Walnut Creek or Oakland for DINKWADs? (Sacramento, Orange: to rent, condo, high crime)

[Gorgincia]

Hi all,

Looking for advice on relocating to the East Bay. I have a job offer in San Ramon. Currently, reside in Sacramento (last 6 years), before that in Orange County.

About us:
Dual income, no kids, with a dog
In 40s
Active- running, hiking
Want to be able to walk a bit (grab coffee, etc)
Husband works from home, I need to be in the office 3 days a week.
Plan to rent before buying, rent flexible
Not crazy about living back in a manicured suburb, but willing to
Also not keen on a long commute (more than 40 mins) I could be flexible with my hours

Would downtown Walnut Creek be our best best? Is it reasonable to consider Oakland?

Thanks for your help!

[Ruth4Truth]

Is there a reason why San Ramon or Dublin would be out, for living? Or Pleasanton (nice downtown area)? You could try Walnut Creek, also Castro Valley, if you don't want/need to be close to your work. Oakland's too far away for commuting. Are you looking for a house or an apt./condo, townhome, what?

What attracts you about downtown Walnut Creek? You realize, that if you live in the downtown of any of these places, you won't be in the manicured-suburb part, right? My guess is you're looking for walkability, being in the middle of restaurants, and other amenities, easy sociability?

[ccm123]

OP, Walnut Creek is a solid choice, as would Pleasanton (as mentioned by R4T), or Danville, also Livermore is possibly another one. I would not consider Oakland as there are better choices in the Tri-Valley/East Bay Valley areas based on your job location of San Ramon.

Biggest drawback in these areas, IMO is that they can get warm in the summer months.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by Gorgincia

Hi all,

Looking for advice on relocating to the East Bay. I have a job offer in San Ramon. Currently, reside in Sacramento (last 6 years), before that in Orange County.

About us:
Dual income, no kids, with a dog
In 40s
Active- running, hiking
Want to be able to walk a bit (grab coffee, etc)
Husband works from home, I need to be in the office 3 days a week.
Plan to rent before buying, rent flexible
Not crazy about living back in a manicured suburb, but willing to
Also not keen on a long commute (more than 40 mins) I could be flexible with my hours

Would downtown Walnut Creek be our best best? Is it reasonable to consider Oakland?

Thanks for your help!

Really, any of the cities/towns around San Ramon are good options, aside from them mostly being manicured suburbs which you aren't really thrilled about. San Ramon itself doesn't have a downtown but most of the surrounding towns do have quaint downtowns with Walnut Creek having the biggest one. The entire 680 corridor from Pleasanton north to Walnut Creek are all mostly upscale and safe suburban communities. Walnut Creek definitely offers the most urban lifestyle in the region but I still wouldn't consider it "urban" if that makes sense.

Oakland does have nice neighborhoods if you mostly focus east of I-580 and it would be a reverse commute. Honestly though, the high crime and poor city leadership and infrastructure would steer me away. Crime even happens in the nice areas far more often than you'd expect.

[04kL4nD]

I used to avidly recommend Oakland, but I don't anymore to newcomers who don't know their way around. That said, the Hills are nice and being close to 13 would make for an easy commute. Rockridge/Elmwood would be good for BART to downtown WC if you don't want to drive.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I used to avidly recommend Oakland, but I don't anymore to newcomers who don't know their way around. That said, the Hills are nice and being close to 13 would make for an easy commute. Rockridge/Elmwood would be good for BART to downtown WC if you don't want to drive.

I think the OP said, the job was in San Ramon. The closest BART gets to there is Pleasanton/Danville, but there's transit connections to San Ramon, both from the Pleasanton BART and the Walnut Crk BART stations.

Yes, I agree the Oakland Hills neighborhoods and Rockridge are great areas. I thought a by-car commute from Oakland to San Ramon would exceed the OP's 40-min. parameter, but maybe not if it's a reverse commute. And I didn't know about the transit connection from the BART stations to SR, either. So that might be able to work.

OP, the advantage of Oakland would be, that it's cooler on the Bay side of the East Bay hills. But the RE there is pricier, too, especially in those nicer neighborhoods. Again, it depends on whether you're looking for a single-family house, or townhome. If you want to take a look at RE prices for a reality check, haha, look for Oakland neighborhoods: Rockridge, Upper Rockridge, and Montclair, for starters. You could also check Berkeley's Elmwood nabe, adjacent to Rockridge. These are very walkable, full of shops, restaurants, bookstores, coffee shops, small, local grocers as well as corporate grocers. Elmwood even has a small movie theater that survived the Covid shutdown.

[Gorgincia]

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate you taking the time!

It seems like there a lot of options. I didn't think too much about public transportation, but that might be an option. I don't mind commuting on public transit as much as I do driving.

I will definitely think about Elmwood and Rockridge.

This weekend I am going to head out to this neck of the woods to get a feel for the area, so def appreciate everyone's feedback!

[sav858]

Downtown WC and the immediate area around it isn't that manicured, compared to Oakland sure.

A commute to San Ramon from Oakland could easily push 40 min.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Gorgincia

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate you taking the time!

It seems like there a lot of options. I didn't think too much about public transportation, but that might be an option. I don't mind commuting on public transit as much as I do driving.

I will definitely think about Elmwood and Rockridge.

This weekend I am going to head out to this neck of the woods to get a feel for the area, so def appreciate everyone's feedback!

Thanks for the update! Enjoy your visit. It's easy enough to stroll through Elmwood into Rockridge; it's a delightful walk.

Report back.

[davdaven]

Downtown Walnut Creek seems like a good choice. Or if you want a semi-rural lifestyle, check out Alamo. Otherwise, if an urban vibe is more to your liking, take a look at Rockridge. That would be as far into Oakland as I would recommend for commuting purposes. Yes, the hills areas like Montclair are as competitive as Rockridge from a commuting perspective, but I don't see any particular advantage to it over Orinda, Lafayette, etc. Oakland is a very poorly managed city with a sky-high crime rate, even in the good parts of town.