Possible Relocation to SF from Chicago (San Jose, Oakland: cheap apartment, rent, transfer)

[rparz]

Hi guys,

Just a quickie for you guys; looks like I may be taking a contract position out to the SF area (UC Berkley to be exact) and have zero idea what I'm getting myself into.

I'm a 32 y/o single Male from Chicago, currently living in a urban, walkable, hip part of Chicago.

The employer will be taking care of living expenses, per diem, etc, for a 2-year project.
As far as where to live, I'm learning that SF can be quite expensive in some areas, and I'm not sure living in the city proper would be my best use of resources. Apparently bridge tolls and traffic are out of control.

So far it's looking like my best bet would be to live closer to Berkley and cab it into the city for weekend shenanigans.

Any other areas that I should consider, that would keep my commute down about 45 minutes or less? Also, what should I anticipate rent being for a 1bd that's over 700 sq ft?

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by rparz

So far it's looking like my best bet would be to live closer to Berkley and cab it into the city for weekend shenanigans.

You don't have to take a cab from Berkeley and SF. There are BART trains which will drop you off at a subway station in downtown SF BART - Station List

You would probably be better off living around the Berkeley area. I'll leave that to Jade, Mayorhaggar, etc. to explain.

[sfcambridge]

Lucky you.

What part of Chicago do you live in now, and is that the type of neighborhood you want?

I also recommend Berkeley. Easy to take the train to SF.

[mayorhaggar]

Berkeley is cheap if you want roommates, there are plentiful roommate situations there. Oakland is better if you want to live alone and get a cheap apartment. I'd suggest mainly looking at the Temescal because you'd be near Telegraph where you can catch the #1 bus to Berkeley which is pretty frequent, or hop on BART at Macarthur. A 1br is probably around $1100 to $1400 now, studios would be a bit less. The Piedmont Avenue area would be good but is further from Telegraph and BART. Rockridge would be great but there aren't many apartments there, and I think they're like $1500 and up though I still see some on Claremont for $1100. Only a year ago a 1br in Rockridge would have been $1100, prices have been going up that much.

And before anyone comes in here and trolls about how terrible and dangerous Oakland is, if you can deal with Chicago and enjoy it as a city, Oakland will be a breeze. I find them to be pretty similar cities, though the East Bay has worse bus service than the CTA, but better train service (if you compare BART to the El anyway...)

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Berkeley is cheap if you want roommates, there are plentiful roommate situations there. Oakland is better if you want to live alone and get a cheap apartment. I'd suggest mainly looking at the Temescal because you'd be near Telegraph where you can catch the #1 bus to Berkeley which is pretty frequent, or hop on BART at Macarthur. A 1br is probably around $1100 to $1400 now, studios would be a bit less. The Piedmont Avenue area would be good but is further from Telegraph and BART. Rockridge would be great but there aren't many apartments there, and I think they're like $1500 and up though I still see some on Claremont for $1100. Only a year ago a 1br in Rockridge would have been $1100, prices have been going up that much.

And before anyone comes in here and trolls about how terrible and dangerous Oakland is, if you can deal with Chicago and enjoy it as a city, Oakland will be a breeze. I find them to be pretty similar cities, though the East Bay has worse bus service than the CTA, but better train service (if you compare BART to the El anyway...)

I agree with this post.

[jade408]

Another note about Berkeley. Generally speaking, most apartments are subpar and overpriced. Student quality for sure.

There are a few areas to consider in Berkeley, downtown has a few newer (and overpriced) apartments. 1 bedrooms are about $1700 in downtown Berkeley. North Berkeley is good as well, but also not many apartments.

Living on the 51 corridor, or the 1 is a good bet in Oakland, these buses head over to the campus area (but you need to transfer for the 51 from A to B). But the walk from the transfer point is about 1.25 miles. Very pleasant.

The Lake Merritt area would be a pain transit wise to get to Berkeley, so you definitely want to stick to Piedmont Ave and north or around 19th or 12th St BART.

What part of campus is your office?

[jade408]

One big difference between Oakland (and Berkeley) and Chicago is it is diverse and mixed. There aren't a lot of ethnic neighborhoods where only one group lives. Most neighborhoods have most types of people. And for example, not ALL Chinese people live in Chinatown and not ALL Latinos live in Fruitvale, even though these are areas with an ethnic majority.

[0'Farrell]

I hear West Oakland is nice.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by jade408

One big difference between Oakland (and Berkeley) and Chicago is it is diverse and mixed. There aren't a lot of ethnic neighborhoods where only one group lives. Most neighborhoods have most types of people. And for example, not ALL Chinese people live in Chinatown and not ALL Latinos live in Fruitvale, even though these are areas with an ethnic majority.

Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods are probably more a part of the culture of northeastern and midwestern cities.

that said, there is an enormous overlap in the way the Bay Area and Chicagoland function (these are the two metropolitan areas I've lived in, the two I love best). I don't think there is a metropolitan area outside the northeast corridor that can deliver true urbanism at its best the way that Chicagoland and the Bay Area can.

Chicago has a large Asian community and it is well integrated into the both city and suburbs. sure, the main Chinatown (located on the South Side) is a packed community, very desirable for people of Chinese background, but most Chinese live in very mixed neighborhoods spread out in many parts of the metro area.

And despite old stereotypes of the segregated Chicago of old, today's city contains its far share of totally diverse neighborhoods. Sure, the ethnic neighborhoods survive and even thrive, but there are only one part of the mix.

[NorCal Dude]

Dude no way. Chicago has like no Asian population at all, it is like comparing the black population of San Jose. They are not really similar areas at all IMO.

That being said, seing as how he lives in bucktown, I would not suggest Berkeley. Berkeley is basically kind of like Evanston but a bit more hip. Not because of the college students but because of all the people from all over who just kind of like to hang around and do stuff.But it still feels really youth culturish.

Lake Merritt and Rockridge in Oakland would probably be more of a fit. I'm not sure about temsecal, that's a bit hipster-dipster, much larger young 20 something crowd..