Please help with identifying a city in CA (Los Angeles, San Diego: apartments, condo)

[Entangled]

Originally Posted by OwlKaMyst

Burlingame is MUCH nicer and quaint than Millbrae. I loved living in the hills of Burlingame.

What exactly makes it MUCH nicer? How far is it from the city? 20-30 min?

[Entangled]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

If your husband really hates rain, Nevada is the place for him. It is the driest state in the Union.


I personally would never live in a city, so my opinions may be skewed. Living in San Francisco is doable, it is a small compact city. I would not bother with the suburbs to the south, if my goal was the city itself. North Bay, Marin County has some very fine areas, and you can take the ferry into the city.

In the East Bay, in my opinion, the Oakland and Berkeley hills are livable

But, if, if for some reason I had to live in the Bay area, I would live in the city itself, probably in the Marina District. Whereas if I had to live in the Los Angeles area, I would shoot myself

Marin County and North bay would be reminiscent of Staten Island for some reason. How is the Marina District? Overcrowded? Astronomic rents? Why so harsh on LA?

We actually have a terrific rental situation now. We live in a very nice neighborhood, with a huge park nearby, some small eateries, an independent movie theater, grocery stores, delis walking distance, subway 15 min away with a commute of 45min-1hr to midtown Manhattan (door to door), we have 2br apt on the top floor, with an indoor garage and we pay $1490 for a rent stabilized apartment. We wouldn't want to pay over 2K for a similar living situation, hence we refuse to live in the city. It's so nice to have more money in your bank account to actually do things with.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Entangled

What exactly makes it MUCH nicer? How far is it from the city? 20-30 min?

In short, money. If you're in a position to pony for the tony, the south Bay Area was a number of wonderfully scenic burbs with a summer-warm Med. climate: Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Los Gatos, etc. Some people use the term "San Francisco" to refer to the entire Bay Area, but there's much more to the Bay Area than that foggy part of the peninsula.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by Entangled

Marin County and North bay would be reminiscent of Staten Island for some reason. How is the Marina District? Overcrowded? Astronomic rents? Why so harsh on LA?

We actually have a terrific rental situation now. We live in a very nice neighborhood, with a huge park nearby, some small eateries, an independent movie theater, grocery stores, delis walking distance, subway 15 min away with a commute of 45min-1hr to midtown Manhattan (door to door), we have 2br apt on the top floor, with an indoor garage and we pay $1490 for a rent stabilized apartment. We wouldn't want to pay over 2K for a similar living situation, hence we refuse to live in the city. It's so nice to have more money in your bank account to actually do things with.

Marin is very high end, I do not think Staten Island would compare. Marin would be more like the Hamptons. The Marina District has lots of dynamic people, a younger vibe. Lots of my clients in the mountains lived there. Is it over crowded? Yes, all cities and suburbs are, by my definition. But by others, dunno.

Los Angeles? Well, it is said that everything west of Istanbul is Los Angeles. But, more specifically, any city that takes two hours to drive through on the Freeway! is by definition a megalopolis. San Francisco has style and class, Los Angeles has freeways. One can live quite happily in San Francisco without a car. Tough to do in Los Angeles. My daughter went to school there for a while, I would visit, we could walk anywhere we wanted, Chinatown to Nob Hill to Fisherman's wharf etc at night safely. We would see women alone, walking or jogging, safely. I think that is important.

It used to be that my ski instructor friends and I could tell who was from Southern California, and who was from San Francisco. So Calians drove Corvettes, and wore those silly cowboy hats with pheasant feathers stuck in them, bright colors and skied with huge wide track parallels. San Franciscans drove Volvos and Porsches and wore the English sports car caps, and skied with a classic Arlberg style wearing Harris Tweed,, no I made that last up, they wore Bogner.

In Europe when you see an America do one of those classically moronic American things like yelling louder in English when someone who doesn't speak English cannot understand them, they are likely from Los Angeles. When passable French or Italian is spoken by an American, likely they are from San Francisco.

These are my opinions and may bear no resemblance to any other persons reality.

San Francisco, and the better parts of the Peninsula and of course Marin County are Knightsbridge, and Chelsea. Los Angeles is Tottenham.

[OwlKaMyst]

It's easier to fly into San Jose. And if you want to get into the city from 101, it's much easier to go 101 (headed north of course) to hit 380 to 280 and end up on 19th avenue. That's also the side of the city with the majority of residential areas. Going 101 all the way in puts you in the industrial/commercial/financial side of SF.
So, if you fly into SFO, 380 is right there, can't miss it coming out if the airport. If you come in down in San Jose, you have the choice of driving 101 or just get on 280 and skip all the changes. The scenery is as different as night and day, as well as the amount of traffic. 101 is congested and all cement and buildings, while 280 is swifter moving and weaves through the hills.
And for the bridges, the tolls are all going into the peninsula, not out. However if you cross a bridge, you have to cross another to get back and that's when you pay a toll. Have $6 ready.
Unless you have several hours to spend adventuring. Then you can just drive south (from the east bay) and come back around, all the way on land- and end up in San Jose.
If you do make it to San Jose, be sure to check out the Winchester Mystery House.

[OwlKaMyst]

Originally Posted by Entangled

What exactly makes it MUCH nicer? How far is it from the city? 20-30 min?

As was said above, money...but that's only part of it.
Millbrae is a typical city, it does have it's nice parts, especially when you get up into the hills. Burlingame is full of trees and vegetation. A lot of the buildings are older and have character. The two main commercial streets, Broadway and Burlingame Ave. are predominantly made up of local mom and pop type businesses. Not sure if it is there still, but Preston's is an old fashioned Ice cream and candy store and everything (even the ice cream) is made on the premises.
Depending on traffic, the route you take and where in the city you are going, 20-30 minutes is about right.

[Entangled]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Marin is very high end, I do not think Staten Island would compare. Marin would be more like the Hamptons. The Marina District has lots of dynamic people, a younger vibe. Lots of my clients in the mountains lived there. Is it over crowded? Yes, all cities and suburbs are, by my definition. But by others, dunno.

Los Angeles? Well, it is said that everything west of Istanbul is Los Angeles. But, more specifically, any city that takes two hours to drive through on the Freeway! is by definition a megalopolis. San Francisco has style and class, Los Angeles has freeways. One can live quite happily in San Francisco without a car. Tough to do in Los Angeles. My daughter went to school there for a while, I would visit, we could walk anywhere we wanted, Chinatown to Nob Hill to Fisherman's wharf etc at night safely. We would see women alone, walking or jogging, safely. I think that is important.

It used to be that my ski instructor friends and I could tell who was from Southern California, and who was from San Francisco. So Calians drove Corvettes, and wore those silly cowboy hats with pheasant feathers stuck in them, bright colors and skied with huge wide track parallels. San Franciscans drove Volvos and Porsches and wore the English sports car caps, and skied with a classic Arlberg style wearing Harris Tweed,, no I made that last up, they wore Bogner.

In Europe when you see an America do one of those classically moronic American things like yelling louder in English when someone who doesn't speak English cannot understand them, they are likely from Los Angeles. When passable French or Italian is spoken by an American, likely they are from San Francisco.

These are my opinions and may bear no resemblance to any other persons reality.

San Francisco, and the better parts of the Peninsula and of course Marin County are Knightsbridge, and Chelsea. Los Angeles is Tottenham.

If Marin is like the Hamptons, it's definitely out of our reach. Not very interested in living in that environment, and don't like the scene, but would love to visit. Your ski jargon is amusing, my first exposure to ski analogies when it comes to the description of socioeconomic classes.

I did encounter that in Europe, every time we went somewhere, and thought that it was only prevalent to Americans for certain parts of the country, that is until I discovered Russian tourists. Not only are they loud and obnoxious, but they do tend to yell in Russian at anyone who doesn't understand their language, thinking that by elevating their voice and adopting an aggressive tone it will make people miraculously fluent in Russian.

[Entangled]

Originally Posted by OwlKaMyst

It's easier to fly into San Jose. And if you want to get into the city from 101, it's much easier to go 101 (headed north of course) to hit 380 to 280 and end up on 19th avenue. That's also the side of the city with the majority of residential areas. Going 101 all the way in puts you in the industrial/commercial/financial side of SF.
So, if you fly into SFO, 380 is right there, can't miss it coming out if the airport. If you come in down in San Jose, you have the choice of driving 101 or just get on 280 and skip all the changes. The scenery is as different as night and day, as well as the amount of traffic. 101 is congested and all cement and buildings, while 280 is swifter moving and weaves through the hills.
And for the bridges, the tolls are all going into the peninsula, not out. However if you cross a bridge, you have to cross another to get back and that's when you pay a toll. Have $6 ready.
Unless you have several hours to spend adventuring. Then you can just drive south (from the east bay) and come back around, all the way on land- and end up in San Jose.
If you do make it to San Jose, be sure to check out the Winchester Mystery House.

Always hated that toll/bridge trap. We have Ezpass now (too bad it's not universal) so no need for cash, one problem solved.

Originally Posted by OwlKaMyst

As was said above, money...but that's only part of it.
Millbrae is a typical city, it does have it's nice parts, especially when you get up into the hills. Burlingame is full of trees and vegetation. A lot of the buildings are older and have character. The two main commercial streets, Broadway and Burlingame Ave. are predominantly made up of local mom and pop type businesses. Not sure if it is there still, but Preston's is an old fashioned Ice cream and candy store and everything (even the ice cream) is made on the premises.
Depending on traffic, the route you take and where in the city you are going, 20-30 minutes is about right.

Bulingame seems like it would be very close to what we're looking for. 20-30 minutes is perfect. We're so used to traveling for 1, 1.5 hours everywhere that this would be a breeze. What are rents like there?

[OwlKaMyst]

It's been many years since I lived there and we owned the house.
I have no clue what rent would be like now. Back then a one bedroom apartment went for $600.
I'm sure you can find a rentals or real estate website with listings to give you an idea.

[Migrate]

Here's one from left field.... Denver. I'm from New England, cold hits the Denver area maybe a few times a year, but it's tropical compared to the northeast. Minimal rain, arts, obviously loads of outdoor activities. People are very different... Jobs, income, car...doesn't matter, nobody is concerned with what you make our do. I love it. Sad to be moving to CA but i plan on returning to CO after the other half gets her fill of home on the coast. Read up on it, a lot of people are surprised at the weather and offerings out here.