New Job in Emeryville-Where to Live? (San Francisco, Oakland: apartments, rentals, houses)

[ippi76]

Hi everyone,
I just got hired at a company in Emeryville right off of Powell Street and am thinking of moving since I currently live in Fremont and the 880 commute really sucks. Looking to rent a room, spending max is about $550/month, would prefer own bath but I don't know if that is possible in this price range.

Places I looked at were:
San Leandro
Alameda
El Cerrito

San Leandro seems to have some pluses, but it's still some 15 miles to work. Alameda would be nice, but it seems a little pricy and how bad would it be getting from there to Emeryville during rush hour through the Webster Tube or Fruitvale Bridge?
El Cerrito isn't too far away, but it's along the dreaded Eastshore parking lot and even 7-8 miles can be bad at peak right? Or am i over-exaggerating?

I left out Oakland and Berkeley because they seem expensive and crowded, and I really need a car, so parking would be an issue as well. Also, I don't really care about nightlife, since I wouldn't be home much on weekends and during the week I don't really do much other then laundry, dinner etc.

Essentially I want easy parking, safety, and close to work in Emeryville.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[mayorhaggar]

$550 is pretty low for rent, you will probably be living with roommates. If you want to have the shortest commute I would look at North Oakland, either the Temescal or the Piedmont Ave area, it's a very short drive over to Emeryville. Rockridge would work but might be too pricey. North Oakland is really nice, it is quiet and feels spacious but the houses are closer together than somewhere like Fremont so it does feel denser but is nowhere as dense as SF. Also it's really easy to park where I live in Rockridge.

Berkeley has nice parts like North Berkeley and Elmwood but I'd guess they're out of your budget range. Albany would work but I think it's about as expensive if not more expensive than Berkeley. I really don't know much about El Cerrito other than that it seems like a lot of suburban housing and strip malls. Since 80 is such a parking lot you might be able to take local roads, or you could take BART from El Cerrito to Macarthur then take the free Emery-Go-Round buses to Emeryville. Or you could stay around Fremont or San Leandro and take BART to Macarthur and do the free bus. I-80 North of downtown Oakland can really suck in the morning so San Leandro or Alameda might be trouble for driving up to Emeryville.

[jade408]

I agree with @mayorhaggar, look in north Oakland. You could possibly walk over to the Emery-go-round or drive over in about 10 or 15 minutes.

Your budget does sound pretty low though. Temescal is your best bet because there are lots of Art students in the area and they are likely to have room shares available.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by ippi76

El Cerrito isn't too far away, but it's along the dreaded Eastshore parking lot and even 7-8 miles can be bad at peak right? Or am i over-exaggerating?

Yes, and in the AM you would be stuck in all of the bridge traffic to E-Ville. I imagine it would take about 30 minutes in the AM to get to El Cerrito. (Streets or Freeway) unless you took BART.

You could also look in an area of Oakland like the Glenview. It is about 2-3 miles from Piedmont Ave area, more suburban feeling than Temescal or Piedmont Ave. You could take 580 to around Harrison, and then take the surface streets for the rest of the way to Emeryville, so it would take around 10 minutes longer than from Piedmont Ave or Temescal Areas.

(FYI: Taking 40th to Emeryville from North Oakland is the way to go. Then you can turn and drive the last 1.5 miles up San Pablo to Powell, it is rarely congested, and the lights are pretty well timed.)

[ippi76]

Whoops, forgot to mention I will be renting just a room (with roommates) which is why I'm looking for around $550, I know own apartments go for way more!

I don't think $550 is realistic for Rockridge, but it might be for Temescal/North Oakland.

[mayorhaggar]

Hopefully though you might end up having to spend more like $700, for whatever reason there aren't ever that many roommate rentals in Oakland compared with San Francisco, I guess because it's mostly houses. Berkeley probably has more roommate shares but should be a bit more expensive.

Also for North Oakland a general rule of thumb is to stay east of Telegraph, the areas west of Telegraph are pretty seedy until you get to Emeryville. Telegraph itself north of around 45th has some really cool restaurants but Telegraph south of 45th is pretty ghetto, lots of fast food places and grungy liquor stores. But the area of the Temescal east of Telegraph is fine as long as you're east of Telegraph, like around say 41st and Shafter is fine.

[ippi76]

Does anyone have any opinion on Alameda? I drove through there a few times and it seems nice, slightly more than San Leandro or North Oakland though.

[mayorhaggar]

It's really nice, more suburban than Oakland but still fairly dense (houses are on small lots and some streets are narrow) and it has lots of shopping and places to eat, and a beach on the western part. Some of the most interesting and varied architecture in the Bay Area. I don't know how driving to Emeryville would be but I bet it would be kind of annoying. Taking BART from Fruitvale might be a good option.

[jade408]

I like Alameda a lot. Not sure how busy the tube is in the morning, but it would be a bit of a hike to E-ville since by the time you got back on the freeway, you might as well take the streets. Oh and considering the speed limit in Alameda is 25 mph, imagine that you'll take the whole route to E-Ville at 25-30mph and see if the time is acceptable. It will probably take about 15-20 minutes to get to E-ville from downtown Oakland where the tube drops off.