best place to live in bay area? (San Jose, San Francisco: rent, crime)

[HOV]

hey guys, I currently live in SoCal, but in a year, I'll be moving to the bay area. I just got back from there and I fell in love. I plan on attending business school up there.

could I get some suggestions as to where to move in that area? idealistically, I'd like to be somewhat close to the San Francisco/Oakland area. I'm a big Golden State Warriors fan, and so I'd like to be able to take a train to Oracle Arena to check out some of their games.

also, I'm gonna be a broke college student, so cheap living is best lol. I know it's expensive anywhere you live up there, but there's probably places that are a little cheaper than San Francisco, but still near the city. I don't really need to live in San Francisco if there's someplace nearby that's a little cheaper.

thanks.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by HOV

hey guys, I currently live in SoCal, but in a year, I'll be moving to the bay area. I just got back from there and I fell in love. I plan on attending business school up there.

could I get some suggestions as to where to move in that area? idealistically, I'd like to be somewhat close to the San Francisco/Oakland area. I'm a big Golden State Warriors fan, and so I'd like to be able to take a train to Oracle Arena to check out some of their games.

also, I'm gonna be a broke college student, so cheap living is best lol. I know it's expensive anywhere you live up there, but there's probably places that are a little cheaper than San Francisco, but still near the city. I don't really need to live in San Francisco if there's someplace nearby that's a little cheaper.

thanks.

If you absolutely need to be able to take convenient public transport to the Warriors games, then that rules out the South Bay (anything south of Millbrae)... Millbrae's the last BART stop for the peninsula. Although CALtrain connects to the Millbrae stop, CALtrain doesn't run as often as it should... public transportation in the bay as a whole is a b****. If you want the best public transportation, then stay around SF, Oakland & Berkeley. The cities surrounding them have acceptable-good public transport by extension.


In terms of the cities themselves, aside from SF I would strongly recommend Oakland. While crime is a real factor, Oakland is a seriously deep city... ****load of history and its simply a beautiful city. You should take a look at the Oakland pics thread to get a glimpse of what Oakland looks like... and no I'm not just saying that cause I started the thread lol

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...land-pics.html


It's the 2nd most diverse city in the country only behind NYC... it has some of the best restaurants in the bay. While the nightlife isn't that great, it's conveniently placed right next to SF... BART is very easy to use and has extensive coverage of SF and downtown Oakland. Oakland is also considerably cheaper than SF...


Seeing as you probably want to live next to a BART station I would recommend looking in downtown although it is expensive... The cheapest area to live in in that area that's next to a BART station, that's near downtown and relatively decent is the MacArthur BART station.

MacArthur BART - Google Maps


It's close to Emeryville (Bay st. shopping area is good for its big chain shopping and the movie theatre and the Emeryville Public Market is good for relatively cheap and good eating) and it's as close as you get to SF in Oakland without being in it. Temescal is a decent neighborhood that's right next to the station... I would advise looking there. Stay east of the 24 freeway... the only issue with the BART station is that I would not recommend coming back there from SF late at night or in the early morning... some crime does occur in the area. Temescal also puts you conveniently close to Rockridge (upscale shopping & eating), Berkeley and Downtown Oakland...


If you care about being closer to the stadium, then you could also look in Fruitvale (Dimond/Laurel/Fruitvale area). Dimond is very safe and fairly affordable... I'm in Dimond myself. It has a decent commercial strip (Fruitvale & MacArthur intersection) and has plenty of bus options. It has two grocery store options (Farmer Joes and Safeway). Dimond Heights is the more upscale side of Dimond (above MacArthur Blvd) but is still fairly affordable (for the bay area)... You could easily get a place in Dimond Heights for under $1,500. I don't know what your budget is but that's about as good as it gets for the bay without being in dodgy areas...

Laurel is right next to Dimond and also has its own commercial strip; a very vibrant one at that. Laurel is the most diverse neighborhood in Oakland (which says a lot seeing as Oakland is the 2nd most diverse in the country). It's pretty safe and it's very affordable.


Fruitvale (the area surrounding Fruitvale Ave south of 580) is okay... I wouldn't walk around the neighborhood at night though. Generally you should try to live as close to 580 as possible... the further you go down Fruitvale the dodgier it gets. Whatever you do I would avoid living right off of International Blvd... International aka E 14th is infamous for the large amount of drug dealing that goes on after dark. While the part of International that's in Fruitvale has improved dramatically, it's still not safe. Preferrably you would find a place between School St. and Foothill Blvd. It's an interesting neighborhood in that it's Oakland's biggest Latino neighborhood... Fruitvale Ave by itself has a very interesting history. It has its own BART Station but again I wouldn't go there after dark... that's asking for trouble. On an unrelated note it's where Oscar Grant was killed.


There's a whole lot of choices in Oakland... it just depends on what you're looking for (and what your budget is).


Other cities that are worth looking at would be San Leandro and Berkeley due to their immediate proximity to Oakland... Berkeley is a college town at heart but it's also a thriving city. It also has extensive BART coverage. San Leandro is a suburb with a lot of history... only 40 years ago it was a VERY different city. Times called it the most racist city in the US back then... it was 100% white. now its one of the most diverse cities in the bay... go figure. It borders Oakland on the deep east end (near the Colliseum). San Leandro feels like an extension of Oakland but it has its own charm. It does have some issues with crime but it's not that serious... the main area to avoid would be by Bayfair Mall.


Hope this helps and good luck

[Nineties Flava]

lol... just noticed that you're a Jay Z fan

[HOV]

thanks Nineties, very helpful info. what about places closer to SF? I mean, I know Oakland is close, but I enjoyed SF much more while up there. I found the cities to be quite different from each other, actually lol. any suggestions for places on the other side of the bay?

[lmk1707]

Originally Posted by HOV

thanks Nineties, very helpful info. what about places closer to SF? I mean, I know Oakland is close, but I enjoyed SF much more while up there. I found the cities to be quite different from each other, actually lol. any suggestions for places on the other side of the bay?

19th St. BART in Oakland is only a 10 minute or so ride to the Embarcadero station in the city - about the same as living in the Mission and trying to get downtown. If you're looking to live in the city itself, you could check out the Mission, the Sunset, or the Richmond, where rents are cheaper. I'd also suggest you look into Oakland, though MacArthur BART doesn't have much going on nearby. You may want to look into places near Telegraph or Broadway in downtown/Uptown, or Adam's Point, which is convenient to both downtown & Grand Lake area. Millbrae & Daly City both have BART stations, but take longer to get to SF (and it's a more expensive ride), and have less vibrant downtown areas & eateries. If Oakland's too far though, the next closest place you can get to SF is SF itself.

What do you mean that you enjoyed SF more while "up there"? Where is up there?

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by lmk1707

19th St. BART in Oakland is only a 10 minute or so ride to the Embarcadero station in the city - about the same as living in the Mission and trying to get downtown. If you're looking to live in the city itself, you could check out the Mission, the Sunset, or the Richmond, where rents are cheaper. I'd also suggest you look into Oakland, though MacArthur BART doesn't have much going on nearby. You may want to look into places near Telegraph or Broadway in downtown/Uptown, or Adam's Point, which is convenient to both downtown & Grand Lake area. Millbrae & Daly City both have BART stations, but take longer to get to SF (and it's a more expensive ride), and have less vibrant downtown areas & eateries. If Oakland's too far though, the next closest place you can get to SF is SF itself.

What do you mean that you enjoyed SF more while "up there"? Where is up there?

He means the bay

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by HOV

thanks Nineties, very helpful info. what about places closer to SF? I mean, I know Oakland is close, but I enjoyed SF much more while up there. I found the cities to be quite different from each other, actually lol. any suggestions for places on the other side of the bay?

They're a lot different. Oakland and SF are completely different culturally and in terms of layout and density... they're not similar. Personally I prefer Oakland.

And if you don't mind not having good public transportation, then you should look at the south bay (Palo Alto, San Jose, San Mateo, etc). San Jose in general is quite a bit cheaper than SF or Oakland. The nightlife isn't that great though.


The most convenient city that's equidistant to San Jose and SF and is fairly close to Oakland is Redwood City... it's about a half-hour drive to SF and SJ and about 45 minutes to an hour to Oakland. It's a nice city... its one of the few cities on the peninsula where all the social classes are represented well. It's kind of an odd city in that in some ways it has a distinctly non-bay feel... some of the neighborhoods look like they could be in the midwest if there was more space in between the houses. It has the largest latino population on the peninsula and it has the most latino restaurants for a single city in the country... there's 60+. They recently redid the downtown and it's been for the better... the new movie theatre is really nice and the downtown as a whole has been nicely revitalized. It has the cheapest living on the Peninsula outside of EPA, which isn't saying much cause cheap on the peninsula will cost you $600,000 or rents exceeding $1,800... Redwood City has cheaper rent though.

[HOV]

what about Pacifica? is the cost of living there as expensive as all hell? lol, just wondering because I could probably afford something in like the 2k/month range.

[lmk1707]

Originally Posted by HOV

what about Pacifica? is the cost of living there as expensive as all hell? lol, just wondering because I could probably afford something in like the 2k/month range.

Well, Pacifica is actually a lot farther away from downtown SF than Oakland - it's inexpensive and has the beach, but it's kind of an odd town - lots of really rundown buildings. It's also very foggy. That said, I almost moved there awhile back and enjoyed myself while visiting. For 2k/month, you could get a one bedroom in most places, actually - even nicer parts of SF.

[HOV]

so if I could live anywhere in all the bay area that's still relatively close to SF, where should I live?