Oakland to Livermore commute (Berkeley, Walnut Creek: apartment, lease, lofts)

[fisher191]

I know you all get a ton of these..... but I'm moving to the area, from Michigan. The job is in Livermore, I would like to live in an 'urban' property, and have found several in Oakland.

How is that commute, is the BART reasonable? Is there bike lockers at the Bart station to rent?

I think the only thing I have that can help me is that my commute might be in the opposite direction of most people.

[aslowdodge]

Depends where in oakland you are. Bart does have bike lockers. if you are on the border of south oakland close to the eastside by 580, fwy should be easy if you drive. if you travel 880 it will be somewhat congested until you get to 580 in castro valley. The middle and north parts of 880 get pretty packed.

[wilkermoo]

Are you going to be working at the Livermore Lab? That is the only place I can think of in Livermore that someone would be relocating for. It is funny that you ask about a job in Livermore and want to move to Oakland, most people who work in Oakland would think to look out towards Livermore for home. If you want a more urban place to live you might want to consider Walnut Creek Downtown. Walnut Creek is growing quite a bit and if you lived in an apartment in the downtown area you could walk to almost any restaurant in town and use public transaportation to get around.
I do not know exactly how urban the environment that you desire is. I am 26 live and work in the Livermore area and I love it. The area is growing rapidly and everyday there is more stores/restaurants ebing built.

[EricCartmann]

you should live in Livermore, Dublin or Pleasonton. Why would you want to live in Oakland?

[chadetroit]

I came from Michigan and now live in Pleasanton have also lived in Livermore. They are more suburban than urban just depends on what you want. They are great cities to live in though. My wife does just the opposite commute from Pleasanton to Oakland the Bart ride is about 42 minutes and you have to switch trains. Note that you will only be able to take the Bart to Pleasanton/Dublin then you will need to get transportation from the station into Livermore. The bike ride might be more than you are willing to go. There is also the Wheels Bus system that runs out of the Bart station in Pleasanton that you can get into Livermore with but it only hits a small part of that city.

Just be careful where you choose to live in oakland as there are many pockets that are good and bad in mixed in the city. Urban is good but you want to feel safe also. Good luck.

[fisher191]

I was really looking to live in an Urban area, I have been trying to research as much as possible. Suburban is a little to boring for me, if I had it my way, I would live in downtown Manhattan.

I'm relocating to work in the mortgage and lending field.

I was previously considering downtown Detroit, as it is starting to revitalize, but Michigan's economy is in serious trouble.

I love the urban lofts, no picket fence and vinyl siding for me.

The Piedmont area and Jack London area seem nice....

I have heard very good things about Walnut Creek, I'll look there a little more.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by EricCartmann

you should live in Livermore, Dublin or Pleasonton. Why would you want to live in Oakland?

Probably because he does not want to live in a boring bush supporting valley.

broadwaygrand.com

[fisher191]

I checked out the broadwaygrand website, and on the surface it seems quite nice. I find an art deco architecture very appealling, it is just really to bad that there is not a rendering on the site. Some projects I have checked out have good floorplans, but I hate the exterior facades.....

[City Boy]

They are still building them. I live right down the street its a nice area. They are really building it up down here. This resteraunt is going to be in the bottom of broadway grand. It has some of the best Sushi in the bay. If you like sushi. Its really nice.

ozumo.com

[fisher191]

Well, I recently moved out here. I ended up accepting a different job that covers the East Bay territory, instead of an office job. Upon the urging of a recruiter I leased an apartment online, which not many will let you lease 'site unseen' in Walnut Creek, right next to the Pleasant Hill Bart.

My fiance and I spent a week exploring the area, and doing the tourist stuff (Alcatraz was cool) and I am embarassed to say that my impression of Oakland was not as I had imagined from researching it online. I'm sure you will all pounce on me, but when we went to explore Jack London square and the Broadway Grand, I got off the BART and really got the impression that is was not whether or not I would be mugged, but when. Jack London had some impressive redevelopment that seems to have really stalled.

I did some urban redevelopment in Michigan, but the cities were depressed, or in areas of old buildings, but they had a much safer feel.

I will say that I was very impressed with the little bit of Rockridge that we saw. At the conclusion of our lease we will look in that area, or Berkeley, which had a little more of that urban feel that I like, but still safe.

Downtown Detroit, I felt much more comfortable there, than in the core of Oakland.