Should we move to the Bay Area? (San Francisco, Oakland: apartments, buying a house)

[pixelville]

We are semi-retired (occasionally freelance remotely), professionals in our 40s, no kids and want to move out of the Chicago area to something a lot less cold. But at the same time, it should be culturally (& intellectually) active, diverse, safe, urban/city-living and a very walkable neighborhood (close to restaurants, theaters, galleries, shopping, groceries i.e. will need car only rarely). And, not a very high cost of living. Maybe spend around $1500-2000 for 2bedroom apartment rental.
Does such a place in the Bay Area exist? A neighborhood (smallish) downtown area will not be dense/urban enough for my needs I think. San Francisco (Marina, Russian Hill) are good except for the weather and price.
I love Chicago (city/downtown) for the 4 warm months of the year, but would like a similar place that stays warm and sunny 8-12 months of the year.
Any thoughts, suggestions?
RA

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by pixelville

We are semi-retired (occasionally freelance remotely), professionals in our 40s, no kids and want to move out of the Chicago area to something a lot less cold. But at the same time, it should be culturally (& intellectually) active, diverse, safe, urban/city-living and a very walkable neighborhood (close to restaurants, theaters, galleries, shopping, groceries i.e. will need car only rarely). And, not a very high cost of living. Maybe spend around $1500-2000 for 2bedroom apartment rental.
Does such a place in the Bay Area exist?

Bay Area? In towns like Mountain View or Sunnyvale, yes. But these towns are not "urban" areas, they are suburban and may not provide the city lifestyle you're looking for.

I don't think you can find 2 bedroom apartments in San Francisco for that price.... Maybe you should look at Berkeley or Oakland, which are cheaper than SF and still much more urban than the South Bay.

[zitsky]

I don't think San Francisco will fit your needs. It's a nice enough city, but it's a lot smaller than Chicago and it shows. I lived in Chicago for 8 years before moving to the west coast. I've never lived in San Francisco proper, but I did live in Mountain View, about 30 miles south, for about 12 years. In my opinion Chicago is a fantastic city. San Francisco just doesn't compare to Chicago in terms of nightlife, art scene or even culture. I'll get knocked for saying this, but having lived in Chicago, to me San Francisco feels like a small town. Don't get me wrong, there are some nice things about it. It just isn't like Chicago.

You do know that Mark Twain said something along the lines of "The coldest winter I ever experienced was a summer in San Francisco"? San Francisco weather can be foggy and cold even in summer. There are some beautiful days but it tends to be colder than the peninsula or East Bay.

[gone down south]

You're about $800/month off on your budget.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by pixelville

We are semi-retired (occasionally freelance remotely), professionals in our 40s, no kids and want to move out of the Chicago area to something a lot less cold. But at the same time, it should be culturally (& intellectually) active, diverse, safe, urban/city-living and a very walkable neighborhood (close to restaurants, theaters, galleries, shopping, groceries i.e. will need car only rarely). And, not a very high cost of living. Maybe spend around $1500-2000 for 2bedroom apartment rental.
Does such a place in the Bay Area exist? A neighborhood (smallish) downtown area will not be dense/urban enough for my needs I think. San Francisco (Marina, Russian Hill) are good except for the weather and price.
I love Chicago (city/downtown) for the 4 warm months of the year, but would like a similar place that stays warm and sunny 8-12 months of the year.
Any thoughts, suggestions?
RA

I'll echo everyone else's sentiments...sadly, I don't think you'll find anything in the US that meets your requirements (very urban, good weather, and safe, especially at that price.) LA might be a bit closer as it is a bit cheaper and has much warmer weather, but as far as what one would imagine as urban/city-living goes, I'm sure you know that LA has a completely different set of rules.

[befr33]

East Atlanta? Decatur area...

[mayorhaggar]

You can definitely get a 2br for under $2000 in Oakland, and yes Oakland has a lot of nice areas, I would recommend North Oakland. I used to live in Chicago and Oakland is VERY similar to Chicago, very similar layout with a mix of houses with apartment buildings with lots of shops and restaurants on the major avenues. If you're near a street like College Ave, like I am, you're a few minutes' walk from a lot of good places to eat and go grocery shopping. It's not as dense and walkable as SF but it is doable, I live without a car, plus it's way easier to park than SF. Berkeley is a bit more expensive than Oakland but pretty similar, so is Albany. Alameda could work too, I think it's about as expensive as North Oakland. But I'd say Berkeley and Oakland are pretty definitely the most walkable cities in the Bay Area outside of SF.

The Silicon Valley area is very expensive so I don't think you'll find what you want there, though you might find something under 2k here and there. You'd have options around Southern California too which is expensive too but not quite as pricy as the Bay Area, though it's definitely way more sprawly. If you want walkable cities with decent public transit but without Midwestern/Northeastern winters, the Bay Area is the place to be.

In terms of weather, Oakland and Berkeley tend to be similar to SF but not as windy, foggy or cool, maybe 5-10 degrees warmer than downtown SF. It's usually in the 70's from around May to October. If you want warmer maybe check out Walnut Creek which gets into the 90's in summer, it is sprawly but its downtown is basically a big outdoor mall, I don't like malls but I enjoy going to downtown WC.

If you are interested in Oakland or Berkeley or WC or Alamada or whatever then come on down to the San Francisco board and people can give you more advice.

[whitey black]

Originally Posted by pixelville

We are semi-retired (occasionally freelance remotely), professionals in our 40s

It would be nice to know how exactly how to retire (or semi-retire) at that age.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by whitey black

It would be nice to know how exactly how to retire (or semi-retire) at that age.

Earn a good income and live a very bare bones lifestyle. It's not all that hard to achieve it if you don't have kids and if you focus on true needs instead of the trumped up consumerism they call the "American Dream".

You might want to read this blog:

www.earlyretirementextreme.com

or this one:

www.earlyretirementhomepage.com

[pixelville]

Thank you. We will look into Oakland and Berkeley soon - seems like they may be the closest match.
Will research LA, E.Atlanta.

We managed semi-retirement by living below our means, having no kids (and not buying a house). LBYM still included travel, enjoyment but the focus has alway been experiences rather than material acquisitions.