It can be both exciting and overwhelming to decide where you are going to live during residency, especially if you’re not familiar with the Bay Area. If you have children, then daycare or school needs add another layer of decisions that must be considered. Some of you may be surprised at the cost of living in the Bay Area.  We are here to tell you that you are not alone, and it is possible to find a good place to live close to work. 

Program leadership strongly recommends that you live no more than 15 – 20 minutes away from LPCH. Somewhere between LPCH and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is ideal for many residents. We also encourage finding a place in a rent controlled city (Mountain View) or in a rent controlled building (any of the Stanford owned buildings, including Welch Road, the Colonnades, and the Cardinal).

When starting your search, please keep in mind the following:

• Traffic will be tough.

  • • It can take over an hour to drive from San Jose to LPCH (30 miles away) in normal traffic conditions.

• You will be tired AND fatigued after working a normal shift for several days straight.

• While on jeopardy, you must be physically in the hospital and ready to report to your assigned area within 2 hours in all traffic situations.

• Here are our recommendations for geographic landmarks:

  • • Redwood City is generally the farthest north you will want to live.

    • Sunnyvale is generally the farthest south you will want to live.

    • If you can see the Pacific Ocean, you are too far west.

    • Stay on the peninsula – it’s too hard to live in the East Bay!

Map of Recommended Cities to Live In

Most cities in our area do not have rent control, which means a landlord can raise the rent fairly significantly each year. As such, it can be beneficial to a) rent an apartment, which tends to raise rents less significantly than individual landlords who rent homes, or b) ask individual landlords for a 2- or even 3-year lease with a fixed rent so you will not need to worry about increasing rent costs.

Interns and residents are not eligible to live on the Stanford campus in dorms, Escondido Village, or purchase condominiums and houses for sale on campus land. However, you are able to rent apartments at University-owned apartment complexes.

Other Recommendations

Each year, some of our current residents are happy to hand-off their soon-to-be-vacated housing to an incoming intern.  The Residency Office will compile a list in the next few weeks and email you with information. It will also be posted here.