Albany, Emeryville, Berkeley, Pt Richmond?? (San Francisco, Oakland: 2009, townhouses, live in)

[artemis78]

Yup, Solano Avenue, which is that neck of the woods' yuppie commercial district (though I mean that in a good way! San Pablo also has a lot of retail along it, but it's got more of a strip mall and less of a neighborhood feel--you go there to get things, whereas Solano you might take a stroll down just to go for a walk and window shop.

I'm really only familiar with the parts of El Cerrito that our friends live in, which is pretty much the Fairmount and Thousand Oaks neighborhoods (TO straddles El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley, and Kensington). On a map, draw a line along San Pablo from Solano Ave to Central Ave; hook a right on Central to Colusa; follow Colusa/Peralta back to Solano, and then down Solano back to SP. Everything inside that square, which includes parts of EC, Albany, Kensington, and I think even Berk, is pretty easy access to BART, Solano shops and restaurants, nightlife, etc., and most of it tends to be smaller homes on small lots (so less suburb-y than other parts of the same cities--but still expect it to be lots of families!) There are some condos and rental buildings sprinkled in there as well.

You probably want to avoid the parts of that square that are in Berkeley and Kensington (pricey and few rentals anyway), but Albany is somewhat more affordable and El Cerrito even more so. However, you still pay a premium relative to the prices in other parts of those cities for being close to the amenities there.

Weather in that area is similar to Berkeley flats--less fog than the city, pretty warm and sunny in late summer/early fall, rainy in the winter. As you go up into the hills you get more fog that takes longer to burn off. (You can often see it roll down from the Berk/EC hills!)

[gizmo980]

Thanks artemis - very helpful! Do you know anything about Emeryville and/or the Berkeley/Oakland/Emeryville border (like around 46th-50th & San Pablo Ave)? I've seen a few nice rentals around there, including some COOL lofts in Emeryville, but wasn't sure if that's a good area. These places in particular caught my attention:
Bakery Lofts | Emeryville, California
B2 Lofts

I looked them up on apartmentratings, but that site is kind of useless - since EVERY apartment has a slew of bad ratings (always a whiner in the bunch, lol), and/or they're way old and therefore irrelevant.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Thanks artemis - very helpful! Do you know anything about Emeryville and/or the Berkeley/Oakland/Emeryville border (like around 46th-50th & San Pablo Ave)? I've seen a few nice rentals around there, including some COOL lofts in Emeryville, but wasn't sure if that's a good area. These places in particular caught my attention:
Bakery Lofts | Emeryville, California
B2 Lofts

I looked them up on apartmentratings, but that site is kind of useless - since EVERY apartment has a slew of bad ratings (always a whiner in the bunch, lol), and/or they're way old and therefore irrelevant.

There are some nice places in Emeryville. The area you're talking about on the South Berkeley/ North Oakland border is not the best area but not THAT bad. The further down San Pablo you go towards downtown Oakland the worse it gets as you move into West Oakland. They are building and have built some nice condo's on San Pablo that Ive taken a look at. Its just that the area is far from any Bart station and some might consider the area rough.

[artemis78]

Ditto what City Boy said. On a VERY generalized crime/safety scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is deep Richmond or East Oakland and 10 is Piedmont, you're looking at Solano Ave as maybe an 8, and that part of Emeryville as a 5 or so. (Other parts of Emeryville, closer to Hollis/Doyle/etc., are somewhat safer, I'd say.) That said, I love the Bakery Loft building. If 1500 Park has units, that building is pretty cool too. Along San Pablo, I would definitely rent and not buy right now (if you were considering the latter)--they have a lot of new buildings coming online, and I think prices may take a bit to shake out. (Flip side of that argument says buy now before it gentrifies, I guess....but still, I'd wait and get a reading on the future of that 'hood first.) I do think it has lots of potential, though, and would expect to see more and more restaurants, stores, etc. as people move in. Emeryville is also working very hard on getting amenities and such to folks--it's worth it to live on their side of the line. Check out any places available in the developments near Doyle, too, as the city is finishing a greenway through there that's beautiful--there's also a community garden on Doyle.

[pihiplyr13]

gizmo980, I've been reading your posts concerning Marina Bay and interested in what you thought of the neighborhood. I too have been looking at condos there (thinking of commuting to Berkeley) and everything looks positive. Was there anything you didn't like about it?

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by artemis78

Ditto what City Boy said. On a VERY generalized crime/safety scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is deep Richmond or East Oakland and 10 is Piedmont, you're looking at Solano Ave as maybe an 8, and that part of Emeryville as a 5 or so. (Other parts of Emeryville, closer to Hollis/Doyle/etc., are somewhat safer, I'd say.) That said, I love the Bakery Loft building. If 1500 Park has units, that building is pretty cool too. Along San Pablo, I would definitely rent and not buy right now (if you were considering the latter)--they have a lot of new buildings coming online, and I think prices may take a bit to shake out. (Flip side of that argument says buy now before it gentrifies, I guess....but still, I'd wait and get a reading on the future of that 'hood first.) I do think it has lots of potential, though, and would expect to see more and more restaurants, stores, etc. as people move in. Emeryville is also working very hard on getting amenities and such to folks--it's worth it to live on their side of the line. Check out any places available in the developments near Doyle, too, as the city is finishing a greenway through there that's beautiful--there's also a community garden on Doyle.

Thanks for the info, and I'll take all of that into consideration... I'm thinking Emeryville is too far, though, and wouldn't save me a whole lot in terms of hassle/commute. But I plan to look everywhere that I can afford!

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by pihiplyr13

gizmo980, I've been reading your posts concerning Marina Bay and interested in what you thought of the neighborhood. I too have been looking at condos there (thinking of commuting to Berkeley) and everything looks positive. Was there anything you didn't like about it?

Honestly, no - they are very nice! The neighborhood is a little weird, though, since it's in-between both downtown & Pt. Richmond. So you'd probably have to drive a bit for shopping, since the only thing nearby is the Marina center (I think that's what it's called?) with a few shops. Also, make sure you request a renovated unit, since they are MUCH nicer... the old ones have crappy formica countertops, old appliances & carpeting, whereas the renovated units have granite & marble counters, custom bathroom tiles & new stainless appliances. Sweet!

[ZhugeLiang]

I'd probably wait even longer to buy, things will only continue to go down hill, don't make the mistake of overpaying for something now unless its a choice piece of property that you simply must have.

For cool places in the east bay, I'd stick to Albany or Berkeley, well, north Berkeley anyway, nothing too far south of University.

[pihiplyr13]

Thanks for the reply, I think I'm going to go tour some of these units, it just seems like an amazing deal, I am not sure however that I want to buy right now (I think prices are going to come down even more, about 20% more and that the market hasn't bottomed out).

One of the units sold for $153,790 May 6th, so it's about $900/mo to own, very reasonable. Crime is my chief concern (its still in Richmond even though its south of the freeway and "gated"), in addition to location of groceries/entertainment/shopping.

[chata]

I can't see much of east bay as a "suburban hell", being that I really grew up in one in a faraway state. You'll probably like the North Berkeley area, near the north berkeley BART and downtown Berkeley, or the El Cerrito area closer to Albany.