Law School and living near Berkeley (Oakland, Vallejo: apartments, to rent, home)

[swcalibound]

I am currently living and working in Cleveland, Ohio. I just finished my bachelors degree and I am hoping to attend law school at Berkeley next year. I cannot live on campus and would need to rent an apartment. I will be moving by myself with my dog and two cats. Is it realistic to think that I could attend law school and rent off campus?? (I have just been casually looking at apartments at this point but I've found some in Walnut Creek, Vallejo, and places around there.) I am unsure of what the commute between the suburbs and Berkeley will be? I need some advice from people who know what it's like out that way. Cleveland is not a big city and Ohio is not expensive. I understand from visiting and reading up on the area that it is rather expensive...I'm working on getting those details ironed out and am actually considering moving to the area and working for a year before attending school....anyway, suggestions/advice???

[mayorhaggar]

- finding landlords who are ok with pets can be hard in the Bay Area, especially in SF and Berkeley where housing is often in demand. It can be easier in other areas like the suburbs but I think a dog and two cats might be too much for most landlords. Maybe you'll find a cool landlord but I'm just warning you that you might not. If you lived with roommates you probably would not be able to have pets--you'd have to find both a landlord AND roommates who are ok with a dog and two cats wandering around.

- Yes it's expensive here and where you live will depend on your budget. In Berkeley you'd probably be looking at $900 or more for a small studio. Living with roommates would be around $600-800 but again you'd probably have trouble finding a place you can have three pets let alone one pet. Prices are a bit less in North Oakland and a bit less than that in Walnut Creek or other areas near there--you can take BART from Walnut Creek which should be about 20 minutes to downtown Berkeley, you have to transfer to another train at Macarthur which isn't super convenient but it works out. Vallejo should be even less but I think it might be a bit too far for you to commute comfortably and cheaply, you'd probably have to drive plus you have to pay a bridge toll. But you might be able to find more pet-friendly landlords on that side of the bridges.

I think working for a year here and getting residency would be good, you'd have more time to figure out what places are convenient to UC.

I think I would look at these areas:

North Oakland--the Temescal, Rockridge and the Piedmont Ave area. About 15-20 minutes from UC on bike or bus, or you can take BART from Macarthur and be in UC in two stops. Should be a bit less expensive than Berkeley, Rockridge is the most expensive of these three areas and is nice but doesn't have a lot of apartments. Studios go for about $850 in Rockridge and maybe $50-100 less in Temescal or the Piedmont Ave areas. 1br's are about $1100 in RR, $1000 in the other two.

Lake Merritt area in Oakland--basically Adam's Point and maybe Cleveland Heights. It's a pretty nice area and apartments are cheap there, like $750-800 for a 1br, studios are maybe around $700.

Albany--just north of Berkeley, it's a smaller quieter town but is still kind of dense like Berkeley or North Oakland. Should be about as expensive as Berkeley. If you can get to BART then it's a pretty short ride to downtown Berkeley.

Walnut Creek--more suburban than the other towns but it has apartments near the BART station and a lot of shops and restaurants in its downtown as well. I'm not super familiar with prices there but I think it's maybe on par with North Oakland. Other areas near there could work too.

[CAVA1990]

First off, how do you even know you'll be able to get in? Boalt Hall is extremely competitive. You should plan to go whatever year you're accepted. Figuring out where you're going to live is sort of putting the cart before the horse. If you do get accepted I'm sure they'll inform you that there's a housing office that can help you find a place. I believe most law school students live off campus although I believe there is a special residence hall for Boalt students. I wouldn't worry about it until you're accepted.

[mayorhaggar]

True, good luck getting into Boalt.

[swcalibound]

CAVA- I don't have a whole lot of doubt that I will get into that school. I know that they are extremely competitive, it's not like I haven't been looking into going to this school for quite some time. And I've done everything I've had to do up to this point to ensure that I will get in. Also, Berkeley is not the only school I'm applying to in the area. I'm not a complete moron. I have planned for the slim chance that I won't get in. Thanks anyway!

mayorhaggar- thanks! You info was really helpful! I'm going to keep all of that in mind. I've heard from others that Walnut Creek is decent. Any idea how bad the tolls are coming over the bridges?

[mayorhaggar]

With schools like UC Berkeley it's not so much that it's hard to get in, it's that they get so many applications for so few open spots that it's very hard to predict that you will or won't get in.

As for tolls, I dunno, look up the Carquinez Bridge, I think that is the one from Vallejo. Also Vallejo has kind of a reputation for being seedy, maybe look at surrounding areas, I think Benecia gets a good rap? I'm not really familiar with those areas.

[sjnative]

I just passed through Benecia/Vallejo this weekend.

The former is tiny. I mean tiny. Very quaint, though.

The latter's reputation for seediness is earned. Plenty of East Oakland-looking thugs at the harbor park (or whatever it was called). Anyone who lives there will have to be very selective of where within the city they live.

There was a $5 toll on nortbound side of the Benecia-Martinez bridge but I think the southbound side had no toll.

The Carquinez bridge had no toll in the southbound direction.

I'm not sure any of this matters b/c Benecia/Vallejo are a significant distance from Berkeley. I wouldn't want to travel that during rush hours.

This is really the old dilemna:

1. live closer to destination, pay more for housing, pay less for commuting, spend more hours of week commuting
2. live farther, spend less on housing, spend more on commuting, spend more hours commuting

If given the choice/chance and I was a renter, I would do the former as commuting long distances during the week really wears a person down. Only if I wanted to buy a home would I consider the latter.

I know, overly simplistic , but this is the SFBA we're talking about. Not Ohio.

But, you are getting ahead of yourself. CAVA isn't a complete moron, either. There actually is a chance you may not get into Berkeley. Shocking.

[swcalibound]

Even so, as I said, its not the only school I am planning on applying to in the area. I have been giving some thought to moving their to establish residency ahead of time and to make sure I like living there. I visited and absolutely fell in love, but it could be different living there.

Makes sense about the commuting. I thought the traffic here was bad until I drove through SF and LA. In LA it took me like 4 hours to go 20 miles lol I no longer complain about the traffic around here! I actually currently work about 20 miles away from my house, but I don't know if I'd want to do that in a place with serious traffic.

[jade408]

I'd just live in Oakland. Otherwise it would be annoying to get to campus. FYI: it only takes about 5-10 more minutes to walk from Rockridge BART to Boalt (and there is no hill!) -- if you live in Walnut Creek, there is no need to transfer and wait. Rockridge BART is about 1.7 mi from Boalt, and Downtown Berkeley BART is about 1mi uphill. The 51 bus also stops within a block of Boalt. I'd live somewhere on that route: Rockridge, Temescal or Piedmont Ave (or Elmwood in Berkeley).

If you have a bigger budget, you can try the 4th and U apartments in Berkeley. I know someone who lived there with 2 dogs. It is very expensive and next to the train tracks, but it is new and on the 51 route.

Benicia, Vallejo are far and the you would have the most trafficked corridor to commute. Walnut Creek is very suburban (which may be good or bad for you)

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by swcalibound

Is it realistic to think that I could attend law school and rent off campus?? (I have just been casually looking at apartments at this point but I've found some in Walnut Creek, Vallejo, and places around there.) I am unsure of what the commute between the suburbs and Berkeley will be? I need some advice from people who know what it's like out that way.

Well I can give you some advice as I did go to school there. If you can swing it, I would strongly recommend living as near to campus as possible. There are so many things going on around the university you'll enjoy the experience a lot more if you're within a walk or bike ride. If you have to drive it'll be a hassle finding a place to park. I particularly enjoyed playing intra-mural sports which usually took place in the evenings on the fields near campus (in fact the one I played at quite a bit was right next to the Boalt residence hall). I at first lived further away near Ashby and Telegraph which is quite a hike to campus but really liked it much better when I moved closer in to an apt. on College Ave. just about 3-4 blocks from school.

What's your budget? It would probably be cheaper for you to find a roommate to share a 2br place. Look on Craigslist, or as I mentioned before check with the housing office as people will advertise there for roommates. You might also see if the school paper, The Daily Californian, has some listings.