I need real POVs re: Berkeley CA (San Francisco, Sacramento: low income, renting)

[Shelley M]

Hi! I'm a writer. Very portable but also slightly low income. I have approx $700 to spend on a roommate situation. I've lived in the NYC area for 2 years but unfortunately, due to pollution and an auto immune disorder I need to move. I don't mind renting out rooms and have no children. I'm super left wing, love yoga, alternative spirituality and healthy food. So I'm thinking Berkeley, CA?

Questions:

Is this a bad time to move from the NYC area to CA where I've heard most of the state is in economic despair?

Does Berkeley seem like a happy place? Do the people who live there seem happy? Content? (NYers are wonderfully awesome but highly dramatic with a touch of the proud to be miserables.)

Is the area good for people with allergies/asthma?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Shelley M

Hi! I'm a writer. Very portable but also slightly low income. I have approx $700 to spend on a roommate situation. I've lived in the NYC area for 2 years but unfortunately, due to pollution and an auto immune disorder I need to move. I don't mind renting out rooms and have no children. I'm super left wing, love yoga, alternative spirituality and healthy food. So I'm thinking Berkeley, CA?

Questions:

Is this a bad time to move from the NYC area to CA where I've heard most of the state is in economic despair?

Does Berkeley seem like a happy place? Do the people who live there seem happy? Content? (NYers are wonderfully awesome but highly dramatic with a touch of the proud to be miserables.)

Is the area good for people with allergies/asthma?

Any advice would be appreciated!

As Berkeley native I will tell you that Berkeley is different things to different people. You either love it or hate it. Even many liberals can dislike it at times.

As far as air pollution goes, it has it's moments, usually in fall and sometimes in winter when the air gets still. It's likely nothing like those humid summer days when the pollution forms a thick haze like NY. Most of the time, there's a brisk stiff breeze blowing off of the bay which keeps the air cool most of the time and relatively clear.

For people being content; there are people who live in Berkeley and hate it so there are some who are a bit disenchanted. For the most part, in my experience most people are quite happy. Berkeley is mostly residential and there are still a lot of families in most of the city. Most people can also be rather neighborly at times as well. At least friendly enough to say hello when they see you.

It's good that you don't mind renting rooms. For $700 that may be what you get in Berkeley as it moderately expensive although you may think it's cheap coming from New York.

[sliverbox]

I lived in Berkeley for a few years myself. The thing about the Bay Area is that its pretty gentrified. As such it was definitely affected by the economy- but less so than other primarily inland areas of the state. Berkeley is fairly upscale. But people don't tend to make a big show of it thoough. To me it felt older. There of course was the university but it seemed like the bulk of the long term residents were aging hippie baby boomers. I'm a liberal person and Berkeley is in fact extremely liberal. It sort of got old with me after awhile because there was this sort of non-stop political stuff going on all the time. Not exactly that great if everyone already thinks the same. There is definitely "drama" as you say. To me Berkeley is where people who make politics and liberalism their lifestyle and its sort of this little club. Some people really dig it. Others like myself find it to get stale after awhile.

As far as cost of living, I shared a house with numerous other housemates. You could probably swing $700 no problem. There is a lot of house sharing in the Bay Area. Some of my friends live in houses full of artists. Check out Craigslist.

In regards to allergies, well everyone is going to be different, but I've had worse allergies since moving out here from the East. The problem I personally have is that there's almost always something blooming year-round. There are a lot of semi-tropical plants that grow out here that didn't grow back home. This time of year is bad for me because all the trees are blooming. Secondly, it stops raining in March or early April and it won't rain again until October. In that time everything- the grass, roads, ground... everything dries out to dust. Towards the middle of the summer there's a lot of dust in the air. Cars become dusty in a few days. My allergies go nuts at that time.

That said, after having been out here for 11 years I think I've acclimated to the different plant species because I seem to have allergies than I used to. Everyone is going to have a different reaction. It might be just fine for you. Its also a lot warmer out here and seldom gets below freezing.

Anyway- good luck!

[mayorhaggar]

$600 to $700 should be doable to get a room with roommates though you might have to look in outer Berkeley or North Oakland because there's always a lot of students in Berkeley moving in which makes renting there tricky especially near the university. As for the economy, it does suck here for jobs so if you're expecting to show up here and get a job right away, it might not happen--probably same if someone showed up in NYC. The state might be broke but that is pretty common here because of the referendum system, and the Bay Area is still an extremely wealthy area overall although services like public transit and public health are being trimmed back now and then. As for pollution, Berkeley is near the Bay and the Pacific so I don't think you'll see much air pollution. The Pacific is very windy and blows air inland so you don't really ever see any kind of haze over SF or the areas near the Bay especially in places like Oakland and Berkeley that are across from where the wind blows through SF and the Golden Gate. The one thing you do get is gritty particulate matter from car exhaust that you will see accumulate around windows in San Francisco because it's such a dense place with a lot of traffic, but I don't see that here in Oakland. Once you go over the hills into the central valleys you do see a lot of pollution though. As for allergies, I've never really suffered from any. There are a lot of flowering plants and trees in the East Bay compared with San Francisco, you might have trouble with them.

As for people in Berkeley, I think it would really depend on who you hang out with. I've never lived there but I can't imagine it's that different than living in other urban parts of the Bay Area. There are a LOT of students though because of the university. That means there's a lot of good cheap places to eat in downtown Berkeley though but it can feel crowded. For people it seems like a mix of yuppies, students, and older people like 40's to 60's, Berkeley feels like it has a bit of an older population than SF, and these older people seem to still be hippie-ish which is something you don't see much in SF because of its expense and overall younger population.

[04kL4nD]

Berkeley is a great town, but I think it appeals is to a narrower set of people than SF or Oakland.

I spend a lot of time there these days because I'm dating someone who lives there and I definitely have come to enjoy it more and more over the years. There are a ton of truly incredible restaurants, shops, galleries, etc. I will say that I'm not too crazy about the nightlife or the bars there, but it has grown on me a bit over the years.

With that said, if you don't know many people there, I think it's more difficult to make friends and approach people. To me, people in Oakland are a lot more down to earth and friendly. I would say the same thing about most people in SF too. Cal students and alumni can come off as incredibly stuck up and arrogant depending on the context in which you meet them. Not everyone is this way, but it's definitely noticeable and it can be pretty irritating.

[jade408]

Berkeley can be a pain to navigate. The draconian (this is such an apt word) street policies can be a big pain. Random roundabouts and street blockages. 4 lane main streets with curbside parking. Definitely a place to walk/bike or take transit.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by jade408

Berkeley can be a pain to navigate. The draconian (this is such an apt word) street policies can be a big pain. Random roundabouts and street blockages. 4 lane main streets with curbside parking. Definitely a place to walk/bike or take transit.

Ah you must be a victim of the Channing Way, Bancroft Way and Allston Way weird blockades along several blocks where while it's a two way street, you cannot turn into then in a certain direction but other cars can come out. Those big white planter things I've only ever seen in Berkeley. Besides that I think most of the flats aren't hard to navigate. The hills are another matter.

[mayorhaggar]

I know out of towners complain about the barricades but it must be nice having them around if you actually live in Berkeley. You wouldn't have people blasting through your pokey side street at 45 mph because they feel like it and you'd be able to get parking more easily, and you wouldn't have to worry as much about kids playing in the street.

[sliverbox]

Ah you must be a victim of the Channing Way, Bancroft Way and Allston Way weird blockades along several blocks where while it's a two way street, you cannot turn into then in a certain direction but other cars can come out. Those big white planter things I've only ever seen in Berkeley. Besides that I think most of the flats aren't hard to navigate. The hills are another matter.

Ee gad... I think the driving situation in Berkeley is what finally pushed me towards moving out of there. Yes- Berkeley has barricaded at virtually every side street. Thus in order to get around you have to use only the major streets like University and Ashby. Thus traffic is always a quagmire. It used to take me forever just to get out of the city and onto the freeway.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Ah you must be a victim of the Channing Way, Bancroft Way and Allston Way weird blockades along several blocks where while it's a two way street, you cannot turn into then in a certain direction but other cars can come out. Those big white planter things I've only ever seen in Berkeley. Besides that I think most of the flats aren't hard to navigate. The hills are another matter.

Ashby and Sacramento are also annoying. Northwest Berkeley can be a pain too, try taking the side streets up to 4th street. I think Cedar or Hearst, one of those forces an unwanted right turn around Sacramento. Oh and don't get me started on the nightmare that is the Gilman freeway exit!