Moving from Walnut Creek closer to the city...but where?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by ServoMiff

Thanks for the replies thus far. Moving to another suburban area inland isn't really achieving our main goal, which is getting closer to the city/reducing the commute time for my wife. We thought we were getting away from the miserable heat of Orlando by moving out here, but the 680 corridor is anything but better in the summer. Dry and over 100 to me is worse than 97 and humid. Being on the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel is a must for us at this point.

In that case, my daughter lives in Millsmont neighborhood in Oakland. It is a very easy drive to catch the 580/Hwy 13 interchange from that neighborhood. She used to work in Walnut Creek and it was an easy commute to WC. Now she works for UC Berkeley, and it's also an easy commute there.

And the rents aren't bad in that area.

She bought a house on a hill - one of the houses with all the steps up from the street - you wouldn't want to do it with kids - but she paid $315,000 for it about 2 years ago. It's a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath home closed to Mills College, but granted about a block from an iffy neighborhood.

Anyway, that neighborhood is affordable and might meet your needs.

[ServoMiff]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

In that case, my daughter lives in Millsmont neighborhood in Oakland. It is a very easy drive to catch the 580/Hwy 13 interchange from that neighborhood. She used to work in Walnut Creek and it was an easy commute to WC. Now she works for UC Berkeley, and it's also an easy commute there.

And the rents aren't bad in that area.

She bought a house on a hill - one of the houses with all the steps up from the street - you wouldn't want to do it with kids - but she paid $315,000 for it about 2 years ago. It's a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath home closed to Mills College, but granted about a block from an iffy neighborhood.

Anyway, that neighborhood is affordable and might meet your needs.

And nowhere near BART. It looks like the winners are the Rockridge/Temescal/Ashby areas that meet both needs pretty well. I have to keep in mind that since I'm also looking for a job, being closer to Pleasanton isn't really a high priority. Close to BART so that my wife cuts her commute from 90 minutes each way to 45 or less to the Financial District/SoMa would be smashing.

Tips on renting a place? Our landlady is letting us go MTM with our lease starting 9/7, so as long as we give her 30 days notice, we can move out anytime. We decided to wait until one of us got a new job to move (I don't see that taking 3 months or more), but it seems like renting in Oakland or in SF is so much more different than I'm used to.

I am Norwegian and I get hot even when it's in the 60's out here in WC, so we keep the air on somewhat cold and I'm wondering in the $2-2.5k price point if finding central AC/heat is pretty common or not once you get closer to the bay. I would imagine east of the Tunnel it would be pretty common considering how much hotter it gets out here, but not sure once you get within shouting distance of the bay or not since it's not often you see 90+.

[davdaven]

Only new construction west of the tunnel seems to have a/c. I can't think of a single apartment or house any of my friends live in that has a/c, including ones living in newer buildings in the Jack London Square area and Emeryville. We simply rely on the bay breeze, with a little help from fans now and then.

The temperature differential between Berkeley and Walnut Creek is about 15 degrees on summer days, with WC flirting with 90 while Berkeley stays in the mid 70s. The differential is a little under 10 degrees on winter nights, with Berkeley being in the low 40s and WC approaching freezing.