Looking to relocate (San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley: fit in, crime, home)

[chicagoItaly]

My husband and I are looking to relocate from LA (long past due) and are considering San Francisco. I am from Chicago and miss the culture, the public transportation and close proximity to great restaurants. We are both 43 yr. old professionals and our budget is up to $3,000 per month. I'm very concerned with the fog and would prefer to be in a location with decent weather and sun in the city, if that's possible. We have also considered living outside the city limits in Marin County, Tiburon, Etc... Any suggestions?

[mayorhaggar]

a) where do you think your jobs would be?
b) how long would you be willing to commute for?

The east side of Marin, the east side of the Peninsula (San Mateo County) and the East Bay are all sunnier than SF to different degrees, but they are all different in the ways you'd commute to SF or to other job centers.

Marin is one of the most expensive counties in the US, so keep that in mind. It's also a lot more suburban and spread out than SF (but has a ton of nature areas) and the only way to get to SF by public transit is pokey bus or pokey ferry.

The warmest part of SF is it's eastern side, basically from South of Market down to the Mission then Potrero Hill, Bernal Heights, and on southward, unfortunately much of this area is pretty crime-ridden. Parts of Potrero Hill and pretty much all of Bernal Heights are nice though they are pretty windy and chilly in summer like anywhere in SF.

I live in Rockridge in Oakland which is somewhere you might consider, it's very safe and has a very cool shopping strip on College Ave, and a BART station that gets you to downtown SF in 20 minutes. Just north of Rockridge is the Elmwood section of SE Berkeley which is also really neat and has a lot of nice restaurants and shops as well. If you want slightly more suburban you could check out North Berkeley and Albany. If you want more suburban and warmer weather you can go over the hills to the areas around Lafayette and Walnut Creek.

[uptown_urbanist]

Just a warning, you're not going to find the public transportation in somewhere like Marin to be superior to what you find in LA. (depends on where you live in LA, of course.) I enjoyed visiting Marin, but it feels pretty suburban (nice suburban, but suburban) there, more so than where we lived in LA. If you're looking for decent public transportation and a more city feel you'll want to stay in the city, unless, of course, you're working on that side of the bridge. I agree that you might want (depending on job location) to check out the East Bay, as it will be sunnier than many parts of SF. Otherwise in the city stick to the east.

I'd get the job location settled first, though, and then focus on specific neighborhood, unless you're willing to take on a terrible commute in return for the perfect location.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by chicagoItaly

My husband and I are looking to relocate from LA (long past due) and are considering San Francisco. I am from Chicago and miss the culture, the public transportation and close proximity to great restaurants.

LA far exceeds SF in both great restaurants and in SAFE public transit. LA has gotten much better in public transit with Metrolink and light rail like the Gold line. In contrast Muni is completely breaking down into chaos & crime in the last five years. I have ridden public transit in every city I have lived in and SF is the most unpleasant. Now I drive everywhere in SF. I recommend staying in LA if the alternative is SF. Here's some more info on our "great" public transit system.

N-Judah rider held at gunpoint, assaulted for laptop

Muni passengers robbed by hooded hoodlums

Next song: Crook attack

Boy robbed of iPhone on 38-Geary

Muni leaving riders in the dark (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Muni-leaving-riders-in-the-dark-101856518.html - broken link)

Muni stabbings persist while overall crime drops (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Muni-stabbings-persist-while-overall-crime-drops-100957279.html - broken link)

Muni Manic Monday (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Munis-manic-Monday-hinders-travel-105233838.html - broken link)

Muni stabbing trial to proceed, competency challenge dropped (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Muni-stabbing-trial-moves-forward-lawyer-drops-competency-challenge-83842357.html - broken link)

Muni crimes raising an alarm (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Muni-crimes-raising-an-alarm-62788257.html - broken link)

Survey shows lowest satisfaction with Muni since 2001 (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Survey-shows-lowest-satisfaction-with-Muni-since-2001-103505649.html - broken link)

Muni causes a Giant pain (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Muni-causes-a-Giant-pain-104550419.html - broken link)

[chicagoItaly]

Thanks for the advise. I will check out the East side of SF. Marin was of interest, due to the nature and still living close to the city. I'm a business consultant, so I will be working downtown. I will probably have to live in the city, but might check out some of the other surrounding cities as well. As long as there is a quick train ride, I should be fine.

[jade408]

There are lots of places that are a ~20 minute train ride (or bus ride) to downtown SF. Lots of great parks of Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley fit in your budget, are walkable, and closer to downtown SF than half of SF.

If you are working downtown, I'd vote for the east ba over the Peninsula or Marin county. IT is way easier to take transit downtown and the train runs way more frequently.

I have a few co-workers who live in Potrero. It is oddly sunny and warm compared with other parts of the city. Very car friendly, less transit friendly, unless you are right next to the muni metro station. It is also a bit hilly (a lot hilly) so you'd likely have a huge hill on the way home or back from errands. Think hill with stairs because it is so steep. But it is pretty cute and convenient over there. Less amenities than typical SF neighborhoods though.

I do not know if I agree that LA has better restaurants. LA might have better hotspots, and bars with fancy drinks, but in my opinion SF (the bay area) has the highest quality mid-priced restaurants. It is really easy to find a great meal for around $15-25/entree.

Personally, I do not need to go to occasion restaurans very often, and I love the variety and quality in the mid-priced places. You can get local, organic and sustainable ingredients and lots of creativity in the kitchen.

[humboldtrat]

Go with North Beach in San Francisco. It has everything you're looking for.

North Beach - Little Italy - San Francisco

[OrangeSunset]

Check out Berkeley. It is an easy commute from SF and not as foggy. There is plenty to do in Berkeley including a wide selection of restaurants. If you have kids, look into Albany. The public schools in Albany are well rated.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by capoeira

LA far exceeds SF in both great restaurants and in SAFE public transit. LA has gotten much better in public transit with Metrolink and light rail like the Gold line. In contrast Muni is completely breaking down into chaos & crime in the last five years. I have ridden public transit in every city I have lived in and SF is the most unpleasant. Now I drive everywhere in SF. I recommend staying in LA if the alternative is SF.

You're exaggerating quite a lot and focusing on things that don't happen to the vast majority of riders. If you have to take Muni every day then yes it gets frustrating because you are more likely to encounter the way it's inefficient and too crowded, but for the most part it gets you where you want to go and I think a lot of people take it for granted. Plus the fact that most of SF is so walkable mitigates that a lot because you aren't so dependent on public transit, in a lot of places in SF you can just take a short walk or bike ride and go shopping or get something to eat. You can't do that in most of the US. I've never been to LA so I can't compare it to Muni but a major reason I've never been to LA is that I don't drive and everyone tells me that you really need a car to get around there, and then even if you do there is horrible traffic everywhere.

BART is much better and more reliable than Muni and provides very frequent subway-style service within SF and parts of Oakland and provides reliable commuter rail to the suburbs. Caltrain is pretty lousy in terms of convenience but the trains are fast and pretty nice and the system is basically the same as any suburban commuter rail system like they have in NYC or Chicago etc.

Transit in SF is certainly not as convenient and efficient and nice as it should be but a lot of that is due to funding issues caused by the nature of the California government and demands by Bay Area taxpayers. Muni has been underfunded for about 30 or 40 years now, and Caltrain receives very little money from the state and could disappear at some point soon. Yes transit workers seem lazy and overpaid, which adds to reluctance to raise taxes to pay for services, but you see recalcitrant union workers in any big city transit agency.

Also if you think LA's systems are better because everything is newer and cleaner, a lot of that is because transit stations are pretty old by now, like the Muni and BART stations which were built in the 70's. Go to BART and Muni stations built in the last 15 years and they look a lot better. They could clean the stations and trains and buses better but again they have tricky budgets.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

Go with North Beach in San Francisco. It has everything you're looking for.

North Beach - Little Italy - San Francisco

North Beach has the worst food in SF and the crappiest transit options. Pass.