Within 25 Miles of San Francisco? (Oakland, Hayward: real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[karado58]

Everyone:
My heart felt thank you for taking the time to help me. It is always difficult to move ahead of having a job. It is like putting the cart before the horse, but unfortunately I have no choice and I need to be moved in by the end of September. A job would be nice before then, but from my past luck during the last 4 months of job hunting, I do not see it happening.

God Bless everyone and thank you.
Joseph

[j355]

Hi Ya
Im from the UK could I have a quick terminolgy check... what is PG&E bills? Please.

Im thinking, Parking Garage and Electricity bills, or peanut reeces (mmmmmm) Golf and Emergency peanut reece candy? I suspect Im way off...

btw I love fog too

[ImRandy]

PG&E stands for Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

[j355]

ImRandy: thnx again

[danking27]

From that list...Orinda I'd say is the best by a decent shot too...although that is in the east bay...BART runs right through Orinda, great area, suburb like...You may really like Orinda because it is isolated, very residential with small lakes around and right next to the big cities (Oakland/SF)..right next to a few mountains...the fog sneaks its way through which is pretty cool. I've lived both in the peninsula and currently live in the east bay and I do prefer the east bay...Lafayette and Walnut Creek are good areas (Walnut Creek - shopping) both are close to Orinda and BART runs through there as well...

San Jose - about 50 miles from San Francisco...not the best place to live
Chico - ? thats about 2 + hours away...biggest party town in CA...I know cause I've partied up there...crappy homes
You could get something in like Burlingame or Belmont, Redwood City...they are decent areas...might fit your price range...overall, the east bay tends to be newer...alotta cities on the peninsula (south of SF) tends to be rundown ...if you ever commute on the bay bridge or san mateo bridge...you will notice that alot of the commute goes to San Francisco area for work and and returns to the east bay to live.

[karado58]

Thank you danking27!!!
I'm going to fly out there and just drive through and see how it feels.

[cardinal2007]

"San Jose - about 50 miles from San Francisco...not the best place to live
Chico - ? thats about 2 + hours away...biggest party town in CA...I know cause I've partied up there...crappy homes
You could get something in like Burlingame or Belmont, Redwood City...they are decent areas...might fit your price range...overall, the east bay tends to be newer...alotta cities on the peninsula (south of SF) tends to be rundown ...if you ever commute on the bay bridge or san mateo bridge...you will notice that alot of the commute goes to San Francisco area for work and and returns to the east bay to live."

A lot of that is pretty misleading The peninsula tends to be more expensive than East Bay, hence a lot of people commute, and the jobs are mostly in Oakland, SF, the peninsula or San Jose, with few jobs left over in the greater East Bay. Though Chevron is in a large complex in San Ramon.

San Jose is fairly low profile, so it is not as exciting as San Francisco, but it has its areas, like downtown, and Santana Row, but it has mostly a suburban feel to it. It is also the safest city larger than 500k in the US. It is definately not within 25 miles of SF though.

In the Peninsula the largest cities are San Mateo, Redwood City, Palo Alto and Mountain View. Downtown San Mateo has a plenty of restaurants and shopping, but it is still the suburbs, so don't expect a lot. I tend to go there to eat out since they have a nice variety of restaurants. The areas I wouldn't suggest are just east of downtown acrross the Caltrain tracks, or near the highways. ~15-18 miles from SF.

Redwood City does have a downtown, it looks nice driving around, but I've never been there, I wouldn't go southeast of downtown though to look for housing that area does look run down. ~25-28 miles from SF.

Palo Alto is really expensive, and has a nice downtown area with plenty to do, though there are no shopping plazas, or malls in the city of Palo Alto itself. The nicer areas are near University Av. Once again it is really expensive. ~32-35 miles from SF.

Mountain View is nice, and the rents used to be affordable relatively speaking, but with more businesses expanding in the area it has gotten relatively expensive in comparison to say Sunnyvale just south of it. It has a few nice restaurants in downtown on Castro St. ~35-38 miles from SF.

Overall for the most part the Peninsula tends to be pretty suburban, but the cities do have a downtown area, basically near the Caltrain stations, as the railroad was built in the 1860s and the towns built out around the stations. It got almost completely built out during the 70s so most of the housing dates to 50s/60s/and 70s. You will find some newer apartments and condos in some areas, (and a few houses) but they will be expensive. Most of the cities have relatively low crime, even in the run down areas, except for East Palo Alto, they have crime higher than the national average. I think Belmont, San Mateo, and Redwood Shores look nice, not so much for Millbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco, and Daly City, which also tend to suffer from cold fog every now and then, Daly City especially doesn't look that nice.

Caltrain is pretty quick, getting to SF from Redwood City in a little less than 30 minutes for example.

Across the brige from Foster City (near San Mateo) in the peninsula is Hayward, and San Leandro, the area over there is pretty run down until you get to the hills. The rent is relatively cheap, and the crime is slightly higher than national average, but I think it gets overrated.

North of Hayward the East Bay got built out before 1970 going all the way to Richmond, except for the hills, south of it you can find some fairly new housing stock, specially closer to the Hayward fault. If you go past the hills, then you see a lot of newer houses, many of them fairly large too in comparison. It gets hot in the tri-valley area. San Ramon is expensive and has large houses, same for Danville.

Areas in the East Bay do have high crime, like Oakland, and Richmond. Oakland tends to have lower rents, but you have to be careful of crime, from what I can gather is that the Lake Merritt area is relatively safe, just don't go wondering off a few blocks the wrong way.

Berkeley is relatively safe, though crime is higher than in the towns in the peninsula, the housing does look run down due to its age, and lack of renovations, I guess landlords don't want to renovate, but it is mostly clean. The rents are expensive for what you get (aside from location). The location is good though, it is near UC Berkeley, and has plenty of nice restaurants, and shopping. There are 3 BART stops in Berkeley.

Avoid Richmond, seriously homicide rates there are very very high.

That's about it. Good luck finding a place.

[fizbin]

A question right down my alley, as I have lived all over the East Bay most of my life (with some time in San Jose too.)

Of the places on your list I would short-list three of them: Rockridge (Oakland), Berkeley and Albany. All of them meet all three of your criteria (with a BART station – or two – in each). Each has a slightly different vibe to them, all pleasant in my opinion. Rockridge is one of the safest places in Oakland, and is surrounded by more safe places. Berkeley and Albany being complete cities (instead of a neighborhood like Rockridge) have a wide spectrum of neighborhoods, most of them very safe. Berkeley is kind of dominated by UC Berkeley, which is a good thing in my opinion, but homeowners/close neighbors may think otherwise. Albany can be quite foggy a lot of the time.

Piedmont (no BART) and Orinda (BART) are both very nice towns, but are very expensive family-oriented bedroom communities. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I am making an assumption that a 49 year old single person might want a slightly more happening place (and you did mention reasonable rents). If you are seriously looking at Orinda you should also look at nearby Lafayette, which also has a BART station - very similar in look and feel.

Alameda is a great town – I lived there for about 10 years. Kind of a small-town feel to it, and it is kind of isolated being on an island. No BART.

Glenview, Oakland is a nice mostly residential neighborhood, closer to the rougher elements of Oakland but as safe as a number of the cities you have on the list. No BART.

San Leandro/Hayward/San Lorenzo all kind of run together and have nothing of particular interest in them (in comparison to the places above).

Castro Valley is an upgrade compared to nearby San Leandro/Hayward/San Lorenzo. Residential with a large business district. Nothing overly distinctive.

If you consider Concord you should also consider Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek. Of the three I’d go with Walnut Creek.

I can’t really address peninsula cities (Daly City, San Bruno, Pacifica, WestBrae(?)) although Pacifica is kind of cool, isolated on the coast. Lots of fog.

San Jose is a world unto itself compared to the rest of these options, the biggest city in the Bay Area (including SF). Benicia is getting a bit far away from SF (as is SJ). No BART for either.

Chico and Paradise are not within 25 miles of SF, closer to 250 miles.

Good luck . . .

[NOEL123]

Originally Posted by karado58

Everyone:
My heart felt thank you for taking the time to help me. It is always difficult to move ahead of having a job. It is like putting the cart before the horse, but unfortunately I have no choice and I need to be moved in by the end of September. A job would be nice before then, but from my past luck during the last 4 months of job hunting, I do not see it happening.

God Bless everyone and thank you.
Joseph

So KARADO58, have you find a suitable job and where do you decide to live?

[NOEL123]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Whew... that's a long list, which I understand since it's a BIG metro area! But I'll try to give some advice, on the cities I know best from your list...

Daly City - Parts of DC are pretty nice, especially around the Westlake area & between Hwy 280 & Pacifica... other parts are sketchy, mostly up near the big BART station & where it meets San Francisco. Weather is very foggy in the western parts of town, but I personally consider that a plus. It's very accessible to SF, as you can get there in less than 15 minutes by BART or car.

San Bruno - Pretty much the same as above, with both good & bad parts... and like Daly City, the better parts are west, near 280 and thereabouts. The areas near Hwy 101 and the airport are kinda sketchy, but not really "dangerous" per say. Weather is also similar to DC, where it gets foggier the farther west you go.

San Jose - Well, San Jose isn't exactly 25 miles or less, and will take a good hour+ on a regular day to San Francisco. I personally don't like SJ too much, but it does have a lot to offer - lower rent than most of the Bay Area, plenty of entertainment, restaurants, shopping, etc. But most of us consider it the "step-child" to San Francisco, and a poor substitute if you want the real CITY life. It's more like a large suburb, if you know what I mean. The weather is also too darned hot for me, but maybe that's what you prefer?

Pacifica - I lived in Pacifica for almost a year, and LOVED it!! Absolutely incredible views of the ocean, quick drive to San Francisco, small-town feeling, nice people, beaches, good restaurants, and so forth. Weather is probably the foggiest in the Bay Area (and supposedly the nation!), but like I said above, that's a good thing to me. Rent is fairly "reasonable" by our standards, but not the cheapest either... and BART doesn't come down there, but you can get to the Daly City station in a matter of minutes. This would be my first pick of your choices, but that's based on my personal preferences.

Berkeley - Berkeley is a very cool town, but I don't know it too well... but like Oakland, it's an easy BART ride to SF, and has both good & bad parts. It's sort of the "hippie version" of Oakland, and probably even more "hippie" than San Francisco, if you can believe it.

Okay, so those are my opinions on the towns I know... others you might consider are Burlingame, Millbrae, Brisbane, San Mateo, Sausalito (if you can afford it), and maybe even San Francisco itself. We have lots of great & unique neighborhoods in SF, so there's literally something for everyone here! Good luck with whatever you decide.

If you got a job in SF, which city will you pick to live in and why?
I have two daughters, 4years & 10mths and have to pick the best city which has more amenities than others.

Thx.