Moving to East Bay from Atlanta (San Francisco, Oakland: neighborhoods, living, centers)

[Spyder07]

Hi ya'll,

I'm taking a job with a company in Pleasanton and will be relocating to the bay area, I'd appreciate any insight on where one of my demographic might enjoy living as I'm not that familiar with the east bay area and want to stay close to pleasanton. I tell you a bit about myself:

Age: 39
Marital Status: Single
Children: 1 does not live with
Hobbies: Cycling, Boating, Hiking, Hanging out at parks
Social likes: Live music and good food, hangon out w/friends and playing my sax, pretty girls (hehe)

I'd like a place with a view of the mountains, somewhat of a social dynamic, community scentric, and a place with a good spirit about it. I am sinlge but not in the "scene" but would like to have options.

A Buddhist mosque close by would be nice, but not a show stopper...

Thank you in advance for your insight...

Spyder Taylor

[gizmo980]

To be perfectly honest, the Pleasanton area isn't the most "exciting" place to live, for a single 30-something - which I am too, but female. I'd suggest heading north a bit, to Oakland or Berkeley, which are both pretty cool towns. Berkeley in particular might be up your alley, since it has a vibrant music & social scene. I'm not familiar enough to suggest specific neighborhoods, so hopefully somebody else can help with that... all I know is to avoid East Oakland, LOL. These cities are both within a reasonable commute to Pleasanton, especially if you take BART, which is my suggestion. Check on www.bart.gov for routes and schedules, to see what works for you. If you're really stuck on living close to Pleasanton, that's a pretty nice town itself, but very "suburbia" & sorta dull. Dublin's okay too, and Hayward/San Leandro is a bit on the "ghetto" side, but not horrible either.

As for your hobbies, those can be done just about anywhere in the Bay Area. Plenty of bike & hiking trails in the East Bay, and for a real challenge, try hiking up into the hills east of Berkeley/Oakland. Can't say I've done it myself, but just driving up those hills (especially in my manual 5-speed) is tiring enough! You can probably find water activities around the bay (Lake Merrit & Alameda?), or head either direction for the ocean & Central Valley rivers. Finally, I don't know if there's a Buddhist mosque, but I'd say HIGH likelihood in any north-East Bay town... considering the large Asian population & hippie culture, it just seems logical. I'll go see if I can find anything on that, but off-hand I'd guess you'll find them in Berkeley, Alameda, and certain parts of Oakland or San Francisco. Anyway, hope this helps a little!

[gizmo980]

Here's some info. on the Buddhist Mosques nearby... btw, I've always said that if I weren't so happy being Jewish, I'd convert to Buddhism. I just love their beliefs and philosophies on life!

http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/baycenters.html (wow, there are tons!)
http://www.kadampas.org/
http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys2/sfbaydir.htm
http://www.sfbayaxis.com/meditation_zen_centers.html

[Spyder07]

Hi Gizmo980,

I can't tell you how thankful I am for your input and time helping me out with this, you're a blessing! I was just out last week to have a look around and do another round of interviews, I concur with all you've said from my observations, sorry it's taken so long to reply, but I've been busy as h_ll :-).

BTW...if I weren't so happy being Buddhist, I'd marry Jewish and convert...I respect your religion a great deal as well...hey, I'll keep you posted on my progress, if something comes up that you think might be of interest to me please forward along if you mind, you can also send me email to dtaylor7@gmail.com. Thank you again Gizmo, you rock!

Warm Regards,

Spyder