Poss relocating to SF area, work in Oakland Help Please (Fremont: appointed, to rent)

[loren1983]

We may be transferring in the next month or 2 to the Bay area (working 3-4 days a week in Oakland) and would like to be near the beach. We used to rent from Aimco Properties and they have apts in Redwood City, San Bruno, San Mateo, Pacifica, Livermore, and Fremont. Close to beach is important to us but I don't want a commute over an hour. Any recommendations? Thanks so much for the help. Next step, figuring out the moving process...Yuck!

[*anya*]

An hour commute from Peninsula to Okland is optimistic, that would be on a good day with little to no traffic. More likely your commute would be 1.5 - 2 hours. If your primary work will be in Oakland it'd be wise to find residence in the East Bay. And yes in large it's not as nice as Peninsula places but there are nice ones too. Check out Berkley/ Albany/ Emeryville areas, all are close to the bay so you'll have some beach, just no the ocean. Alameda is another option, it's an island almost, west of Okland so it might be great for commute. It's a great little community there with a cute downtown lots of shopping and the bay has a long stretch of pretty nice beach. Alameda is pretty quite and safe too. I'd actually pick Alameda over Redwood City on an average day lol.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by loren1983

We used to rent from Aimco Properties and they have apts in Redwood City, San Bruno, San Mateo, Pacifica, Livermore, and Fremont. Close to beach is important to us

Close to the beach = Pacifica. Easy commute to downtown Oakland. 29 minutes from Colma Bart. However if your Oakland work location is not near Bart the commute becomes longer.

[rparz]

Forgive my (obviously new in town) question, but when everyone says 'near the beach' why?

It seems more than just a desire to have waterfront property. Do people out here go swimming a lot, or surfing or something?

-From Chicago, and still trying to get the hang of this whole 'outdoorsy' thing.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by rparz

Forgive my (obviously new in town) question, but when everyone says 'near the beach' why?

It seems more than just a desire to have waterfront property. Do people out here go swimming a lot, or surfing or something?

-From Chicago, and still trying to get the hang of this whole 'outdoorsy' thing.

Swimming in the Pacific Ocean is not very fun. It is very chilly all year round. In fact, even in "Sunny Socal" the water temperature is pretty much equal to the Southeast's Atlantic Ocean temp in about February or March. Warm water in the Pacific is about 72. In Socal. In Northern California, the water is even chillier. You'd be really hyped to see 65.

You can swim at the beach. But it isn't great, being honest. The beach is either foggy or windy most of the year. People go and have bonfires and bundle up. I think when people move to the Bay Area, thinking they are going to live by the beach, they have seen one too many movies.

There are only a few days a year the beaches in the Bay Area are even warm and sunny enough for you to sit in your bathing suit. Santa Cruz is a little warmer, but the water is still cold. Wetsuits are a good idea for surfing pretty much all year. There are a couple of great days here and there in the summer, but if you are used to swimming in the bath water like Atlantic, you will be disappointed.

[ImRandy]

The beaches are great to walk/run on, play on, watch the surf and coast, listen to the ocean, enjoy the smell and the breeze, watch birds, build sandcastles, and countless other activities. There is a lot that isn't swimming and burning your skin.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by ImRandy

The beaches are great to walk/run on, play on, watch the surf and coast, listen to the ocean, enjoy the smell and the breeze, watch birds, build sandcastles, and countless other activities. There is a lot that isn't swimming and burning your skin.

I agree with this. I don't even like swimming in the ocean anywhere all that much (even including warm water beaches), and would rather sit and/or walk along the beach, or do other things at the beach. In fact, my favorite thing to do with the coast actually has nothing to do with beaches per se (driving up and down it with my windows down). It is foggy in the summer and parts of spring, but the hidden secret is all of those other months when it's crystal clear and sunny. People overemphasize the fog like it's foggy constantly every single day of the entire year. And even when it's "foggy" it's still quite beautiful (some of my favorite moments are when I can capture the fog rolling over the hills with my camera).

However, it is good to let people that are moving here know what they're getting into. The beaches here are not equivalent to east coast beaches (which to me, is a good thing), nor is it "Bay Watch".

[*anya*]

I loved living close to the beach in santa cruz, but only swam in the ocean a handful of times (after a couple mins you go numb from the cold and can sort of enjoy it lol) but like other said there are so many other activities that you can do at the beach, I used to love riding my bike along the beach trail, sitting by the ocean listening to waves crash and reading a book is a peaceful way to spend the afternoon. Walking, jogging etc all very relaxing when you are next to the ocean.

[loren1983]

I have learned so much from these forums. Super helpful. For us, "the beach" is a factor of growing up on/near a large body of water and it just feels like your shoes are on the wrong feet if we're not close. We don't swim, surf, etc.. but my husband loves to walk the beach and just being close brings down our stress level. That said, our last location prior to Chicago was Miami, and I realize that the Bay area is NOT like Miami Beach. But the water component is a very positive psychological aspect regardless. Have a great week

Loren

[jade408]

Water can be pretty easy to find in the Bay area, on the bay side communities. I live in Oakland, about 1 mile from Lake Merritt and around 3 from the Bay (Jack London Square, a little closer to the Bay Trail in Emeryville). And 5 from the beach in Alameda or the Berkeley Marina.