Where to live in the East Bay? (Oakland, Lakeside: apartments, renting)

[lmariebee]

I'm moving to the Oakland area in a few months from Arizona and I'd really love some advice about the renting situation there. Which areas to stay away from, which areas to look into, which areas are great for art, music, culture, etc. I'm a student and I'll be working part-time, so I'm looking for a place on the cheaper side that I won't have to sacrifice my safety for. Ideally an area with coffee shops, local grocery stores, bookstores, restaurants, bars, and parks within walking/biking distance would be great. Thanks!

[DocGoldstein]

For Oakland, I think Rockridge is a solid choice for all of those requirements, but it's not cheap.

You could try "downtown", but I personally think it's rough depending on your tolerance.

[jade408]

Piedmont Ave, Grand Lake, Adam's Point, Cleveland Heights and Temescal are all solid choices.
Cleveland Heights, Adam's Point, and Grand Lake are the cheapest on this list. Then Temescal and Piedmont Ave. Then Rockridge. In order of price.

Downtown isn't quite a 7 day a week area yet, but improving daily (drugstores close early, there are only a few cheaper restaurants open all week outside of Chinatown). It is also mostly expensive. The cheapest area is the Lakeside Apartments district which is between Uptown (trendy, lots of bars and event venues) and Chinatown. It is about the price of Cleveland Heights, and has superior transit access to GrandLake and Cleveland Heights.

Downtown Rough? That's a matter of perspective. Are you comparing it to the suburbs or a typical city downtown. Downtown Oakland is safer than most mid-size city downtowns by far. You need to use street smarts, but serious incidents are rare.

[ashlandbus]

you may want to try Dimond (near Fruitvale and Macarthur) or the Laurel (35th to High, East of Macarthur). The further east (up the hill) you are from Macarthur, the better you are. Rents here are realtively cheap and there are a good amount of low rise apartment buildings. It is realtively safe and there are all the things you are looking for in the business districts along Macarthur. If I had to choose a preferable locale, it would be Dimond over Laurel, but both are solid choices. A good amount of transport along Macarthur, just up the hill from BART, and relatively flat, so bikeable to anywhere in Oakland.

[mayorhaggar]

Depends on your budget and where you need to commute for work/school, because BART doesn't go everywhere in Oakland. I'd mainly look at Grand Lake (the area just north of Lake Merritt) and Piedmont Ave and see what you find on craigslist for apartments/roommates. Rockridge is really cool but is kind of overpriced because it doesn't have very many apartment buildings.