San Francisco Dreaming--a Nightmare? (Oakland, Vallejo: apartment, lease, credit)

[jondotkom]

Hey There,

I live in Seattle now, but have dreamed of living in San Francisco forever.

I was hoping to jump on the dream and relocate there, but the pricey nature of the area scares me. Just how expensive is it?

What are the jobs like? I know rents are high. Is there rent control? What are the taxes like?

Are there better areas near the Bay that are more appropriate or are they all plain expensive no matter what? I read that Vallejo is nice. I was also considering Oakland, but relatives are telling me not to even consider it, go to the Southwest instead.

Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any feedback. Is the dream pursued bound to become a nightmare?

Mercy buckets!

[BearBranch]

Parts of Oakland are great. I used to live in Adams Point.
Adams Point, Oakland, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adams Point Oakland - tribe.net
A block north of Lake Merrit. Walking distance to Bart. A new Whole Foods is being built. Cafes, sushi. Walking distance to the Grand Lake Theater. Rents were reasonable compaired to SF. Two thumbs up. Vallejo, though parts are nice, is further away to SF and not close to BART.

[crockodile]

one of the guys wants to close gun shots in oakland and sf, and in oakland they had 60+ murders as of today for this year... you don't want to live there. True few areas are nice, like Piedmont, but its as expensive as the SF itself.

For rent, expect to pay 1st month + deposit and/or last month's rent. Or quiet a lot of places: First month + Deposit of months rent + Last month, these suckers check credit and jump up deposits, etc. Its just REALLY bad! Specially if rents are like 1800-2000 for a normal (read: not great!) 2bdr apartment, then its about 4k just to move into damp thing, then pay utilities, sign-up 12 months lease, etc.,etc.

[BearBranch]

The murders are primarily limited to East Oakland. BTW,have you ever lived in Oakland?

[BearBranch]

Back to the original question. Pretty much everywhere in the SF Bay Area is going to be more quite a bit more expensive than Seattle. I also used to live in Seattle (Magnolia and West Seattle) and the San Francisco area main attraction is the weather (not as bleak in the winter). Aside from that, Seattle is much more liveable.

[jondotkom]

Boy, sounds fairly bleak.

No, I've never lived in Oakland, but perhaps I don't really want to. No wonder my relatives tell me to head to Albuqurque instead. Maybe Seattle isn't that bad afterall.

Any more feedback.

[rainbow12345]

are you kidding? coming to oakland from seattle is like going from Lexus to pinto, yeah there are pockets that are nice in oakland, and very nice areas all over the bay area, but at astronomical prices, vallejo is not that good either, and it's so far from SF, my advice is to come and visit, after you get your fix, move to somewhere else, i am thinking of going to seattle area my self, that would be an upgrade for me

[pallygirl81]

Oakland is fine. Most younger people live there (Rockridge, the Grand Lake area, Piedmont Avenue, Temescal) and there is a strong family population moving in (Trestle Glen, the Dimond, the Laurel, Montclair) because it is significantly cheaper than SF and safer (yes safer, for the amount of $$ you will spend in SF vs. Oakland you will live in a safer neighborhood in Oakland than the one you could afford in SF).

With the move, comes a bunch of restaurants, bars, clubs, shopping and other commercial interests. Check this link out: Oakland Convention & Visitors Bureau District Maps (http://mondomap.com/mondo/map_ocvb.cfm - broken link)

Why live in the Tenderloin (scary SF neighborhood) or Sunset (really inconveniently located SF neighborhood where it takes longer to get to downtown SF than it would if you lived in Oakland) when you can live in a nicer apartment in a nicer neighborhood in Oakland?

[readuntil]

Originally Posted by jondotkom

Hey There,

I live in Seattle now, but have dreamed of living in San Francisco forever.

I was hoping to jump on the dream and relocate there, but the pricey nature of the area scares me. Just how expensive is it?

What are the jobs like? I know rents are high. Is there rent control? What are the taxes like?

Are there better areas near the Bay that are more appropriate or are they all plain expensive no matter what? I read that Vallejo is nice. I was also considering Oakland, but relatives are telling me not to even consider it, go to the Southwest instead.

Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any feedback. Is the dream pursued bound to become a nightmare?

Mercy buckets!

It's expensive. 700K for the some 2 bedrooms. You can rent a studio for 1K a month in San Francisco. Older buildings have rent control. There's no city tax. There is state tax, which a top rate of 10.3%, although salaries are higher here. If you make a lot in dividends, capital gains, you might think twice before moving here.

Oakland is nice around Jack London and the bridge to Walnut Creek. Don't know about Vallejo, but I think it's a bit far away.

[Ultrarunner]

People who previously lived in SF tell me that Oakland's Laurel District rent is about 1/2 of the comparable San Francisco Rent.

I work with several 20 to 30 somethings that have left San Francisco proper due to the high cost of housing. All of them said they would have preferred to remain in SF with all things being equal.

A number of people that work in the City look for areas close to BART. A surprising number of people live in Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill and commute to SF by BART.

Good Luck on your search... how do you like the Seattle weather?