Staying in between San Jose & Berkeley (Oakland, Fremont: apartment, renting)

[vish_pat]

Hello,

I will be attending Berkeley this January and will be moving to bay area with my wife. My wife will be attending SJSU and we are planning to stay together and commute to Berkeley and San Jose. Any suggestions where we can think of renting apartment in between Berkeley and san jose from where it will be convenient for both of us to commute? Is staying in Fremont, CA is good option considering its near BART station.

Really appreciate your response. Thanks.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by vish_pat

Hello,

I will be attending Berkeley this January and will be moving to bay area with my wife. My wife will be attending SJSU and we are planning to stay together and commute to Berkeley and San Jose. Any suggestions where we can think of renting apartment in between Berkeley and san jose from where it will be convenient for both of us to commute? Is staying in Fremont, CA is good option considering its near BART station.

Really appreciate your response. Thanks.

From a commute perspective, you don't really have any great options since Berkeley and San Jose are so far apart from each other. If you have to pick a central location to live though, Fremont is a good choice. Your wife's commute will be easier than your's though. It will take a lot longer for you to get to Berkeley from Fremont than for your wife to get to San Jose.

You could consider places like Hayward or Union City, but overall they're somewhat dumpy and ghetto and not as nice as Fremont (Union City is better than Hayward though).

[gone down south]

The question is what kind of community do you want to live in, and what amenities are you looking for?
There's a lot of ground between those two cities and you're going to have to compromise somewhere. If you have a list of Musts and Would Be Nices, we can narrow it down a bit for you.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by vish_pat

Is staying in Fremont, CA is good option considering its near BART station.

Seems like a great option since you can take Bart to Berkeley and your wife can take the bus from Fremont Bart to San Jose State.

181 - Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by capoeira

Seems like a great option since you can take Bart to Berkeley and your wife can take the bus from Fremont Bart to San Jose State.

181 - Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Yes, I'll agree that this is, by far, your best bet as long as logistics are concerned -- a straight shot for both of you. Also, if she will be a student at SJSU then she can get a sticker that will let her ride VTA for free, which includes the express bus between Fremont and DTSJ. Unfortunately there is no such discount on BART for Berkeley students AFAIK, but it will still be an easy BART ride for you.

[jade408]

You could possibly live in Dublin as well. It is also equidistant, but you would need to transfer to take BART (or walk from Rockridge BART). Berkeley students get a sticker for free AC Transit, but that would be a really long bus ride. Dublin is about 30 miles from San Jose, and 25 from Berkeley.

[Joy74]

Fremont is the best location to live.Go to the Fremont Bart Station. There is a train that goes to or very near UC Berkeley. The Fremont Bart station also has a bus that goes to the light rail station at the Great Mall. There is a train and a bus that goes right to San Jose State.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by jade408

You could possibly live in Dublin as well. It is also equidistant, but you would need to transfer to take BART (or walk from Rockridge BART). Berkeley students get a sticker for free AC Transit, but that would be a really long bus ride. Dublin is about 30 miles from San Jose, and 25 from Berkeley.

This isn't really accurate. Commuting from Dublin to San Jose vs. from Fremont would easily add 20 minutes to the commute, if not more, especially if taking public transportation. I would stay in the inner East Bay for commuting purposes.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by mstnghu2

This isn't really accurate. Commuting from Dublin to San Jose vs. from Fremont would easily add 20 minutes to the commute, if not more, especially if taking public transportation. I would stay in the inner East Bay for commuting purposes.

Driving to SJ from Dublin would take 15-20 minutes more (transit wouldn't be easy). Transit from Fremont or Dublin to Downtown Berkeley BART is the same, and driving from Dublin to Berkeley is shorter than Fremont by 15 minutes. It is closer to San Jose, but it is a wash on Oakland and Berkeley.

To the OP: it really depends on if you are transit only or transit + car or car only.

Fremont is closer to San Jose by 10 miles and Dublin is closer to Berkeley by about 10 miles.

Fremont is directly on the BART line to Berkeley where as Dublin is closer to Berkeley, but the BART ride requires a transfer (typically timed). If you want a true midway point it is probably Union City or Hayward, but none of those towns are great.

(FYI: inner east bay is typically Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda and San Leandro)

[Gentoo]

As mentioned, Hayward or Union City would be the more true mid points but Fremont may be a better place to live. Not familiar with the south bay much but BART will take you to the Berkeley station which is just two blocks from the UC campus. A short walk up Center st.