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New is a bit harder to find, Walnut Creek would have the most new inventory. Then Downtown Berkeley. Then Downtown Oakland. Those 2 could be about the same in terms of new apartments. Then next up is Jack London Square. And perhaps Emeryville.
In terms of parking, you will definitely want a dedicated off street spot in downtown Oakland, especially at the edges West of Telegraph, and frankly there isn't any street parking in much of the rest. Downtown Berkeley, since it has closer residential area has more street parking and more incidental damage. Slightly fewer car break-ins, but you still need a dedicated spot. In Jack London Square you definitely want a spot, especially near the freeway and east of roughly Alice.
If you can give up new, you have access to a lot of awesome Oakland neighborhoods. You do not want a not new apartment in Berkeley, like 75% are horribly low quality.
And skip the 4th street area of Berkeley. You will find new apartments but it is a sucky place to leave. Everyone I know who moved in to get a new apartment left immediately when their lease was up for other areas in Berkeley, Oakland or SF.
You are going to have to make a choice: proximity to urban neighborhoods and young people or newness if you don't want to spend about $2300.
Lots of good advice already in this topic, but I'll add my .02:
If your heart is set on new, suitable neighborhoods in Oakland would be Uptown, Jack London Square, and I believe Lake Merritt has one new complex as well. In Downtown Berkeley, there is a new complex called Library Gardens, where you would mostly be living with Cal Students.
Downtown Walnut Creek would be a bit older of a demographic & more suburban in feel but has some good shopping / nightlife and new apartment complexes and could be what you are looking for.
Emeryville doesn't have much to do other than lots of big box shopping, but it does have a lot of nice new complexes and great proximity to Oakland and Berkeley.
I'd agree with skipping the West Berkeley (4th Street) area. It's not near much but a lot of industrial buildings, and you'll hear trains all the time.
You'll need to pay extra in all these areas for a parking spot, except perhaps Walnut Creek.
I'm wondering why no one has suggested SF. Looking at the heat map for Oakland the crime runs down all along the coast. I like the apartment and high rises I see in SF in the area of the AT&T park & Mission Bay, what do you guys think. Its only 30 from Orinda where I would work.
Do you want a roommate? If not, you're going to be paying close to 3k a month for a decent 1BR. Personally, I don't think it's worth it to live in the city unless you're making a ton of money. Besides, I think the weather is way better in the East Bay and your dollar stretches much farther.
Do you want a roommate? If not, you're going to be paying close to 3k a month for a decent 1BR. Personally, I don't think it's worth it to live in the city unless you're making a ton of money. Besides, I think the weather is way better in the East Bay and your dollar stretches much farther.
100% agreed. And the places in Oakland and Berkeley with new apartments are more fully formed neighborhoods (or are in super close proximity) than SOMA.
I'm wondering why no one has suggested SF. Looking at the heat map for Oakland the crime runs down all along the coast. I like the apartment and high rises I see in SF in the area of the AT&T park & Mission Bay, what do you guys think. Its only 30 from Orinda where I would work.
IMO, unless OP has his heart set on SF (which he doesn't seem to), there's no reason for OP to pay extra rent, $300 for a parking space, and a bridge toll and have a longer commute when there are lots of neighborhoods in the East Bay that'll fit his criteria. He's also going to find more 24-year-olds in Oakland / Berkeley. San Francisco has gotten so expensive that the demographic skews older than him now.
Driving distance to work i would like to say doesn't matter, since i have always driven long distance for work in FL, but i have read horror stories about CA traffic.
I thought SF would have been a great place to move, from what i can gather it is a fun city especially filled with geek/tech individuals like myself, but i have also read it is over estimated and dangerous.
I was also looking at Berkeley as well. Where ever is the most action that will force me to be more social and enjoy the night life better. I was thinking Berkeley is perfect middle ground. Not to far from work in Orinda, not to far from SF, can drive to both easily.
I'm wondering why no one has suggested SF. Looking at the heat map for Oakland the crime runs down all along the coast. I like the apartment and high rises I see in SF in the area of the AT&T park & Mission Bay, what do you guys think. Its only 30 from Orinda where I would work.
As someone who moved here from central FL, maybe I can offer some insight. I, like you, moved here at the age of 24. I got a job out of the city, but was living in DT because of my boyfriend. I had to bring my car because my office wasn't accessible by train. Granted you won't be commuting as far as I was, it's still gonna be a commute, and during peak hours it's gonna suck. The things you want are going to come at a price; safety, car, modern apartment.
Apartment cost: ~3000K+ (not factoring in a roomie) Parking: $250 - 350 a month (if not already included in your apartment rent, & you might have to find a garage offsite. Mine was $275 and I had to walk 3 blocks to it. It also was not open 24/7.) Toll: $4-6 depending on time of day Gas: $3.5 - 4.25 a gallon, for me I had to fill up every 4 days. My car was paid off so I wasn't going to go buy a Prius just for that. Car insurance: Registration is going to cost more than FL, and your insurance will most likely cost more too. Upkeep: Smog test every 2 years, oil changes, tire rotations… Commute: You'd have a reverse commute, which is better, but not by much. Trust me, I didn't mind driving in FL, but the Bay Area traffic SUCKS. You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings because people don't use signals and will merge into your lane last minute even if there is no space. It used to take me at the very least 30 minutes just to clear the Bay Bridge during usual traffic. If there was a Giants' game, expect longer - and those dumb games go on for half the year. I used to go into work early, leave early and STILL hit this crappy traffic. I'd especially love leaving for a doctor's appointment early only to hit random backup at 3:30pm and wind up late for said appointment. 2 or 3 times in 2 years it would take me 3 hrs to get home for unknown reasons. The stress and exhaustion and road rage is not worth it. FWIW, once you get here you won't be wanting to use your car much, unless you have to. Parking is hard to come by/costly and parking tickets aren't cheap either.
My commute in total cost me a good 1K a month, not factoring in upkeep. I had an extra toll, but you can see how much all that adds up.
You say you're not a social butterfly, then it's not worth it. You'll be spending the majority of your day outside of the city anyway. For what it's worth, most people your age are going to be living in the suburbs because they can't afford SF. If they are in SF, they are in a rent controlled apartment with 4 other people or living in someone's closet. Better to bank that money for the day when the poo hits the fan. So there you go, that's why no one is suggesting SF.
As far as the other areas go, you're from Orlando so I can break it up in terms of the CFL area.
Walnut Creek is very family friendly area and safe. It reminded me a lot of Waterford Lakes area of Orlando.
Berkeley is probably closest to Winter Park and Mills Drive. Artsy, eclectic college town feel.
Emeryville is the equiv of Mall at Millenia area minus the upscaleness. Big box stores, movie theater, and proximity to SF are probably its biggest sellers. However, I wouldn't call it "safe" due to it being close to the sketch of Oakland. There's a blog run by an Emeryville resident (e-ville eye) that can touch on the safety of the area.
Oakland… can't comment on it but I have a handful of friends who live there and don't have issues with it. You can find plenty of info on Oakland here in the forum.
I just moved to Walnut Creek from Orlando (College Park) back in March of this year ('14). My recommendations on where in the Bay Area to live would really depend on what type of place you have in Orlando, and what you're looking for out here. Things are obviously much more expensive out here and you have to understand that 50% of your gross income will go to taxes, 401k, healthcare and other payroll deductions, like state taxes, like you're not used to in Florida.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oakformonday
Your student loan and cc debt is fine but your car loan is rather large. Is it really important to you to have an expensive car? I would sell it, pay off the loan and buy a cheaper car. I linked an apt building that is new for here (about 6 years). Berkeley will have some new places like it too at similar prices or more. You can pay a lot less if you go for an older building. It's all about priorities. Good luck...
Hahaha $27k isn't an expensive car these days, just likely a newer one - and a reliable car is a MUST in Orlando. I don't recommend Oakformonday's advice, because you'd likely be way underwater if the car was bought new in the last 2 years. Just understand that even with a 6-figure salary here, the cost of housing is exponentially higher than Orlando, and with the additional taxes, that's why many Bay Area folks on one income don't have a $27k car loan. Just assume you will only bring home 50% of whatever that gross 6-figure salary is, and do what I call backwards budgeting.
Backwards budgeting is taking your starting point, subtracting the 50% for taxes, healthcare, and other payroll deductions, then subtracting everything you HAVE to pay, like your car payment, Electric/utilities, student loans, car insurance (if you only pay this every 6 months or once a year, divide that into a monthly figure), paying yourself (emergency savings), gas and other car maintenance expenses (more tricky here as you'd have to estimate how much you'd drive in a month with your vehicle's mpg and assume $4.20 per gal), whatever else you think you need, including some spending money, and whatever is left over is your budget for housing. Research and tweak.
The more research you do about the area into how much things cost, the better off you'll be. Best wishes.
As someone who moved here from central FL, maybe I can offer some insight. I, like you, moved here at the age of 24. I got a job out of the city, but was living in DT because of my boyfriend. I had to bring my car because my office wasn't accessible by train. Granted you won't be commuting as far as I was, it's still gonna be a commute, and during peak hours it's gonna suck. The things you want are going to come at a price; safety, car, modern apartment.
Walnut Creek is very family friendly area and safe. It reminded me a lot of Waterford Lakes area of Orlando.
Berkeley is probably closest to Winter Park and Mills Drive. Artsy, eclectic college town feel.
Emeryville is the equiv of Mall at Millenia area minus the upscaleness. Big box stores, movie theater, and proximity to SF are probably its biggest sellers. However, I wouldn't call it "safe" due to it being close to the sketch of Oakland. There's a blog run by an Emeryville resident (e-ville eye) that can touch on the safety of the area.
Oakland… can't comment on it but I have a handful of friends who live there and don't have issues with it. You can find plenty of info on Oakland here in the forum.
This is perfect. Thank you for the break down, it really help that you have been in my position exactly. I really enjoyed the breakdown.
But I have had a yearning for the city life, to live in a high rise look out my windows and see buildings and lights. Have a nice modern upscale apartment. Which is why i think i'm so attracted to SF.
I was thinking I'm OK with a $3000-$3800 rent but maybe i'm wrong. I should mentioned the company does not provide relocation assistance, so i'm moving on my own expanse. I get the money back but not upfront. I was thinking at first i might answer one of those CL ads for a roommate, to save on cost until i start making income. What is your take on this?
I want to live next to techies as well so I can make some friends. From what I can tell isn't SF where the employees for the big Tech companies live?
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