Help in deciding: Inner sunset or east bay? (San Francisco, Oakland: apartment, neighborhoods)

[ppowl]

I am a single female in my late 20s moving from LA to SF. I will be working in downtown, near the intersection of California and Montgomery. After reading through hundreds of threads here, it seems that most recommended places are inner sunset/Richmond, Alameda, Berkeley and Emeryville. I’ve always wanted to live in San Francisco but where I can get the true feel of the city. I currently live in Marina Del Rey with a running trail and a bike path in front and behind my apartment. I am minutes to the beach and close to restaurants in Santa Monica main street. Where can I find a similar community in SF but with short commute to where I work. I don’t like commuting; the least public transportation is preferable. I am looking for nice and quiet communities but enough action, not places where are mostly families with young children (not ready yet , hehe)

I am shooting for around $1500, but am willing to pay more if it is a really awesome place.

What is inner sunset/Richmond's commute time to downtown? I heard that Muni was slow and not reliable, is this true? Any suggestions? Is emeryville a better choice to go to for me?

TIA.

[ppowl]

Anyone can recommend a block of locations (is Judah st nice?) that are nice and quiet in inner sunset and tell me what the commute time is to downtown?

Also i have some friends in the south bay (cupertino area) so it would be ideal if i can pick a location more in the middle so that it would be convenient for me to go visit them.

[lynz815]

I don't know SF neighborhoods that well but I wanted to tell you that the distance between Cupertino and SF is not that close to one another, so you'd have to either drive to Cupertino or take public transportation to visit your friends down there. Unless of course if they come up to SF to visit you, then you can ignore my comment

[Stacy From Cali]

Public trans from the Inner Sunset is more convenient IMO because you don't have to take the bus (look up the N-Judah). Plus if you do live near to Judah then the the line is right there.

Be prepared though for it to be colder than what you are used to. I lived in Redondo Beach for a few years and then in San Fran. One cool thing is that there is also a walking/biking path by Ocean Beach that you can easily access, (again by taking the N-Judah west). I'm assuming that coming from MDR you are used to fog (the Sunset gets pretty foggy, as does the Richmond).

[ppowl]

Originally Posted by Stacy From Cali

Public trans from the Inner Sunset is more convenient IMO because you don't have to take the bus (look up the N-Judah). Plus if you do live near to Judah then the the line is right there.

Be prepared though for it to be colder than what you are used to. I lived in Redondo Beach for a few years and then in San Fran. One cool thing is that there is also a walking/biking path by Ocean Beach that you can easily access, (again by taking the N-Judah west). I'm assuming that coming from MDR you are used to fog (the Sunset gets pretty foggy, as does the Richmond).

Cool, thanks. I looked up on rent.com and see that Alameda's rents are pretty decent, what would you say comparing between Alameda and inner sunset?

[oogly]

I live in the Inner Richmond and I love it here. There are 5 bus routes that go to downtown SF and they all take less than 30mins. There's a bike route to downtown also and lots of trails and lanes in Park Presidio which I go on frequently and cross the Golden Gate Bridge into the Marin Headlands and Sausalito. Golden Gate Park here is great too, lots of biking and jogging trails and get museums. There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area too.

[Stacy From Cali]

Originally Posted by ppowl

Cool, thanks. I looked up on rent.com and see that Alameda's rents are pretty decent, what would you say comparing between Alameda and inner sunset?

From what I understand, Alameda is a cool place to live but it does not offer much in the way of public transportation. I think that there was a thread on this within the last week if you do a quick search.

[skyao]

if you always wanted to live in SF i suggest you skip alameda and live in SF.

Inner sunset, inner richmond are both nice. If you dont like it you can always move to Alameda and the East Bay after trying out City Life. May as well try it while you are young.

[fsufezzik]

I agree that if you're into the idea of living in San Francisco and you're working in San Francisco, then by all means live in the city. Inner Sunset is an easy commute if you're near the N-Judah line (the MUNI web site puts it at 32 minutes door to door from 9th Avenue and Judah). In the Richmond district, you'll have to take a bus to get downtown, though there are express buses that I understand are pretty reliable and quick (though I've never taken one myself). I live in Glen Park now (easy BART commute downtown), but I almost picked Inner Sunset the last time I moved three years ago. It's a more happening neighborhood than Glen Park, for sure.

My feeling is that if you live outside the city and commute in, you'll spend most of your social time outside the city. That's fine if that's what you want, but it sounds to me like you're enamored of SF itself. Make your life in town, have an easy commute, never drive unless you want to - it's a fun way to live for at least a few years!

[kettlepot]

I have visited Alameda many times. It is a wonderful, walkable, small city that is isolated from the urban ills of of Oakland, is a reasonable commute time to San Francisco, has good schools and is pretty family friendly for being so close to the urban core of the Bay Area. However, from how you have described yourself, and what you want, I don't believe it is for you. Go ahead and try for the City. You'll pay an arm and a leg in rent, but you'll find out if the cost is worth it to you.