Relocating to San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland, Berkeley: rent, neighborhoods, living)

[lg1218]

Hi Everyone!

I will be relocating from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay area.
I was curious on your thoughts as to where I should consider living.
I'm in my early-twenties, love to stay active, night life, etc.
For my job I will be traveling all over Northern California, but will need to visit Livermore atleast once a week.



Thanks for your input everyone!

[04kL4nD]

We have no idea how to help you unless you can give us a ballpark figure for your budget.

[Ruth4Truth]

I would suggest Berkeley/north Oakland, which are on the BART line to Livermore. Another option might be Walnut Creek, which is closer to Livermore.


This, in the absence of any budget info from you, going on your interest in outdoor activity and nightlife.

[sav858]

There is no BART line to Livermore

[lg1218]

Thank you for your responses! My budget is pretty flexible.

[04kL4nD]

If you're not worried about money and you're moving to a place like the Bay Area, then you should ask your parents or rich friends instead of people on CDF. Just sayin'

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by lg1218

Thank you for your responses! My budget is pretty flexible.

The SF Bay Area isn't like Chicago where the L goes everywhere, driving out of the city is a breeze, and most neighborhoods are affordable.

Here, many neighborhoods are not affordable to the average person. Can you afford monthly rent of $1,500? $2,500? $3,500? $4,500? Your budget usually dictates where you live. Maybe you have a trust fund or is about to make a boats load of money, but I don't know what "flexible" means.

Traffic is usually bad during rush hour. Since you have to travel all over and to Livermore every week, what kind of commute can you tolerate? We have bays here and bridges tend to have bottle neck.

.

[calicoastal]

I think the answer is obvious - San Francisco. I'd take the East Bay cheerleaders on here with a grain of salt.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by calicoastal

I think the answer is obvious - San Francisco. I'd take the East Bay cheerleaders on here with a grain of salt.

San Francisco isn't accessible to lots of people these days. And isn't that fun anymore. So you should look outside. I haven't had a non awkward night out in SF interacting with people I didn't bring for at least 5 years.

[Chuck5000]

Originally Posted by jade408

San Francisco isn't accessible to lots of people these days. And isn't that fun anymore. So you should look outside. I haven't had a non awkward night out in SF interacting with people I didn't bring for at least 5 years.

SF is still pretty, but Oakland is so much more fun except in the sheer volume of places to go out. It's so much more friendly, whether we're talking 20 somethings or 40 somethings.