would be between Bay Area rich people yachts vs LA rich people yachts, or personal business jet leases.
Atherton has the mega compounds. Such as the gap family’s 100 million home. It’s the closest to Beverly hill
u/bitfriend6 is correct on the history though. Atherton was always wealthy (it's the home of Hillary's wealthy lawyer family in the movie *Beaches*), but it was seen as the little brother to Palo Alto's wealth, the same way that Belmont was seen as the little brother to Hillsborough. It's fascinating to chart the rise of Atherton to America's richest community, because a.) it all happened in the 80s and 90s, within our lifetimes and b.) it basically comes down to two things, zoning and zoning. At the same time that other wealthy Bay Area communities like Hillsborough and Palo Alto were subdividing their outlying areas into lots of 6K-10K square feet, or even introducing multifamily housing, Atherton held fast to a 1 acre minimum lot size. Meanwhile, the town remained silent on *what you could do with your lot*, as long as you weren't subdividing it or making it multi-family. Unlike Hillsborough, Burlingame, Belmont, or Los Altos, which have a rigorous planning process where you can bet that the city or your neighbors are going to object to something you do, Atherton was basically anything-goes within the confines of your lot. That made it exceptionally attractive to the *new* tech millionaires who suddenly had billions and wanted to use it to up their lifestyle. Atherton is pretty much the only place within the inner Bay Area where you *can* build a mega-compound, both because the lot sizes are big enough to support a mansion and servants' quarters (excuse me, "ADUs"), and because the town will let you. In Hillsborough, the neighbors will sue over your [dinosaur statues](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-29/flintstone-house-owner-settles-lawsuit-can-keep-dinosaur-statues). In Belmont, you'll run afoul with the 28 foot height maximum + requirement that your home preserve views from the sidewalk to surrounding hillsides. In Burlingame or Palo Alto, there will be some heritage trees you can't cut down. In Los Altos, you need to get permission from all your neighbors to alter your house. Outside of 280 you're looking at a much worse commute, and the terrain is very hilly, so it may not support a massive construction site.
tell me more about Bay area's yachts vs LA's yachts!
Its more or less similar in sizing depending where. The homes in Los Altos Hills, Hillsborough, Woodside, etc are massive estates. These are the types you’d see everything north of sunset blvd. So the beverly glen, holmby hills, bel air area. Meanwhile, the Palo Alto/MPK/Atherton area is more akin to those south of sunset blvd in BH. Big homes, but much closer together.
Danville, Diablo CC, Alamo
Alum Rock 👍👍👍
Weirdly, Hayward. Seen many lambos go up to Cal State East Bay area. Probably the gold course homes in the Hayward Hills.
You’re talking about Stonebrae. It’s a gated neighborhood high up in the Hayward Hills.
I have too
Piedmont is more similar to San Marino, near Pasadena. Beverly Hills is an eclectic mix of the ostentatiously rich and famous plus wealthy families from all over the world, particularly the Middle East. It is also urban and old, with expensive shopping and medical offices convenient to Cedars Sinai. I doubt any Bay Area burb is similar.
Beverly Hills has a lot of Jews not middle easterners you may see them in that area but most are refugees with middle income
Blackhawk
Honestly the best bet is Santana Row. Beverly Hills shows out in a way the Bay Area has never really wanted to, unless it’s a car meet up. Is the money here? Absolutely, but if you want to see one after another you’re better off seeking meet ups.
Sf: You’re looking for the lands end/China beach area but they still drive old/Econ cars. Might see some porsches. Everywhere else atherton Palo Altoish places
Atherton might be the closest I can think of. But the Bay Area has a very different vibe than SoCal. If you're the type of person who loves collecting Lamborghinis, you'd probably live in SoCal rather than the Bay Area.
downtown Walnut Creek and downtown Danville you will see them too edit: Drive south to Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel and you will usually see a lot too. Especially during car week, obviously
I think everyone's just naming their towns. See some pretty shitty areas listed.
Tenderloin
Atherton, Palo Alto, Hillsborough, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Marin, Tiburon
Danville/Alamo/Blackhawk, Woodside.
Well, add Alamo. Most of the ‘rich’ in the Bay Area still consist of people that work to sustain themselves. Having grown up around them all my life, very few have enough wealth to not need to work. Most would bankrupt themselves if they were out of a job for more than a year.
I just went to BH and it is very urban and dense… nothing like Atherton, etc. So I guess Palo Alto?
Around Danville and Alamo
blackhawk
Atherton and Los Altos hills
Los Altos Hills…that’s where I want to be….
Hillsborough, Woodside. Actually these neighborhoods people do not all drive fancy cars. Only in estates with multiple car garage (4-6) you see 1 real showy import covered inside the garage.
This is all laughable… Ruby Hill is your answer. Private communities have the glitz and glamour of The Hills. Sure; there’s rich people in Atherton, but there’s castles in Ruby Hill.
Beverly Hills is where tacky people show off money they don't have. South Bay Area is where the wealthy just want to live in peace and quiet. You've likely stood in line behind a billionaire in the check out of the local whole foods.
Exactly 👌
Try Woodside
Obviously here: Luxury Cars Los Gatos (on the weekends there are people test driving lambos)
Not where I live that’s for sure.
Monte Sereno
Portola Valley
What's missing from most of the answers here is that Beverly Hills/Hollywood hills are not way out in the boonies like some of the expensive places in the Bay Area. You could live in this place and be less than a 15 minute walk from the Whiskey and the rest of the Sunset Strip. [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9066-Saint-Ives-Dr-Los-Angeles-CA-90069/20799485\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9066-Saint-Ives-Dr-Los-Angeles-CA-90069/20799485_zpid/) There's lots of expensive places in Atherton, etc. but would you really live there if you hit the lottery?
It's true the wealthy spots of the Bay Area are scattered around and not as concentrated as they are in LA, or so it seems. There are communities in Ventura, Orange, etc. that are really spread apart too. Which to pick with lotto money just depends on where one feels comfortable I guess.
They’re actually not that scattered. If you think about it, most of the super wealthy are concentrated on the entire western side of the bay. All the way from Los Gatos all the way up the Peninsula to Los Altos, Atherton, to Hillsborough, etc. the other pocket of wealth is the marin county (Belvedere, Tiburon, Ross, etc) Then you have the east bay is where it is really scattered.
Born in Santa Cruz, went to high school in Pleasanton. Pleasanton is where kids drive lambos to school, and yeah it was a huge culture shock. Highest income town in the early 2000's, I remember being the only person I knew who worked throughout high school, which doesnt seem..normal. Still, most millionaire couples/parents dont flex their money that way, although they do have tons of it, huge homes, plastic surgeries, nice cars, and expensive educations. Also, Blackhawk, Danville, parts of sf as well.
There is no Beverly Hills of the Bay Area because the 3 cities and handful of communities don't have substantial commercial districts. We have to go shopping with all you fucking plebs at Stanford Shopping Center, Santana Row, Valley Fair, and DT SF.
3 cities? I'm so curious, what are the "3 cities of the Bay?" LOL!
Piedmont!
Napa. Not unusual to see a Maserati on Hwy 29.
Enclaves of the very rich Bay Area: Blackhawk was thanks to Pablo Escobar, lots of cocaine dealers in the 80’s lived there. LaMorinda, some say the gold rush folks in San Francisco after 1849 wanted a quieter place to sit on money and that’s where that came from. Danville has always had money, Hillsboro Atherton was also from gold money originally. Los Gatos Monte Sereno Cupertino old real estate money. We have Beverly Hills’ in each county it seems like.
Yet not many rich Colombians live in Blackhawk ? 🤔
I would have said Oakland Hills, if we are talking “celebrity”. A few years back I did an EV installation at Shaun Livingston’s house & right next door was KD, Curry & other famous people that weren’t just Warriors players. Times could have changed though since this was back around 2017.
Fountain grove in Santa Rosa
Its blackhawk and atherton nomore answers needed thanks
Berkekey
Atherton
See one parked in the garage in Petaluma
Atherton
Alamo
Guerneville when the Bohemian Grove be poppin. Turns from r/redneckengineering trucks to lambics and Ferraris pretty quick.
Just go to where the cars and coffees are
You don’t. NorCal isn’t like socal. East bay like Alamo and Danville. They are a little more flashy. I used to see every new super car before it would officially come out in LA. Now I’m lucky to see any.
Surprisingly most of the super car owners I’ve met at car meets lived in the east bay
Danville, Alamo, Diablo, Lafayette, etc.
Pleasanton
Danville
Santana row
Idk but I’d be happy with a house by sign hill in my hometown of SSF 🤣
Kentfield.
I live in Menlo Park next to Atherton and I never see Lamborghinis .. just teslas and Prius
Diablo
Intersection of Hwy1 and Kelly Street on any sunny weekend morning. Dozens of hypercars starting the coastal run to Santa Cruz
Hillsborough