Best Commute to Downtown Oakland? (San Jose, San Francisco: rental, crime, how much)

[asantewaa]

Hi All,

My husband has just accepted a job offer in downtown Oakland. We will be moving there from Washington, D.C. We plan to live outside of Oakland. So I was wondering which area would give him the easiest commute to work. He would drive in and we don't plan to live in San Francisco. We want to rent a house for no more than $2500 a month. We also have a young daughter, so a safe area is important.

Thanks in advance for responding!

[gizmo980]

There are actually a few nice parts of Oakland, like Lake Merritt... my step-sister lives there, and she's kind of a wimp. Outside of Oakland, you can look into Berkeley (certain parts - like the hills), Alameda, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and maybe Concord. As for your husband's commute, if you live anywhere near a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station, it's easy & quick to get into Oakland. Driving there is quite a hassle, since you have to work through "the maze" - our worst traffic area! Places to avoid would be Richmond, Emeryville, San Lorenzo/San Leandro, and most of Oakland... they're mostly not that safe, though there are some nicer parts of those cities. Good luck!

P.S. Craigslist is a great source for researching rental costs... just look under "East Bay" or "San Francisco" sub-categories.

[gizmo980]

I just noticed that he's planning to drive into Oakland... I'd highly suggest taking BART instead, unless he needs the car for some reason. As I mentioned above, the maze is awful, and he'll be sitting in bumper-to-bumper every day - if he works traditional hours, that is. But regardless, the towns I mentioned would still be the best commutes... getting to Oakland from the Peninsula or South & North Bay is a complete mess!! But mainly you want to avoid crossing a bridge, since they get really backed up at rush-hour.

[asantewaa]

Thank you so much for responding! Your information will be a tremendous help!

[gizmo980]

You're very welcome! By the way, I just looked around on craigslist for you... and Walnut Creek is actually more affordable than I thought! You could get up to a 4-bedroom house for $2000-2500, which is really affordable by Bay Area standards. I looked at Walnut Creek specifically, since I think that would be a good choice... it's a really nice, safe, family-friendly town that you'd probably like. It's very "suburbia", but you mentioned wanting to be away from Oakland and San Francisco - so I assume you'd prefer a suburban neighborhood. Anyway, just thought you would like to know...

Here's a picture of a house I found in Walnut Creek, which is $2500 exactly... 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, and 2031 sf. Nice!

[asantewaa]

it's perfect. I just left her message and I'm sending an email also. I googled it from my husband's job address and it's a mere 15 miles. Are there any bridges to cross coming from the orinda/lafayette/walnut creek direction? i think my hubby will definitely prefer driving than taking BART. Is the commute better on this side?

Thank you again. That listing you found was perfect. And I see there are several more single-family homes on craigslist for the Walnut Creek area.

We had applied for a house that said it was in oakland hills. But when our friend went and checked out the property for us, it was actually in a bad part of town. so that was disappointing.

You've been a big help.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by asantewaa

it's perfect. I just left her message and I'm sending an email also. I googled it from my husband's job address and it's a mere 15 miles. Are there any bridges to cross coming from the orinda/lafayette/walnut creek direction? i think my hubby will definitely prefer driving than taking BART. Is the commute better on this side?

Thank you again. That listing you found was perfect. And I see there are several more single-family homes on craigslist for the Walnut Creek area.

We had applied for a house that said it was in oakland hills. But when our friend went and checked out the property for us, it was actually in a bad part of town. so that was disappointing.

You've been a big help.

Glad I could be of assistance! I honestly don't know the Walnut Creek neighborhoods very well, so definitely check the locations in person (or with a knowledgeable local) - most of the town is very safe, but you never know! I've also read that they have two school districts, so make sure you're in the Walnut Creek school district, since it's better than Mt. Diablo SD. There aren't any bridges between WC and Oakland, so that's at least one positive... the commute won't take TOO long, but I won't lie - it can get really backed up in that part of the East Bay. I drove through this morning around 10am, and got stuck for a while on Highway 24. The "maze", which I mentioned earlier, is what causes these problems... here's a quote from wikipedia (which I usually hate as a source, but they're reliable for this kind of stuff):

"The MacArthur Maze is one of the busiest freeway interchange complexes in the United States since traffic going to San Francisco from all of the cities and communities on the East Bay converge into that area.
The official MacArthur Maze interchange comprises four freeway segments (i.e. there are four freeway routes into the complex):
* Interstate 80, going west across the Bay Bridge.
* Interstate 580, headed east towards eastern Alameda County.
* Interstate 80 / Interstate 580 multiplex, headed towards Berkeley and northern Contra Costa County.
* Interstate 880 going south towards southern Alameda County and San Jose.
In addition, local residents refer to the two freeway interchanges less than a mile away as part of the MacArthur Maze:
* The I-580 / Interstate 980 / California State Route 24 interchange. Highway 24 brings in traffic from eastern Contra Costa County. <-- this is what he'd be driving on
* The Cypress Structure Division, commonly called the "San Rafael Split," where North I-880 traffic makes a choice to go to I-80 West and the Bay Bridge or I-580 West/I-80 East towards Berkeley and Sacramento. This is where the exit from the EB Bay Bridge for I-880 South and the SB Eastshore Fwy exit for SB I-880 meet.
* The I-880 / I-980 interchange."

Getting through all of that can be annoying, but Walnut Creek - Oakland definitely isn't the worst commute around there. I'm not 100% sure, but I'd estimate a driving time of about 35-40 minutes. It's do-able, as long as your husband can deal with our road rage & obnoxious drivers. Good luck!

[gizmo980]

I just checked, and that particular house is in the Mt. Diablo school district... not sure how much it matters, but you might want to ask around about that. It does look like a great house, so maybe it's worth the trade-off! Especially if your daughter's very young, since it becomes more important when they're in high school. Anyway, sorry if that's bad news, but thought I'd share...

[asantewaa]

Hi Gizmo, we've just applied for a house in Oakland. It's off of Keller Ave. We do have a friend there and she checked out the property and said the neighborhood and the house were good. Of course it's not as much house as we would get in Walnut Creek but at least my husband's commute shouldn't be too bad. I'll let you know how it goes.

By the way, our daughter is 2 1/2 years old, so the schools aren't a big concern yet.

Hopefully we'll get this house and I won't have to process all that highway information you just sent me.

I hope you're staying dry out there!

[blurstar]

Why live so far from Oakland? The drive from Walnut Creek to Oakland thru the tunnel will be a major pain every day.

For safety you need not look farther than Alameda, CA. I know the place - cops swarm the streets day and night. The worst crime in Alameda is people driving at 35 mph on 25-mph streets.

The rent is within your budget too.