Pacifica, Berkeley, or Downtown (San Francisco, Daly City: houses, suburban, costs)

[SiddharthaGautama]

I'm looking for an area to move to and am considering Pacifica, Berkeley, Downtown, or somewhere else. I'm in my mid 20s and would like somewhere that I have easy access to the outdoors/beach yet close to the downtown area. I'm not real familiar with the different parts of downtown so if you could specify the area that would be great.

[ImRandy]

I'm not sure I get your question. Pacifica and Berkeley are different cities outside of San Francisco. Pacifica is 15-20 minutes from downtown San Francisco by car. Berkeley is 20-30 minutes away. Either of those will be affected by traffic and where exactly you're coming from/going to. Pacifica has ocean beaches. Berkeley has bay beaches. Pacifica is closer to more outdoor options than Berkeley.

[gizmo980]

One thing to add - you have to cross a bridge (the Bay Bridge) between Berkeley & San Francisco, whereas Pacifica is just straight freeway driving... so that not only costs more, but can add a HUGE delay to your commute, especially if you're going west during morning rush-hour & east in the evening. I used to live in Pacifica, btw, and it's a great little town! It's also more accesible to SF than some people realize, since hwy 1 & 280 have very light traffic. It just depends on exactly where you're going in SF - getting to North Beach or Nob Hill, for example, takes much longer than driving to the Sunset district.

[krudmonk]

Pacifica's way out there. Downtown SF is where the tall buildings are, but not necessarily the life (not that it's far from). Berkeley's connected by BART, which is convenient, but you pretty much get a similar social experience with a long train ride.

[KRISTINsf]

Oh Jesus! Pacifica is in the middle of no where! There is nothing but rows of houses, houses, and more houses. You want a loaf of bread? You gotta get your ass up, get that ass in the car, and drive to geat a loaf of bread.

[ImRandy]

Originally Posted by KRISTINsf

Oh Jesus! Pacifica is in the middle of no where! There is nothing but rows of houses, houses, and more houses. You want a loaf of bread? You gotta get your ass up, get that ass in the car, and drive to geat a loaf of bread.

Does it just magically appear in your breadbox or do elves bring it to you where you live?

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by KRISTINsf

Oh Jesus! Pacifica is in the middle of no where! There is nothing but rows of houses, houses, and more houses. You want a loaf of bread? You gotta get your ass up, get that ass in the car, and drive to geat a loaf of bread.

That is soooo not true... I lived in Pacifica for a year (right off Manor @ Esplanade), and we were like 15-20 minutes from SF, 10 minutes from BART, and 2 blocks from Safeway. If that's the middle of nowhere, you must have grown up in downtown Manhattan or something.

[Pablo_e]

When I was in my mid-20s, Pacifica was not where I would live....it is pretty suburban. While nice, it is sleepy. I would definitely lean towards SF or Berkeley. Depending on where you live, getting to downtown SF from Berkeley can be faster than if you actually live in SF due to BART. Yes, in Pacifica there are grocery stores, but you generally cannot walk and there is a limited selection. I could not imagine living in Pacifica w/o a car while it would not be an issue in SF or Berkeley. And comparing Pacifica to SF is apples to oranges....different fruits.

That being said, I would lean toward SF...to be near the park/beach, I would look around the Sunset (I prefer Inner Sunset), Cole Valley, Haight, Richmond (Inner part again). These all have some good neighborhoods, somewhat close to the park and beach. You could also try West Portal, but I think it is a bit too sleepy.

If you want even more specificity, I can give it....I also lived in Berkeley for 5 years as well as Montara (a bit south of Pacifica). If so, be a bit more detailed with what you want.

[sonarrat]

If you live downtown, you can take the N train straight to Ocean Beach. But nothing much happens downtown (Financial district). It's the outlying neighborhoods that have the life - North Beach/Fisherman's Wharf, SoMa, Noe Valley, Union Square, Panhandle, etc.

[KRISTINsf]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

That is soooo not true... I lived in Pacifica for a year (right off Manor @ Esplanade), and we were like 15-20 minutes from SF, 10 minutes from BART, and 2 blocks from Safeway. If that's the middle of nowhere, you must have grown up in downtown Manhattan or something.

Ahaha, actually I was born in Manhattan and lived their 'till I was 11. I than moved to San Francisco with my Father, who is also from Manhattan. Let us not to forget to mention how treacherous the damn buses are out their! Don't those things that run through Daly City have a curfew of 9PM?!