House Hunting Help Bay Area - Single Dad (San Francisco, Oakland: apartments, city hall)

[bmorerico]

Yes I have read endless posts...

Single Dad, 2 kids daughter 14, son 9. Looking for a diverse community in the bay area, around 10% min. African American community and I would love to be close (30 min) to Oakland, and SF since we are used to being close to fast paced cites – Baltimore, DC, Detroit. No matter what we plan to spend many weekends in San Fran but don’t mind the drive.

Like anyone I want a safe area defined as no murder/shooting within a 20 block radius. We own a house in a suburb of Maryland 5 mins to the city, so while Baltimore has horrible crime we feel completely safe being close to the city and walking in the city. I suspect the same would apply in the bay for us. I will lease for a year or two prior to buying to feel out the area.

I need help finding target areas to rent. So far looking at Oakland Hills, Piedmont/Montclair, Oakland North/Temescal, San Leandro, Hayward, Daly City.

I found a nice place in Hayward, but hard to get to the root of how good/bad the area is. I would like to pay no more than 2300 a month. I will be in San Fran next week to finalize a place to live.

BmoreRico

[tind]

Originally Posted by bmorerico

Yes I have read endless posts...

Single Dad, 2 kids daughter 14, son 9. Looking for a diverse community in the bay area, around 10% min. African American community and I would love to be close (30 min) to Oakland, and SF since we are used to being close to fast paced cites – Baltimore, DC, Detroit. No matter what we plan to spend many weekends in San Fran but don’t mind the drive.

Like anyone I want a safe area defined as no murder/shooting within a 20 block radius. We own a house in a suburb of Maryland 5 mins to the city, so while Baltimore has horrible crime we feel completely safe being close to the city and walking in the city. I suspect the same would apply in the bay for us. I will lease for a year or two prior to buying to feel out the area.

I need help finding target areas to rent. So far looking at Oakland Hills, Piedmont/Montclair, Oakland North/Temescal, San Leandro, Hayward, Daly City.

I found a nice place in Hayward, but hard to get to the root of how good/bad the area is. I would like to pay no more than 2300 a month. I will be in San Fran next week to finalize a place to live.

BmoreRico

I've spent about 10 years in the East Bay, including Hayward....I used to live near the new City Hall across from the BART station at the turn of the century (). Feel free to pm me if you have specific questions....Although I'm sure greatschools.net and the local crime mapper would help you tremendously while you're researching long distance.

Good luck!

[bmorerico]

Thanks for the feedback Tind.

I got a few notes off board, so I hope I did not offend anyone being specific about the racial makeup of the area I was looking. While I have lived all over the US, and my family is very open minded about all issues it is very important to us to not only live in a diverse community but to also embrace our own culture. It's hard to do that living in a town where you don't see anyone at all that shares your background. Also it is still sad to say that as I travel around the US not matter what my income level and all around good guy manner we have felt unwelcome in a few areas that we lived in.

[sonarrat]

I don't think specifying at least 10% black is offensive, not like a certain other poster who specified that he wanted "almost all whites" ... in San Francisco. There isn't a facepalm big enough sometimes.

Piedmont would be the best on paper, but I don't think there are many smaller rentals there.

Dublin is 10.1% black, very safe, good schools, middle class suburb. No homicides since 2001.

[bmorerico]

Thanks, I have 2 Dublin apartments communities on my list (Ironhorse Trail, Archstone Emerald park) and plan to see what Craig's List has in terms of single family homes Monday prior to my Wed Visit.

I agree Dublin seems great, my only pause it is a little further then I like, but may be the right fit.

[Cassino]

Originally Posted by bmorerico

Thanks, I have 2 Dublin apartments communities on my list (Ironhorse Trail, Archstone Emerald park) and plan to see what Craig's List has in terms of single family homes Monday prior to my Wed Visit.

I agree Dublin seems great, my only pause it is a little further then I like, but may be the right fit.

The nice part about Dublin is that there is a BART station which you can ride into San Francisco and Oakland.

[bmorerico]

Originally Posted by Cassino

The nice part about Dublin is that there is a BART station which you can ride into San Francisco and Oakland.

Great, I knew the Bart ran out that far, but looking at the route and trip time makes me lean more toward Dublin. I work in IT, for now I work with HP and can work remote, but it make me smile to know the Bart can get me all over the bay from Dublin for an IT job if I switch.

Keep in mind I am used to Baltimore - DC commute 1.5 hours in traffic on a good day... And my kids love the subway in DC and NYC when I work there.

[mkdude_08]

I lived in Archstone Emerald park for a month (corporate housing). Very nice place, although I didn't stay there after the 30 days b/c it was too expensive for me. Dublin is a great place and would certainly fit the bill, although I'm not sure what the minority mix is... I'd imagine you could pull some stats on that.

[bmorerico]

Originally Posted by mkdude_08

I lived in Archstone Emerald park for a month (corporate housing). Very nice place, although I didn't stay there after the 30 days b/c it was too expensive for me. Dublin is a great place and would certainly fit the bill, although I'm not sure what the minority mix is... I'd imagine you could pull some stats on that.

Dublin seems to fit the mix I want at 10% probably a little higher and a good mix in general. Probably a little slower then I am used to but I think our weekends will be busy enjoys all the bay has to offer.

[bmorerico]

I spent about 5 days in the bay area looking for a place to rent for a year, while I determine where to buy. Thanks for the feedback which helped me reduce the search.

I have locked in on Dublin, specifically Dublin Ranch Villages a 3Br Condo. Just about to sign the lease. This may sound funny coming from someone who owns a house less then 5 minutes away from the Baltimore City Line where there is mega homicides, but after a tour in the Oakland areas I quickly excluded from my list. Not even so much from the crime, since Baltimore has twice the amount of murders I think, but I was not too thrilled with the style/community feel of the areas I viewed.

I am sure there are nice areas, and granted I spend less then 2 days in Oakland on this trip but I did hang out, barbershops, stores, etc...

San Rafael was a close second, but did not really have the diverse mix I was looking for, Dublin on paper should have 10% African Americans (did not quite seem that way, I wonder if what seems to be a military base helps make up that 10%), but life is what it is. I love the new development in the area. It seems like a good place to raise my kids and we can still get to the big city spots in the Bay.