City neighborhood near trails + decent commute (Berkeley, Redwood City: apartments, for rent, condos)

[la_cavalière]

Hello,

I have been searching this forum and have found answers to many of my questions. However, I'm a bit stuck.

My husband and I are thinking of moving to SF. No kids, two smaller dogs. Here's what we're looking for in an apartment/neighborhood:

-Charming, walkable, safe, clean neighborhood near restaurants, shops, etc.

-I walk my dogs at least an hour a day, so it must be a short walk to a trail (not just a small park or city sidewalks). So far this looks like it will need to be near the Presidio or Golden Gate Park. Are there trails on Twin Peaks in or other areas of the city?

-Husband would prefer to take public transportation to work in Redwood City (near Oracle) or at least have a decent car commute. This seems to conflict with the previous requirement. Am I wrong? What are the options (CalTrain, BART, etc.)? Is it a pain to get to the CalTrain station from the northern neighborhoods?

-Budget $2,500-$3,500 for nice 2-bedroom w/parking.

I was thinking Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights/Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill or Cole Valley. Other suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

[gone down south]

Why not look at some Peninsula cities like Mountain View, Redwood City or Palo Alto? Their downtowns definitely fall into the charming/safe/walkable category, he'll save an hour a day commuting, and you'll have miles and miles of trails in all the open space preserves.

From SF, you would need to take Caltrain down to RWC. The Caltrain station in the city isn't particularly convenient to anything except it's immediate neighbourhood - which ISN'T particularly charming.

[la_cavalière]

Hmmm..... do those areas have nice downtowns? We're not interested in suburbia, strip malls, chain restaurants, etc. I don't remember Redwood City being particularly interesting, but maybe I didn't go in the right areas. I'm not familiar with Palo Alto or Mountain View yet.

We'd really like to be within walking distance of both parks/trails & nice restaurants & shopping. We've been lucky to find that in the last four places we've lived (Portland, Maine, St. Louis, Toronto and Milwaukee). Maybe we're dreaming...?

Can you take a bus to the Caltrain station?

[Jasmine658]

We live 3 blocks to 22nd St Caltrain on Potrero Hill. This stop has "baby bullet" train and is in charming neighborhood called Dogpatch with new fun restaurants, dog kennel, etc. We live up on hill overllooking bay right next to large park with basketball, tennis, rec center, dog park, etc. Husband has lived here over 17 years and would not move when we got married. Loves his commute to peninsula job, and we are just a block from organic grocery store called Good Life, and lots of cool restaurants. We love walking to the T train on 3rd and going into the city. Also, best new band club just 4 blocks away called Bottom of the Hill. Mission district I do NOT recommend further to west - too many stabbings, vehicle vandalisms, shootings, etc. I lived there a few years saw everything - in broad daylight my car window being smashed, dead people on sidewalk I would have to walk around who had been shot, etc. And gangs are on the rise again in mission district.

We have no crime problems in the area where we live. Also sunniest best weather in city, parking is easy, etc. Lived before in Berkeley, Rockridge, Piedmont, marina district, nob hill, mission districts, and downtown. This area is favorite for getting around easily, parking, and weather. Search Potrero Hill (north slope) on Craigslist for apartments for rent.

[la_cavalière]

I considered Potrero Hill due to the location & weather, but there don't seem to be any trails in the area. I know my husband would love to be near Caltrain. Which park is it?

[mayorhaggar]

The Caltrain stations in SF are all in really inconvenient locations. Potrero Hill/Dogpatch is near the 22nd station. Dogpatch has a few neat restaurants and bars but is very small. Potrero Hill has some neat restaurants and shops scattered around but that whole area of the city has some sketchy parts especially as you go to the south of PH towards the horrible public housing there. I'm assuming the parks there are Esprit Park and the Potrero Hill Recreation Center, I don't know how those are for dog owners.

The area around 4th and King and the ballpark has a lot of new condos and condo-style apartments, I'm not sure if your budget would work there but if you want a new unit near Caltrain it could work. Lots of bars and restaurants geared to the ballpark crowd but there is some new shopping there such as a Safeway. Overall the area feels a bit sterile compared to older and funkier parts of SF but a lot of people prefer the new (but expensive) housing stock and are willing to deal with sterility. I think you could walk a dog nicely along the Embarcadero from north of the ball park, and I think there are parks in the Mission Bay area south of the ballpark, but once you go south of that the coastline is mostly ugly industrial crap.

Other than those areas, getting to the 22nd Street or 4th and King stations from other parts of the city is a pain in the ass because you have to take public transit which takes a long time if you come from somewhere like Noe Valley or the Dolores Park area or whatever, and that adds on to what is going to be a long ride on Caltrain down to RWC. The Caltrain stations in SF south of 22nd Street are in really crappy industrial areas you wouldn't want to live near and I don't think they get the baby bullet express trains anyway.

Bernal Heights could work because it has a park on the top of the hill where people take their dogs, it's easy to park on the street (off-street parking is very rarely included with an apartment anywhere in SF unless you pay for it) and there are nice shops and restaurants on Cortland. Getting to Caltrain would be kind of a pain though, but it's near the highways so it could be good for driving to RWC.

Twin Peaks you wouldn't want to live near if you wanted to walk dogs, it's a very steep hill and not really fun at all to walk up, there's not really any good trails and it's just sort of a windswept steep barren hill, people generally drive up to the lookout instead of walking. I've tried walking to the top of the hill a couple of times and it was just a big pain in the butt. Bernal Heights is steep but the park at the top is good for hiking around and like I said lots of people bring their dogs there.

The main parks in SF that would be good for dogwalking are the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, and the area along the coastline like around Fort Mason and Crissy Field, but those areas would be really inconvenient for getting to Caltrain or the highways to drive south.

[la_cavalière]

How about Glen Canyon Park, Mt. Sutro and Mt. Davidson? I'm looking at the map, and it looks like southern Noe Valley to Glen Canyon Park is walkable. We're more interested in walking trails than small parks.

[mayorhaggar]

Glen Canyon Park is in Glen Park which is a pretty nice neighborhood, it's like Bernal Heights but flatter and it has a BART station and a cute little downtown area with some cool restaurants and a new library. Still horrible for getting to Caltrain but it would be good for getting to 280 and 101 to drive south. I've only been to the park once, it's sort of small and is like a little scrubby ravine in the middle of the city with a trail through it. I don't know if dogs are allowed, I don't think it would be big enough for an "hour-long" dog walk like the Presidio or Ft. Mason or Golden Gate Park would be better for.

Mt. Sutro and Davidson I don't think I've been to, I think they're residential areas with a small clutch of forest at the top of them, kind of like Twin Peaks with trees--I don't think they'd be good for a long dog walk. Bernal Heights isn't either, it's more for letting your dog off its leash and letting it run around, or at least that's what people seem to do there.

I think if you want a long dog walk area you want the Presidio or Golden Gate Park, or somewhere along the Bay Trail.

[la_cavalière]

Lots to consider! I had my heart set on a city neighborhood, but downtown Mountain View looks nice and so does Palo Alto. Plus with Caltrain it would be easy to go into the city.

[mayorhaggar]

I like downtown Mountain View, if I had to live in SV and worked near there I'd try to live near downtown MV. I've only been there once and it was in 2004 but it was walkable and had a lot of restaurants, many of them Asian, and some Asian grocery stores and had a nice feel to it. I went to a cheap and good Chinese place, lots of techie engineers were there on their lunch break, lol.