Just got job in Emeryville, want to live in SF (Oakland: subletting, cheap apartments)

[WImovingWEST]

Hi all-

I'm a fairly recent graduate taking a position (after months and months of hunting) in Emeryville after living in WI all my life. I'm through with winter. Extremely excited to move out west.

My boyfriend is coming with and is interviewing for places downtown. That said, we both would really liked to live in the city. I've been reading threads now for days but thought I would ask for advice first hand, so here it goes.

1. If living in the city I would commute to Emeryville via Bart and then use the emery-go-round. I'd really prefer NOT to bring a car. I'm aware the commute will be fairly lengthy--do you know anyone else who does the same? Or do you know any other options for commuting from SF-Emeryville?

2. Assuming I commute that way, does anyone have any suggestions on relatively safe neighborhoods near BART in the city? Looking on spending about ~$1400 for an efficiency/1 bedroom. From what I hear it appears I should stay away from the Civic Station.

3. I'm going to have limited time to find an apartment (few day trip) and hear it is quite competitive to acquire one. Any tips on apartment hunting? I was considering subletting a bit for a month or so first if possible. It's also hard because I would assume many room shares would not consider living with a couple.

I know must people recommend living in the east bay. I'd really prefer to soak up the city life while I'm still young and am fairly set in my ways on moving there over outlying areas. I'm open to living in Emeryville as well but haven't heard great things about it.

If anyone could help me out I'd be greatly appreciative! So excited to come!

[mayorhaggar]

Yeah the area around Civic Center is basically the Tenderloin and it sucks, very ghetto-y, lots of crackheads, homeless people and drug dealers. There's always cheap apartments there often listed as "Civic Center," "downtown," "Union Square," or "Lower Nob Hill" when really they're in the Tenderloin).

I would look at the areas to the west of 16th Street BART or 24th Street BART. You will not find many 1br's for less than $1400, they will be there but will probably be competitive especially with a lot of college students looking for apartments over the summer. Studios will mainly be around $1100-1200, some a bit less, some more. Also you could look at Hayes Valley which is about a 10 minute walk to Civic Center BART (it's not that bad to walk on Market to that station except late at night, it's just the housing in that area is in crappy areas).

Really it would be easier and cheaper to live in North Oakland or Southeast Berkeley near Emeryville. Rockridge is really nice and would be about a 10-15 minute bike ride to Emeryville--I'm not really sure what public transit you could take but you can look it up on 511.org. Though you could also get to Macarthur BART and catch the Emery-Go-Round, maybe living near there in the Northern Temescal area. SE Berkeley, aka Elmwood, would work for biking too and is nice, and is close to Rockridge BART if you need to get to SF. SW Berkeley is kind of ghetto-y, so is much of North Oakland west of Telegraph.

I know you say you want to live in SF but $1400 a month is pretty low for a 1br in SF, and studios are hard to live in as a couple. Try and find 1br's if you can but if you just keep hitting a wall and can't find anything, maybe check out North Oakland and Berkeley.

Emeryville seems like a goofy place to live, it has a dense collection of big box stores like Target and Best Buy and Ikea and most housing is either small collections of dumpy old houses or new condos that look expensive. It's a dense area but it feels very catered to car traffic, whereas Berkeley and North Oakland have a lot of really walkable areas that have been around for decades whereas E-ville has only been redeveloped in about the last 10 years.

[tstieber]

I actually live in Emeryville (and work here) and love it, but you have to be committed to going into the City for fun to soak it in. It's cheaper to live in Emeryville, even in newer housing stock, and there are some big apartment buildings with pools and such, which is something that's hard to find in SF at a good price. We then just drive in for dinner or whatever we want to do, which is a 15 minute drive if you're not in rush hour. We also get sunnier weather than SF, being farther from the coast. But, the City has a certain lifestyle that you dont' get here. Emeryville is very convenient place to live, with everything you need for daily living, while SF is, like every dense city, inconvenient, but way cool enough to make up for it. I think you'll be happy either way.

[SunDevil1212]

Your situation sounds pretty similar to what I went through....A couple thoughts:

If you wanna live in the city, go for it! Don't let anyone scare you off by telling you it's too crowded, or too expensive, or too long of a commute. I doubt you are moving all the way across the country just to live in the 'burbs. Yes, you'll have to make some sacrifices, but in my opinion, if you have that itch to live in the city you'll never be satisfied living in Emeryville, Berkeley, or Oakland.

I work in the East Bay, live in North Beach (in SF), don't have a car, and I love it. My commute is about 50 minutes one way but it's completely worth it to be able to live in the city, in a great neighborhood no less. I walk from North Beach to Embarcadero BART each day then take that across the bay. My commute flies by; I have a nice pleasant 1-mile walk in the mornings/afternoons, and a train ride that goes very quickly since I can just read my book during that time. Plus my commute is opposite from everyone else (obviously most people are commuting into the city in the morning and out in the afternoons), so the trains aren't crowded at all - I can always find a seat. Totally worth it to be able to live where I do.

If you don't mind a 15-20 minute walk from BART, I highly recommend checking out North Beach.

Also, check out the AC Transbay buses. I know the F line and a few others go to Emeryville, directly across the bay bridge from the terminal a couple blocks south of Market. Depending on your location in Emeryville that might be quicker than doing the BART>Emery-go-round

Good luck!

[jade408]

You can also take the "J" to Emeryville from SF as well I believe. You might also be able to take the NL. That goes to Emeryville and West Oakland. I wouldn't reccomend living in E-Ville, it is not pedestrian friendly and lacks basics like good restaurants etc. And there are so many sketchy parts, you would be much better off in living in many North Oakland neighborhoods. Still close to E-ville and way better amenities.

E-ville and North Oakland are sufficiently close to SF (especially downtown) it is easy to get there, faster by transit than many SF neighborhoods. so it really just depends on what part of living in the city is best for you. The east bay gives you easy access if you are just looking for some additional entertainment options (and there is lots to see and do in the east bay), but if you want that level of density and the feel of a more 24/7 neighborhood SF is a better choice.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

Don't let anyone scare you off by telling you it's too crowded, or too expensive, or too long of a commute. I doubt you are moving all the way across the country just to live in the 'burbs. Yes, you'll have to make some sacrifices

Too expensive, too crowded, too long of a commute . . . making sacrifices ?? You just scared me off.

[SunDevil1212]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

Too expensive, too crowded, too long of a commute . . . making sacrifices ?? You just scared me off.

The point I'm trying to make is that if you listen to many on this forum, you'd think SF was nothing but $2000 studio apartments, huddled shivering masses, and miserable commutes, and that somehow the East Bay offers some sort of glorious reprieve from the madness that is the City. That's totally bogus. Hence why I said "Don't let anyone scare you off...."

Of course there's sacrifices (e.g. less apartment space), but given how the OP described her situation, I'm guessing they are going to be totally worth it for her.