Relocating to San Mateo - are East and Downtown areas safe? (San Francisco: apartment complexes, rentals)

[thenewyawkah]

Hi,

My fiancee and I are relocating from NYC to San Mateo for work (he will be taking Caltrain into San Francisco) and we have a seemingly impossible task in front of us - find a place to live for ourselves and 3 cats within a one week window.

We will be traveling to San Mateo on April 12th -18th. Our primary housing contacts have been through Craigslist and we have lined up several places to check out. Most of the places that are reasonable walking distance to a Caltrain station seem to be clustered around East San Mateo and downtown. We have visited the area previously and I was a bit unsettled in particular by B Street. Is it actually unsafe? Is there any reason why so many of the housing rentals are clustered around this area?

Also, if anyone knows of a townhouse or house for rent for between $2000-2500/mo I would love to find out about it. Both of us have great credit and 10+ years of solid rental history. Thanks a lot for any and all advice!

[humboldtrat]

The downtown area is safe with things to do (restaurants, movie theater, etc.). The east side around the freeway is a little sketchy and a bit rundown compared with the west side.

Also check out the southern part of San Mateo called Hillsdale. There is a Caltrain station there also. Hillsdale Garden Apartments in San Mateo, CA - San Mateo, California Apartment Rentals | Essex Property Trust is one complex in the area within walking distance of the Hillsdale Caltrain station (and next to the Hillsdale mall Hillsdale Shopping Center ). There are also other apts in the area.

The 3 cats may be an issue when renting.

[thenewyawkah]

Thanks!

I thought it seemed fine and I love the short commute into San Francisco from there. Three cats is definitely an issue - I will check out the apartments you mentioned as well.

[thenewyawkah]

Thanks!

I thought it seemed fine and I love the short commute into San Francisco from there. Three cats is definitely an issue - I will check out the apartments you mentioned as well.

[sonarrat]

Anywhere in San Mateo is going to be safe. The crime rate is quite low, and as a result it's also remarkably expensive.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Places to avoid:
- East of US 101
- Certain streets between Cal Train and US 101, especially within 3 blocks of 101 (check personally, it is a pocket situation - good and bad pockets)
- Certain streets in the area bounded by 19th ave, Delaware, US-101 and ~ 9th ave.

Issues - Norteno - Sureno gang conflicts, Tongan Crips, and the odd rare black on black action which inadvertently affects innocent bystanders.

Worst crime issue I had, living in Creekside Village, East 3rd Ave, (big, big, big mistake!) was a Tongan Crip who I caught stealing my bike from my patio - it was one of those moments, I thought I might just end up in a gun battle - thankfully he ran away after putting a rock through my bedroom window. The place was run by crack heads and there was active dealing going on out of multiple units.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Places to avoid:
- East of US 101
- Certain streets between Cal Train and US 101, especially within 3 blocks of 101 (check personally, it is a pocket situation - good and bad pockets)
- Certain streets in the area bounded by 19th ave, Delaware, US-101 and ~ 9th ave.

Issues - Norteno - Sureno gang conflicts, Tongan Crips, and the odd rare black on black action which inadvertently affects innocent bystanders.

Worst crime issue I had, living in Creekside Village, East 3rd Ave, (big, big, big mistake!) was a Tongan Crip who I caught stealing my bike from my patio - it was one of those moments, I thought I might just end up in a gun battle - thankfully he ran away after putting a rock through my bedroom window. The place was run by crack heads and there was active dealing going on out of multiple units.

LOL what? Black and Black crime in San Mateo? Tongan Crips?

[coolbay]

Check out Burlingame or Millbrae area. Millbrae has both Caltrain and Bart stations. You will find many shopping areas near Millbrae station. I prefer these areas. Also, on Hwy 101, traffic between Millbrae and Hwy-92 sux!

Good Luck with your move.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by City Boy

LOL what? Black and Black crime in San Mateo? Tongan Crips?

I did qualify the comment about black on black with rare.

FYI:

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula...nclick_check=1

The "gentleman" I had a confrontation with was a Shoreview Crip.

[user123455]

Originally Posted by thenewyawkah

Hi,

My fiancee and I are relocating from NYC to San Mateo for work (he will be taking Caltrain into San Francisco) and we have a seemingly impossible task in front of us - find a place to live for ourselves and 3 cats within a one week window.

We will be traveling to San Mateo on April 12th -18th. Our primary housing contacts have been through Craigslist and we have lined up several places to check out. Most of the places that are reasonable walking distance to a Caltrain station seem to be clustered around East San Mateo and downtown. We have visited the area previously and I was a bit unsettled in particular by B Street. Is it actually unsafe? Is there any reason why so many of the housing rentals are clustered around this area?

Also, if anyone knows of a townhouse or house for rent for between $2000-2500/mo I would love to find out about it. Both of us have great credit and 10+ years of solid rental history. Thanks a lot for any and all advice!

Like you noticed and also mentioned in this thread, some areas of San Mateo are pretty run down and not places I would want to live in. Avoid any place east of the US-101 freeway, and also the areas between 101 and Caltrain are not that great (even though there are a few OK apartment complexes).

The main problem with your plan is the idea of walking to the train station. You have to understand this is a suburban area (so commercial and residential area are not close together) sp people don't really walk from their home anywhere. So limiting yourself to living within walking distance of the train station means that you can't live in most of the good areas of San Mateo, which are usually west of El Camino.

Having said that, there are a few good places just west and south of the downtown (but not to the north of it, like Ave B that you saw), which would be quite close to the train station. So I would recommend you look at the area south of 5th Ave (in fact there's a really nice large building on 5th and Laurel) between the railroad and El Camino. Also there are a lot of apartments just west of El Camino and the corner of Baldwin Ave. Anything west of El Camino is nice, but I would avoid apartment buildings on El Camino itself as there is a quite a lot of traffic on this street. Both these areas are walkable to the downtown and the train station.

Bird eye view of San Mateo Central Park and adjacent apartment buildings (5th - 9th Ave):

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...20ca&encType=1

Like someone said, you can also go to Burlingame (about 1.5 miles north of San Mateo) as that city has a lot of apartments (many of them close to the train station), and it doesn't have almost any bad areas at all.

You can also go to the Hillsdale area (one train stop to the south) which is still within San Mateo. There is one very good (but expensive) new apartment community close to the freeway from which it's possible to walk to the Hillsdale train station. It's not close to the downtown, but they have a nice new neighborhood with Whole Foods and many restaurants, and you're also close to the Hillsdale Mall (across El Camino from the train station). It's brand new and pet friendly :

Archstone San Mateo inÂ*the Bay AreaÂ*| Archstone Apartments