Advice Needed: Relocating to San Francisco from Philadelphia (San Jose, Oakland: apartments, rentals)

[thewriterbee]

Hey everyone. I've been reading through a lot of the posts of other people moving to SF and they've been helpful, but nothing is quite as helpful as explaining my own situation and what I have questions about, so here goes...

First, the basics: I'm 36, female, and currently single. I have a dog and a car - neither of which am I prepared to give up. I have lived all over the place (grew up in Philly, but have lived in Alaska, NYC, and London) and for the past few years I have been back in the Philadelphia area.

I just found out that my job is relocating me to San Francisco in a few months and I couldn't be more excited, but I'm left with trying to figure out where to live...

Budget-wise, ~$1600-1800 is my max for rent (including dog). I've had roommates for more of my adult life than I haven't and would prefer to get a place on my own this time. Roommates can be great and I've developed some great friends that way, but I think I'm ready to have some time "off" from that kind of existence if possible.

I don't plan on using my car except for weekends or other errands, but I don't want to give it up either - I own it outright and am not prepared to part with the freedom it gives. I also would like it to not be a pain... I'm not keen on paying $250+/month for parking any more than I'd like to have to move it a few times a week.

I've been intrigued by the East Bay because of the affordability, proximity to SF, and other perks...parking, for one. Oakland has had a pretty bad rep, but from a lot of the things I'm reading, it sounds like that's really changing. However, as a single female, I definitely wouldn't want to purposely put myself in a place where my safety might be compromised.

So, what does everyone think? I'm curious about Downtown Oakland, but even more so about Jack London Square. On JLS, I've been reading completely conflicting opinions all over the place, but most of the things that come up on my Google searches are from 2008 or earlier and I imagine it might not be the same place now.

Thanks in advance for ANY input! I'm heading out in a week for work and to check out some spots, so if there are any others you think I should investigate, let me know those too.

[mayorhaggar]

Check out Rockridge in Oakland, a female would definitely feel safe there at night. Parking would be very easy. 1 bedrooms start around $1100, you can get 2br's for around $1200 and up. From the Rockridge BART station to downtown SF is 20 minutes which is pretty great and faster than riding the bus to downtown SF from a lot of the outer areas of SF proper.

Another nearby area to check out would be the Piedmont Avenue area, I think prices are a bit cheaper there than Rockridge, also it's supposed to have more apartment buildings--a drawback with Rockridge is that it's mostly houses and not apartments so there aren't that many apts available I guess, but I got one pretty easily. Depending on where your place is you could walk down Macarthur to the Macarthur BART station.

In SF a 1 bedroom is around $1400 for something very basic in a good area and you'd pay more for a nicer place. A 2br is more like $1900. So you can see how different prices are.

Honestly I don't know why people recommend Jack London Square, maybe I'm not familiar enough with it. The times I've been there it seemed like the main part was really small and not that interesting, and it's surrounded by rather dark and sketchy areas--walking from JLS to the BART stations downtown at night isn't great. I guess JLS is good if you want a condo but if you just want an apartment in a safe area, it seems like other areas would be better.

Lake Merritt might be ok and would have more apartments than RR but I don't find it's as walkable as RR, the BART station can be a bit of a hike from some of the nicer areas around the lake, and there are a lot of sketchy areas I think around the western and southern areas of the lake.

Also if you're commuting to downtown SF you can do casual carpool which will save you money because you're either riding for free or $1 depending on whether the driver accepts a $1 gratuity or not. BART is $3.50. I do the carpool in the morning and ride BART home at night, I can explain it more later if you want.

http://www.ridenow.org/carpool/index.html

[mayorhaggar]

Oh and just so you know it can be hard to find landlords in the Bay Area that allow pets, especially dogs. Should be much easier in Oakland than SF though, but there might be some apartments that you have to pass up because they don't allow a dog.

And yeah Oakland has a reputation but people who actually live here know there are bad parts and really nice parts and a lot of in between. Kinda like Philly I'd bet.

[scottykick]

It's like there everywhere.

I like in Brooklyn, NY and I feel very safe in my area, however there are many areas that even in broad daylight I would avoid (East New York and Bed Stuy)

In Queens, I lived in Broad Channel most of my life before moving to Brooklyn 6 years ago, and crime is almost non existent there, but cross over the bridge to the Rockaways and if you go right, you will head towards some of the most expensive and high end beach front homes in NY in Belle Harbor, Neponsit and Brezzy Point. Hang a left, and watch out as you will be heading towards some of the more notorious housing projects in all of NYC (Edgemere & Hammels) although they are trying to better the area with the Averene by the Sea development that has built a community of traditional "coastal" homes on what use to be acres and acres of vacant overgrown land.

there is good and bad everywhere, just like most of us, not from the area or have never been there (myself included) would think SF is paradise on earth, and all of Oakland is the modern day wild west...it's all based on the reputation ceratin areas give the area.

Rockridge sounds nice, I'll look into it for myself as well.

[bmw335xi]

Check out Lakewood Apartments. It fits your budget and includes gated garage parking. Lake Merced is across the street which has a jogging path around the entire lake which is popular with dog owners. Fort Funston is a beautiful area popular with dog owners which is walking distance away. You are still in San Francisco. Trader Joes is only a couple min drive away. There is a BART station within a 5-10 min drive. Overall for the price this is a good option for car and dog owners who don't want to commute far. There might be a pet weight limit though so you'll need to check the details.

[jade408]

I am a single female (no dog, have a car) and I live in the Piedmont Ave/Rose Garden area. Totally safe tons of people with dogs and every building has parking once you leave the immediate blocks on Piedmont Ave. I have a spot in a secure garage....the only drawback is I live on a one way street. :P In my building there are maybe 6 dog owners (25 unit building). We live about 2 blocks from the rose garden, and another 1-2 blocks is a park with a dog run. You'll be fine if you move up to Piedmont Ave. I have walked home, alone, from BART plenty of times at 10-11ish. A few of the elderly women in the neighborhood do not, they take a cab if they didn't drive to BART it costs like $7 for the cab. It is also super close to all of the fun stuff in Oakland, and a quick drive to SF outside of commuter hours.

My feedback on JAck London: OK to visit, crappy to live.
1. it is pretty empty
2. There are only a couple of blocks with housing
3. It is really dark at night
4. The walk to downtown/BART is really lame/sketchy and dark
5. The grocery store options are limited

Downtown Oakland
1. Some streets are oddly deserted at night
2. Grocery options are mixed (whole foods, china town or drive to Lakeshore/Piedmont Ave)
3. Few places have parking and/or you need to pay for an outside lot
4. Park choices are kinda lame, the best one is close to JLS...but again...weird walk between dowtown and Jack London

Honestly I recommend Piedmont Ave to almost everyone. It is oddly cheap, safe and convenient. Live closer to Broadway if you are 100% transit or live on the other side of the Ave if you aren't (near the Rose Garden).

You can also check out Adams Point. It is basically on the other side of the freeway closer to Whole Foods and below Piedmont Ave area. There are tons of rentals. Pretty safe but less safe than Rockridge or Piedmont Ave (mostly minor stuff like car break ins). There are some blocks that feel kinda dark, but lots of cute buildings. Plenty of dog owners and a bit cheaper than Piedmont Ave. A good number of pedestrians as well.

Avoid the Lakeside Apartment district. It is just too dark and deserted over there for the density of the neighborhood.

I like Rockridge as well, but not many rentals, and it is just as nice over in Piedmont Ave area. You are also close to Rockridge. The far end of the neighborhood (where I live) is less than 1.5 mi away.

Oakland is probably one of the best kept secrets in the area. Honestly most crime is localized and not that random. The nice neighborhoods are way cheaper, and there are lots of great amenities in town. Also many parts of Oakland are closer to downtown SF than most of SF is via public transit and driving.

I've lived in my place about 6 years and have only heard about a handful of incidents, literally.

[scottykick]

...So are the A's staying or moving to San Jose?

[mayorhaggar]

Also there's a few pictures of Rockridge I posted here if you want to take a look and see what it looks like:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...d-pics-42.html

[thewriterbee]

Thanks for the comments guys...and the pictures. Have to say the STOP sign one made me laugh out loud. I'm going to definitely try to get out to RR and Piedmont to check them out while I'm there next week.

[thewriterbee]

Oh, and on that topic, are there any actual apartment buildings in those areas that I could view online beforehand?