Best place to live in the bay area for 2 single males... (San Jose: rent, home)

[ThreeSixRight]

...outside of SF itself. Me and a fellow coworker (we're both pilots) are looking for a new place to live. We've both been out here for a year now, but both moved from the East Coast and had no idea where to look and needed to find a place quick, so I made the mistake of moving to the central valley, which has been beyond boring on my weeks off. I honestly look forward to work because it gets me out of the area.

We're both in our mid twenties and single, so what we're mainly looking for is somewhere with a great nightlife and social scene. Being able to walk to bars/clubs and restaurants would be awesome. We work a week on week off schedule so I'd like to have something to do during that week off..I like to stay active as much as possible on my weeks off so access to biking/hiking trails would also be nice. Somewhere that's easy to meet people also is a big plus, as we're both not from the area, which I'm sure isn't that hard to do in most of the Bay Area.

Right now he's talking about somewhere close to downtown San Jose, but after reading some stuff on here I haven't really made up my mind on SJ yet. So here's a list of the places I'm looking into at this point (I've looked at housing in each area and we can afford each place), let me know if there's anywhere else I need to look at...

• San Jose (close to downtown)
• Walnut Creek - I've heard it has a nice downtown with decent nightlife.
• Concord
• Oakland - any safe areas?
• Berkeley
• Livermore - recommended by this girl I met.
• Santa Cruz
• Others

Thanks!

[ccm123]

Walnut Creek or Rockridge (Oakland)

[mayorhaggar]

SF is the main place for clubs in SF, but I dunno if you'd like them. I never really found any I liked other than the Cat Club back in the day, and some pretty good old school soul dance places that would operate now and then at a restaurant. So if you don't like the clubs in SF then it might not really be worth it to pay the high price of rent there.

As for being able to walk to nice bars and restaurants, downtown Walnut Creek would be fine for that. It's definitely very middle aged and middle class though.

Berkeley has a lot going on but caters to the 21 to 25 college crowd. Might not be your scene. Elmwood is a bit more grown up but rents are really expensive there.

North Oakland has Rockridge and the Temescal which are both really great neighborhoods, lots of nice bars and restaurants, both old school and new school. Piedmont Avenue has a ton of stuff too. The Grand Lake area north of Lake Merritt is nice, and is near downtown Oakland which has a lot of nice up and coming bars and restaurants.

[Ceece]

Since you have been here for a year where do you usually like to go for fun on your weeks off? You aren't starting from scratch at least, you should have some ideas of the areas you like. Any of the places you mentioned will be within striking distance of much of your wants but "great nightlife and social scene" is subjective. Fortunately if you stay near BART you can always get to SF in 45 minutes or less if you aren't finding what you want right outside your front door. And honestly, most of us don't. From your list I'd say Berkeley or Walnut Creek have the most potential for getting places you might want to be.

I don't know much about SJ except that don't go there often even though I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life. An occasional concert or sporting event, maybe a festival or two. Downtown looks nicer now than it ever did.

[mayorhaggar]

You wouldn't want to go clubbing in SF, leave at 2AM when the club closes, then have to rely on BART or a taxi to get home in the East Bay. Driving would be inconvenient too. IF "clubbing" is really that important, and IF he really likes the SF club scene which isn't for everyone, then living in SF would be best. If neighborhood bars and restaurants are enough, then the urban East Bay would be fine.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Berkeley has a lot going on but caters to the 21 to 25 college crowd. Might not be your scene. Elmwood is a bit more grown up but rents are really expensive there.

North Oakland has Rockridge and the Temescal which are both really great neighborhoods, lots of nice bars and restaurants, both old school and new school. Piedmont Avenue has a ton of stuff too. The Grand Lake area north of Lake Merritt is nice, and is near downtown Oakland which has a lot of nice up and coming bars and restaurants.

They're pilots, they can afford it.

I voted for Berkeley, but south Berkeley and north Oakland run into each other, so consider it one area--Elmwoood/Rockridge & Temescal. The other alternative is north Berkeley, around Solano Avenue.

[rexthedestroyer]

Oakland is your absolute best option.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

They're pilots, they can afford it.

Depends on the airline!

[jade408]

Oakland is your best bet. Lots of good bars with difference scenes. You can live in Temescal, Rockridge, Piedmont Ave, Uptown or Grand Lake.