Moving to SF from Philly - help! (San Francisco, Oakland: renters, safe area)

[linlins]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Arrive a few weeks early, and do Snow's idea of getting a room in the extended-stay hotel, and scoping out apts., commute routes and conditions, BART, and everything else from there. With luck, you'll find a place before work starts.

If you wait until after you've started work, the task of learning your way around the area and checking out rentals could be overwhelming in combination with starting a new job, plus if you don't find a place right away, you'll start to run into the issue of students returning from summer vacation, and the rental market will start tightening up. Unless you forego the Oakland idea.

I'm starting to move away from the Oakland idea. It is on the longer commute time than I would like. I'm warming up to the idea of living close to work and going out to play in SF area on the weekends. Last year, I lived where I played and commute time was terrible (1+ each way). I guess I'm just worried about meeting people since I won't know anyone in the area and Pleasanton area is considered a more family-suburb area (correct me if I'm wrong). Is there any area that's considered close to Pleasanton but good for young professionals?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

It's been a long time since I've been in that area, but my mom had a house in Dublin, CA, in that general area, sister had one in San Ramon. As far as I know, that entire area is safe. I don't know about where to go for fun.

Walnut Creek is the upscale town in the East Bay. It's safe and more expensive and has a really nice little downtown area.

My daughter really likes San Leandro, and just bought a house there. She sold her house in Oakland. She actually works in Pleasanton and says the commute actually isn't that bad. But, she was ready to get out of Oakland. She wasn't feeling safe in her neighborhood anymore. She likes to go play in downtown Oakland, etc., but didn't want to live there anymore.

You could look into San Leandro. I would avoid Hayward - the traffic is weird getting in and out, as I recall.

And San Leandro would be closer to the action as far as Oakland/SF.

[linlins]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

It's been a long time since I've been in that area, but my mom had a house in Dublin, CA, in that general area, sister had one in San Ramon. As far as I know, that entire area is safe. I don't know about where to go for fun.

Walnut Creek is the upscale town in the East Bay. It's safe and more expensive and has a really nice little downtown area.

My daughter really likes San Leandro, and just bought a house there. She sold her house in Oakland. She actually works in Pleasanton and says the commute actually isn't that bad. But, she was ready to get out of Oakland. She wasn't feeling safe in her neighborhood anymore. She likes to go play in downtown Oakland, etc., but didn't want to live there anymore.

You could look into San Leandro. I would avoid Hayward - the traffic is weird getting in and out, as I recall.

And San Leandro would be closer to the action as far as Oakland/SF.

Do you know anything about Alameda? I know it's still about 30 mins away from Pleasanton but a better area in terms of safety and fairly close to Oakland.

[peninsular]

Originally Posted by linlins

That's a really good idea, one that I didn't consider. I was planning on taking a trip out there to look at different apartments but since I start in mid July, it would make more sense to get a feel of the area once I start work instead of rushing it in a few days.

Why do you say Walnut Creek wouldn't work?

I wouldn't consider Walnut Creek because it's far and I don't think it's much better than Pleasanton/Dublin in terms of younger people and singles. It's far enough to make your commute pretty miserable, no matter if you drive or take BART.

Even though I haven't spent a lot of time in Walnut Creek, I've had my share of negative experiences. I bumped into too many entitled and inconsiderate people for it to be just a series of coincidences.

[Ruth4Truth]

Alameda, like Oakland, would put you in the middle of inner East Bay commute traffic, before turning east. It won't solve the problem. Drive times to Pleasanton: (in easy conditions):
Alameda: 47 minutes.
San Leandro: 28 mins.
Walnut Creek: 25-27 mins.

During commute hours, the Alameda commute could be close to double the time.

[Ceece]

There are actually a lot of young people in the Tri Valley area, and quite a lot to do. And like you say it's easy to go somewhere else to play if you want. I quite like Walnut Creek too but I don't know if there's an upside to commuting from there or if you'd meet more people your age.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Alameda is really safe and quaint with lots of Victorian architecture. But, it's more family oriented than a young person's fun town. It's also an island, which you'd never know by driving to/from it, but can make traffic a problem.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by linlins

Thank you! That means a lot - can't wait to not freeze every winter.

What areas around Pleasanton would you say are safe yet "fun" for young professionals? Is there such an area that exists? Would you say Walnut Creek is that area?

Pleasanton is safe, not very fun. Walnut Creek is somewhat more fun, but the traffic during the commute to Pleasanton ups the traffic free time of 15 minutes to more like 45.

Oakland and Berkeley would be a longer but consistent commute to Pleasanton and are more fun. The most fun areas of Oakland are also among the safest. If you spent time in urban Philly - you'll find Oakland is probably safer in most cases and just like in Philly there are nice areas and crappy areas. And as is typical for cities you generally want to avoid the crappy areas.

Search the forum, there are a lot of recent threads about which Oakland neighborhood to choose.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by linlins

Do you know anything about Alameda? I know it's still about 30 mins away from Pleasanton but a better area in terms of safety and fairly close to Oakland.

Alameda is a pain of a commute to Pleasanton. Honestly you should visit Oakland and see for yourself. I wouldn't live in Alameda over Oakland for access to "fun" unless you have a family and a kid. Alameda is basically suburbia, just a more walkable variant than Pleasanton.

Dublin/Pleasanton/San Ramon are essentially the same, so if close to work wins, you should just shop in those cities.

[linlins]

Does anyone have any thoughts about Castro Valley? (Safety, travel to Pleasanton, things to do/people to meet)