20-something year old professional relocating to the Bay Area (Los Angeles: apartments, rentals)

[so_reasonable]

Hey, all:

Decided to finally register and make my first post here after lurking these boards for quite some time. With that said, I'm relocating to the Bay Area from Los Angeles for a position in Downtown SF, and was looking for a little guidance as far as what areas I should probably be looking into to live.

I'm single with no children, so I'm looking for an area that's a bit lively on the weekends, fairly diverse, and where I can mingle and POSSIBLY make new "friends"

I'd say my price ceiling for rent is about $1400/month, and have been looking in the Burlingame-area, although I've been told by others that know me that I'd become bored there pretty quickly. I've also poked my head around the Rockridge-area, although to be honest, I had no idea where to go, and was randomly stopping on streets in the neighborhood looking for "apartment for rent" signs, lol. I really liked College Ave., though, and it seemed to be fairly close to a BART station as well.

Any guidance/tips?

[mayorhaggar]

I live in Rockridge, I like it a lot. What do you want to know about it?

It's 20 minutes from downtown SF on BART, or you can do casual carpool in the morning to save a couple dollars. It's cleaner, quieter on the residential streets, and it feels safer than most of SF. It's near Berkeley which has a fair bit going on, and it's not too far from downtown Oakland and the Piedmont Avenue area which both have a lot of places to eat and drink. Rockridge isn't super diverse, it's mainly white, but if you go out to eat anywhere on College Avenue it's people of all races. The Temescal is nearby and is more diverse but has more crime, same with downtown Oakland.

You could also check out the Adams Point area which is north of Lake Merritt, if you don't mind the walk to BART, it's cheaper than Rockridge and has more apartments--a problem with RR is that it's mainly houses so there aren't a lot of apartments, but you might be able to find an in-law for under $1400...or just keep looking and you should see apartments in RR pop up on craigslist now and then.

[jade408]

I also vote for Oakland. I live by Piedmont Ave, a bit further from BART, but transit access is very good: casual carpool, commuter bus to SF, 5-10 minute bus ride or drive to BART.

Oakland is sunnier than SF. The nice neighborhoods are generally closer to SF than half of SF. Wherever you go crowds are pretty diverse: ethnically, socioeconomically and interests.

There are tons of fun things to do, nice bars, first friday art event, good eats and when you get sick of Oakland you can try Berkeley and SF. In exchange you'll find a cheaper and nicer apartment in a better area and let those who aren't in the know think you are "hard" and "live in the hood" while you enjoy bay views and better weather.

Shh, don't tell anyone Oakland is one of the best bay area secrets.

[so_reasonable]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

I live in Rockridge, I like it a lot. What do you want to know about it?

It's 20 minutes from downtown SF on BART, or you can do casual carpool in the morning to save a couple dollars. It's cleaner, quieter on the residential streets, and it feels safer than most of SF. It's near Berkeley which has a fair bit going on, and it's not too far from downtown Oakland and the Piedmont Avenue area which both have a lot of places to eat and drink. Rockridge isn't super diverse, it's mainly white, but if you go out to eat anywhere on College Avenue it's people of all races. The Temescal is nearby and is more diverse but has more crime, same with downtown Oakland.

You could also check out the Adams Point area which is north of Lake Merritt, if you don't mind the walk to BART, it's cheaper than Rockridge and has more apartments--a problem with RR is that it's mainly houses so there aren't a lot of apartments, but you might be able to find an in-law for under $1400...or just keep looking and you should see apartments in RR pop up on craigslist now and then.

Thanks for these crunchy morsels of insight, mayorhaggar. Was that corny? Yes? No? Ah, who cares.

Anyhow, how's the area of Rockridge up around Pleasant Valley road? I was told it was about a 20 minute walk to the Rockridge BART station. Is it a painful, "I wish I drove" walk? Or is it really a 20-minute, "not too bad of a" walk?

Originally Posted by jade408

I also vote for Oakland. I live by Piedmont Ave, a bit further from BART, but transit access is very good: casual carpool, commuter bus to SF, 5-10 minute bus ride or drive to BART.

Oakland is sunnier than SF. The nice neighborhoods are generally closer to SF than half of SF. Wherever you go crowds are pretty diverse: ethnically, socioeconomically and interests.

There are tons of fun things to do, nice bars, first friday art event, good eats and when you get sick of Oakland you can try Berkeley and SF. In exchange you'll find a cheaper and nicer apartment in a better area and let those who aren't in the know think you are "hard" and "live in the hood" while you enjoy bay views and better weather.

Shh, don't tell anyone Oakland is one of the best bay area secrets.

This is an encouraging post as well. Initially, I thought I settled on Burlingame, but the more I look into Oakland, the more it seems to grow on me. I didn't even visit Piedmont Ave. when I was up there a couple weeks ago, but from the sounds of it, it seems like another area that I would enjoy.

What are your thoughts on getting to Potrero Hill for work? I will have my car, but I'm not too excited about going over the Bay Bridge everyday, and was thinking that the BART may be my best bet.

[mayorhaggar]

I live a couple blocks west of 51st and Broadway (51st turns into Pleasant Valley east of Broadway). It's about a 15 minute walk in the morning to RR BART or to the casual carpool location at Hudson and Claremont. It's not that bad, I go along College Ave or residential streets and it's nice, people are out walking their dogs, going to cafes, people have nice yards you can check out, etc. Definitely not a bad walk. For some reason it takes me 10 minutes in the evening to walk home from BART, I guess because 51st is slightly downhill from BART.

As for getting to Potrero Hill, you might want to look into living on the Peninsula after all and take Caltrain to the 22nd Street station in SF. If your office is fairly near that station it might be pretty convenient.

Potrero Hill is a pretty big area so I have no idea where your office would be, but if you took BART it would probably be a pretty long walk from Civic Center or 16th St. You could take a Muni bus but it would be a pain to depend on it.

It might make sense to drive and pick up people at casual carpool--get 3 people and the toll drops from $6 to $2.50 (and a lot of riders chip in a dollar) then you drop them off around Fremont and Howard then you'd drive to Potrero Hill which would be a short drive.

[so_reasonable]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

I live a couple blocks west of 51st and Broadway (51st turns into Pleasant Valley east of Broadway). It's about a 15 minute walk in the morning to RR BART or to the casual carpool location at Hudson and Claremont. It's not that bad, I go along College Ave or residential streets and it's nice, people are out walking their dogs, going to cafes, people have nice yards you can check out, etc. Definitely not a bad walk. For some reason it takes me 10 minutes in the evening to walk home from BART, I guess because 51st is slightly downhill from BART.

As for getting to Potrero Hill, you might want to look into living on the Peninsula after all and take Caltrain to the 22nd Street station in SF. If your office is fairly near that station it might be pretty convenient.

Potrero Hill is a pretty big area so I have no idea where your office would be, but if you took BART it would probably be a pretty long walk from Civic Center or 16th St. You could take a Muni bus but it would be a pain to depend on it.

It might make sense to drive and pick up people at casual carpool--get 3 people and the toll drops from $6 to $2.50 (and a lot of riders chip in a dollar) then you drop them off around Fremont and Howard then you'd drive to Potrero Hill which would be a short drive.

Oh, that doesn't sound too bad, then.

As far as where the office is located in Potrero Hill, it's on De Haro, one block over from the Whole Foods.

Looking at Google Maps (not sure how great of an indicator that is), it seems as though the Caltrain 22nd St. stop and BART 16th/Mission stop are equidistant (19 minutes on foot -- 22nd St vs. 23 minutes on foot -- 16th/Mission) from where I would be working. Also, are the Muni buses really not that reliable?

[mayorhaggar]

Looks like that is nowhere near Caltrain or BART. Potrero Hill is weirdly isolated from the rest of the city, it doesn't have good and convenient transit connections unless you're on the eastern end by the 22nd Street station.

Muni is just frustrating, it's ok if you only take one bus or light rail train, but if you have to transfer then you have no idea how long you have to wait because they run really erratically especially if you're somewhere like Potrero Hill without good bus routes. Some routes like the 14 or 38 run really frequently but in PH you'd have to depend on buses like the 22 which run really erratically. Plus the buses have a zillion stops so they are constantly stopping at every corner to let people on and off so they move really slowly. It's better than nothing but if you're used to Caltrain or BART it's annoying. Though if you have a smartphone you can check when the next bus is coming on nextbus.com.

Anyway, use the 511.org trip planner and see what it says the best transit routes you could take are.

[so_reasonable]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Looks like that is nowhere near Caltrain or BART. Potrero Hill is weirdly isolated from the rest of the city, it doesn't have good and convenient transit connections unless you're on the eastern end by the 22nd Street station.

Muni is just frustrating, it's ok if you only take one bus or light rail train, but if you have to transfer then you have no idea how long you have to wait because they run really erratically especially if you're somewhere like Potrero Hill without good bus routes. Some routes like the 14 or 38 run really frequently but in PH you'd have to depend on buses like the 22 which run really erratically. Plus the buses have a zillion stops so they are constantly stopping at every corner to let people on and off so they move really slowly. It's better than nothing but if you're used to Caltrain or BART it's annoying. Though if you have a smartphone you can check when the next bus is coming on nextbus.com.

Anyway, use the 511.org trip planner and see what it says the best transit routes you could take are.

Interestingly enough, I checked out 511.org, and it seems as though coming from both Burlingame & Rockridge, the transit times are ABOUT the same, and the 22 is unavoidable either way, unfortunately.

How is parking in Potrero Hill compared to other areas of Downtown SF?

[mayorhaggar]

Should be pretty easy to park there, just watch out for smash and grab artists.

[jade408]

Does the 10 go by your office? Ir runs pretty frequently and wouldn't be too far from BART or the temporary Transbay terminal. The 10 stops at around market and sansome and a few routes along the way. It runs pretty regularly compared to other buses, I don't usually see too much bunching.

I like the walk around Pleasant Valley, besides the hill. There are also zillions of rentals around 40th and Broadway, which is a 10 minute walk to MacArthur BART and about the same to the beginning of College Ave. (Good bus access too: 2 transbay line, the 51 and the 57 all run right past. The 51 and 57 are some of the most frequent and latest running routes on AC transit)