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Welcome to the Bay Area! First off I'd find out how close her workplace is to BART, if it's a short walk or bus stop away from a BART station you could have a much larger range of places within an easy commute.
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heck yeah, can't wait till you're all up in cali tyler :>
Agreed with above, BART is SUCH a convenience 
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Congrats to your wife on graduating medical school, that is huge! But seriously, don't move to oakland. If you have to, find a REALLY well reviewed rental company and speak with them, I have a friend who lived in oakland and had some horror stories from his rental company, and apparently this was very common there. Watch out man.
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Rockridge, Emeryville or maybe nearby Downtown Berkeley. Those should be really nice places..
Since I don't live in the states I have no idea about if these places are nice ones, but I trust my friend who recommended them.
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Berkeley or Emeryville are pretty good.
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San Fransico is probably a bad idea with the commute across the bridge. I have a friend who lived in the Piedmont area during his studies with a few friends and really liked the area. I'm more familiar with the Sonoma county area cause I grew up there but I guess that drive would be a little insane everyday :D
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Find out where her work/residency location is with relation to BART, BART is amazing and makes commutes incredibly easy and fast, so you may be able to live relatively farther away, but still get to work quickly.
Here is BART's website. http://www.bart.gov/
I would also advise living against San Francisco as living in the city is incredibly expensive.
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Hey man, as someone who moved to the Bay and lived all over the place over the course of 8 years out there, I have a few options/opinions for you to consider. Fortunately she's working in the nicer part of Berkeley, and there is a fantastic little area right over the hill. Ultimately it depends on how much you are going to want to spend, and how much "ghetto" you are OK with. The East Bay is a fairly schizophrenic in as far as the quality of the neighborhoods. You have really nice areas, surrounded by areas that are some of the most dangerous in the US (East Oakland, Richmond, etc).
So here's a few cities to consider:
Albany/North Berkeley: Albany and North Berkeley are two neighboring towns just north of.. Berkeley (shock!) and south of El Cerrito. This area can be fairly pricey, particularly for housing, but it's one of the nicest areas in the East Bay that doesn't involve mansions or living in the hills (though it has both). A lot of UC professors and whatnot make their residence in this area. Also has an amazing street named Solano Ave. which has some amazing restaurants on it, as well as some great bars like the Mallard just around the corner. Where she's working I have no doubt you'll be frequenting this street whether you live in the area or not. I lived in Albany for a few months when I first moved to the Bay. It's really nice, but it's very small and finding an affordable place can be an issue. San Francisco is also just short (or long depending on the time of day) trip over the Bay Bridge.
El Cerrito: EC is the city just north of Albany/Berkeley and is quite a bit more affordable. It also gets a little shady the closer you get to San Pablo/Richmond, but from Potrero south it's a nice city. Still well within the 30 minute drive (and a much shorter BART ride), I lived in EC for quite a while. It's a cool little town that has a good music scene, and is close to all the attractions in Berkeley and Albany. Like Albany also very quick to get to the City.
Emmeryville: As HelloSon mentioned Emmeryville is a nice little community settled in a western nook between Oakland and Berkeley. It's been built up over the past decade plus and has a lot of shops, a huge movie theater and shopping area, as well as the closest Ikea. It also is the home of Pixar as well. It's fairly affordable, but the main downside is that it borders on a pretty shitty part of Oakland and Berkeley. Also as it's been built more and more housing prices have gone up. It is the closest East Bay city to San Francisco (the Bay Bridge exits on the major freeways are in E-Ville), and is still well within your 30 minute range (and again is close with BART as well)
Alameda: Alameda is pushing it a bit with the time limit, unless you factor BART into the equation. That said, Alameda is a fucking GREAT town. I lived there for quite a while, in fact it was the first place my wife and I moved after we got married. There are very affordable places all over, and it's a really nice place. It borders Oakland, but the thing about Alameda is that it's an island. It also has one of the most strict police forces in the country (they see you driving 26 in the Island-wide 25 MPH zone... BOOM! ticket). It is a very quiet town, however it does have a couple pretty cool bars.
Anyhow, that's just a sample of some cool spots I have personal experience with. I have a whole list of places you really want to avoid, but it's hard to know just how ghetto-fabulous NonY is, so what may be totally cool for one person may be out of the question for another. I can go more into detail if you want, you can hit me up via PM or on Twitter @theamsterdamned and I'd be more than happy to give you some more low-down on the East Bay. Either way, hope this helps a little bit.
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Dude, I lived in Emeryville for a year and JUST recently moved out to Antioch.
In my honest opinion: If you can afford it and don't mind a commute check out Walnut Creek- it's nice, suburban, and safe. But if you have to stay closer then definitely stay around Berkeley. Emeryville is nice, and a little safer than Oakland. It has a lot of great restaurants (if you would like some recommendations let me know), a new Target, the Bay Street Mall- very nice, and of course IKEA. Try to get a place with a garage or enclosed parking for your cars- important if you don't want them getting broken in to. I would suggest checking out The Bakery Lofts. I lived in that area. It's a pretty decent area- near shopping (everything you need really)/near BART/Berkeley and the residents are very nice (and it's pet friendly if you have any furry family members). I enjoyed Emeryville, but I was not as safe as I would have liked. Best of luck finding a place!
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Make sure your house has bars on the windows or a really good alarm system. I suggest to live in one of the suburbs outside Oakland like Berkeley, San Leandro, or in San Francisco itself. And good luck.
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I lived in Berkeley for 4 years, and like others have mentioned, if her hospital/residency is close to a BART station or easily reachable by bus, consider living in Berkeley.
http://www.actransit.org/ac-transit-bus-line-descriptions/
AC transit doesn't have the most navigable webpage, but if you look through the lines and figure out if one stops near her workplace that can give you a good idea of where you can live comfortably for commuting.
You say 2.5 miles SW of the corner of campus, the only hospital/medical center nearby is Alta Bates, which is very accessible by bus from the south side of campus. If you look around near the Clark Kerr campus there are a lot of houses in that general area, and since its pretty close to campus it's relatively crime free (compared to living in Oakland proper). I don't know how a lot of those houses do their rent, but there will probably be some with what you're looking for.
My friend looked up what areas of Oakland are shadier, I'll come back later with his thoughts on that.
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Yeah I believe BART is an option. There is a station pretty close and the hospital has a shuttle going to it. If the shuttle isn't running (it's only M-F 5:30am-midnight) then she could just not use BART at all that day and drive to the hospital.
I don't think San Francisco will work for us because of the higher costs and commute. If it's close to a BART station then I suppose it's a possibility. But again we're looking for a house to rent and I'm not sure that we're gonna get as much value in San Francisco. If we were okay with an apartment we'd probably be looking at SF. I think it'd be nice to live in SF so I'll look at options along BART but I'm not too optimistic that I'll find a good place for us.
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I definately agree with Alameda. I grew up in East Oakland and recently moved to Alameda. Very affordable and extremely quiet/safe. Commute time should not really be a problem depending on how close her work is to the BART station as it takes about 15-20 minutes to get from Fruitvale BART to UC Berkeley.
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My advice about living in Oakland? Don't live in Oakland.
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here are your options (since you want a house, so SF is pretty much out):
commute by car - oakland (around lake merritt, elsewhere is dangerous), berkeley (closer to school is best, but less houses; hills are expensive, but nice), albany, emeryville, piedmont, alameda
commute by BART (which is very nice) - add Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Concord (orinda and lafayette are for old people, expensive). i live in concord and work in walnut creek, so if you have specific questions, let me know.
there is a tunnel between walnut creek area and berkeley/oakland area that makes commute nasty by car. however, houses are cheaper once you get on the other side of the tunnel in the suburbs (pleasant hill, concord)
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East Bay makes the most sense. A daily commute from San Francisco is pretty rough and it is typically more expensive to live there.
Like others have said check out BART stops. BART is one of the best, if not the best, public transportation systems in the states. Embrace public transportation, parking and driving through much of the Bay Area is a big pain.
North Berkeley and Albany are generally good places to live.
Avoid East Oakland and Richmond at all costs.
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Heyo, born in Oakland. Unless you really have to be in Oakland, I think Emeryville and Piedmont are good places to live. I was born by the Fruitvale area and it was pretty ghetto lol, though I never got into any trouble. The motto was always something like the closer to you to the hills, the safer it is. When I was about 10 I moved to Terrabella Place in Oakland, which is on the right side of Piedmont if you're looking at google maps. If my memory serves, Skyline High was a bit ghetto, but if you follow redwood rd, the houses/neighborhoods get way nicer. Depending on where you need to get, I think I'd recommend Piedmont and something to the right/east of the warren highway.
I think the Castro Valley, and more so Pleasanton, Dublin, and San Ramon areas would suit you well, but they're a tad further from Oakland/berkley. It's about a 20-30 minute drive I think. If you can take bart, CV and Dublin/pleasanton have stations, but not San Ramon.
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I wouldn't recommend considering SF. I just moved from SF to Emeryville area, because the rent is like 2/3 and SF housing is hellishly competitive. I didn't want to deal any more with needing to actually visit each sf place in person and then compete with 10 people for a $1300 studio (low end for the parts of SF worth living in).
Emeryville is absolutely gorgeous in the housing neighborhoods. Even Oakland near San Pablo st has a lot of beautiful houses and foliage. Yes there is a lot of seediness in spots throughout there, but gosh darn, it's such a nicer looking seediness then say SF.
That being said, if you are looking for an easy to rent transition place I recommend looking into Trinity Plaza in SF. Cheap ish for Sf, furnished, 3 month min lease, and right in front of civic center Bart. Area is on market st so highly seedy, but not particularly dangerous.
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http://oakland.crimespotting.org
Not sure how much help that would be, it might give a rough estimate on the crime certain areas of the city.
Good luck with your move and finding a place!
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Wait, you have a wife?
Who's a doctor??
News to me, you lucky guy you.
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I know nothing about oakland housing, but you may want to clarify you're overwhelmed by the diversity of housing. I could see somebody reading "we are a bit overwhelmed by the diversity in the area and we would like to narrow down our choices" and then going and starting a witch hunt, despite the meaning obviously being about housing and not people.
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If you're looking at the crime report things keep in mind that not all crime is equal. Around UC Berkeley in particular is going to have lots of stolen bikes, laptops, and other stuff involving students not familiar with keeping their things in a safe place. Since you are going to be able to use BART then I'd recommend Berkeley, Emeryville, or North Berkeley for a younger/single community with a little more going on or head over the hills into the East East Bay to somewhere like Walnut Creek or Concord where there's lots of young families, not so much going on but safer and quieter.
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United States24680 Posts
Good luck to your wife on her residency! Also, good luck on your move. Please share pictures of the new place when the time comes.
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Residency SUCKS, Thats what my dad said at least  . I doubt on a residency budget, you could llive in San Fran without significant money injections lol. Nony I know you are Pro-gamer and are sponsored by various companies, are they able to give you some kind of a helping hand? Also I really suggest not living in the oakland city area and being somewhere like piedmont if possible. I live in a city with a lot of crime in the south (#5 in the country) and I can tell you that the safer the area, the more wealthy, and the more available things are. Even more so are the people, when you live in a crim ridden area, people tend to be more secluded and therefore neighbors, especially in apartments are not the most ideal. GL Nony on finding a spot
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The Children's hospital is actually on the north edge of oakland, so you have a lot of options available to you.
I think Emeryville is probably your best bet. It's a decent neighborhood and it's a very short commute for your wife. You could do North Berkeley, as there are some nice areas up there, but the commute does get a little longer. Still not bad though.
Don't live in SF. The commute and prices will be heinous as you've already noted. You can always go visit SF on very short notice, so there's no point in living there as well.
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Alameda is supposed to be really nice and right off of Oakland. My older sister lives in Oakland with her kids and is looking for a house in Alameda to move too now, it's nice but supposed to be a bit more expensive.
Otherwise you could look in Berkeley itself, which has a lot of nice places, but has a sorta inflated price range on housing due to it being a college town.
Either way you should be able to be close to a BART station, BART kinda sucks for long commutes but for short/medium ones like you'll be having it works real well.
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I also hope this means we see you at some Bay Area Barcrafts NonY!
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Hey Nony,
If I were you, I'd avoid the whole "main" Oakland area. Alameda, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville. There's definitely some good streets among them to live on... and there's no doubt some great places to hang out and get cultured for nightlife... but... moving there from Texas? Probably not a good idea. In my experience (40+ trips there a year) the Oakland area as a whole is not the safest place. It's all pretty dingy, smoggy, gross.
San Francisco is nice, but it's pricey.
Your absolute best bet is sticking to anywhere along 680 from Concord down to say Dublin (to stay within the 30 minute commute). Danville/San Ramon would be my choice as it's slightly less expensive than Concord/Pleasant Hill. Walnut Creek is awesome but is going to be a bit more expensive.
The other benefit of the corridor along 680 is Mt Diablo State Park. As a runner, you'll appreciate it. As a dog owner, you'll appreciate it. If you like outdoors, you'll appreciate it.
Oakland, and it's surroundings, is definitely a "grey" area (except Berkeley which is green, but really not the best area outside of the college)... but once you take 24 out of Oakland, everything is nicer, less smoggy, much greener, etc.
One other thing - Oakland Airport... hands down the best/easiest to navigate airport in California (other than San Diego). SF is definitely cleaner and more high tech... but the Oakland Airport is awesome.
Good luck man.
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I highly suggest North Berkeley. I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2008 and have lived in a few different areas surrounding the school, as well as a two-year stint in San Francisco.
North Berkeley is a nice mix of worlds - you get the comfortable suburban feel, but you're also a stone's throw away from great food and fast transportation to anywhere in the Bay Area. Depending on where exactly your wife's residency is taking place, she can either walk to work (it's safe) or take a quick bus ride. There are a mix of college students (less of the undergrad crowd there and more grad students, so people in their mid-late 20s and early 30s), as well as families. Aestheically the area is great if you like woody surroundings. Lots of trees, good park nearby (Tilden). Great areas to run and bike too.
Some of the other areas people have mentioned are fine, but if your wife can avoid a 25+ minute daily commute, her life will be 50x better. BART is good, but when you factor in getting to/from the station, the fares, the delays, etc, a walkable commute becomes far more appealing.
San Francisco is fun; you don't need to live there though. You can BART to SF for a night out for dinner or at a bar.
If you have any questions, let me know. I'm a Bay Area native with good knowledge of the area.
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Yo Nony,
Speaking as another Bay Area resident who's lived here for pretty much my whole life, I'll add my knowledge.
Since you'll be renting a house, you honestly want to avoid Oakland at large. There are some good spots no doubt, but as a dude who went to high school in Oakland and saw the whole area, I reallllly don't recommend it.
Places that are damn good?
North Berkeley is pretty good. However, it's a bit more pricey, but still nice. Commute by car is definitely doable.
However, if you want to commute by BART, which is again perfectly doable/safe, then I HIGHLY recommend Pleasant Hill (Walnut Creek too). They're very nice, very safe neighborhoods (we haven't had a break in or any robbery or anything for YEARS), very very close to BART, and close to all sorts of convenience and food stores.
If I may ask, is your wife doing her residency in Oakland Children's Hospital? I'm curious because my uncle is one of the big players (doctors) there.
Any questions, feel free to message me or ask here.
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Ahh, Children's Hospital. If you have time to take a look, you should consider San Leandro, it's a smaller city in the East Bay, and I'm willing to wager probably cheaper to rent a house in, though San Leandro mostly is families and older people.
I personally live in San Leandro, my father commutes to work at UCB and it takes him approximately a 5 minute drive to the BART station and a 25 minute ride to Downtown Berkeley so the commute isn't too bad.
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On the subject of Children's Hospital, assuming your wife is going to be residencing there:
It's totally doable to get there in 30 minutes from Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill, my uncle does that every day (ish).
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On April 18 2012 02:22 Liquid`NonY wrote:
My wife will be graduating from medical school in May and will be doing her residency in Oakland. We'll be moving June 1. We are looking for a house to rent and we'll be visiting for four days in about a week to check out as many places as possible and hopefully make a decision. However we are a bit overwhelmed by the diversity in the area and we would like to narrow down our choices a bit before we go out there. The easiest way to do that is to cross off all the neighborhoods with a lot of crime or any other significant disadvantage to the neighborhood that we would not know by looking at a house ad.
So I'm asking for the collective power of TL to help us with its knowledge and wisdom. The most pressing question: Where should we absolutely not live?
If you want to go above and beyond, then we'll appreciate as much knowledge and advice as you are willing to give. Remember we are looking to rent a house, not an apartment (we have dogs, prefer more privacy, less chance of noisy neighbor, etc).
I believe she'll be working about two miles south of the west end of UC Berkeley. About a 30 minute commute is acceptable to her but anything longer is pushing it. However if we find that we have very few good options within 30 minutes, then she'll probably accept a longer commute.
Thanks!
I'll be honest with you man do NOT live in oakland. I live in the bay area. I would highly recommend that you live in a city nearby with less crime and just have her commute with bart (bay area rapid transit)
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Grats to your wife man. Living in Northern California will be something memorable for both of you. No matter where you live, I suggest you take the time to get into SF as much as possible, it's one of my favorite cities in the U.S. if not my FAVORITE city in the U.S., and you don't want to have lived there for a few years and look back regretting that you didn't explore every nuance of that amazing city by the bay.
Also make it out to wine country as much as you can, up to the redwoods a few times.
Go Sailing.
Ride a bike over the Golden Gate
Share wine and some fruit on the Muirland headlands looking back through the Golden Gate into the city.
Enjoy it
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Awwww yeah ferrets by the bay incoming!
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My friend lives in Walnut Creek and it's a really nice area. It's about 20 minutes east of Berkeley on the 24 freeway. You may want to see if you can find anything in that area just to check out while you're up there. We have driven from his place into Berkeley or we take the BART, and either way never takes more than 30 minutes.
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On April 18 2012 04:25 TURBODERPER wrote:
If I may ask, is your wife doing her residency in Oakland Children's Hospital? I'm curious because my uncle is one of the big players (doctors) there.
Yeah she'll just be starting her residency in pediatrics at Oakland Children's Hospital.
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8748 Posts
On April 18 2012 05:01 Grantiere wrote:
Awwww yeah ferrets by the bay incoming!
We won't be bringing our ferrets
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8748 Posts
Does Walnut Creek have significantly hotter weather?
I was just comparing it to Berkeley and Oakland and it looks like the summers are much hotter, which we really want to escape from (coming from San Antonio, TX we are tired of the oppressive heat in the summer)
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On April 18 2012 05:39 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Does Walnut Creek have significantly hotter weather?
I was just comparing it to Berkeley and Oakland and it looks like the summers are much hotter, which we really want to escape from (coming from San Antonio, TX we are tired of the oppressive heat in the summer)
I've lived in the Bay Area for the last decade and I go between Berkeley [I go to college there] and Walnut Creek [lived there at one point] and I don't see too much of a difference in weather. I've never felt it was so much different between the two places. I would assume both are milder than Texas -but I've never been to Texas so can't really speak on that. We get heat waves and it gets pretty hot once in a while but for the most part, its pretty mild and not too bad. Usually around mid to upper 80's.
And as far as living - Walnut Creek is a great place and through Walnut Creek BART and you can get to anywhere in the Bay Area in an hour. From Walnut Creek to Berkeley is like 25 minutes - so that should be fine. As others have said, North Berkeley is also an option to consider - though I would like Walnut Creek more, but thats just my opinion.
Anyway, welcome to the Bay Area, NonY
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On April 18 2012 05:39 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Does Walnut Creek have significantly hotter weather?
I was just comparing it to Berkeley and Oakland and it looks like the summers are much hotter, which we really want to escape from (coming from San Antonio, TX we are tired of the oppressive heat in the summer)
Having lived in Austin for 2 years and the Bay Area for ~7 years, Texas heat is much worse primarily because of the humidity. Walnut Creek and the Pleasant Hill area shouldn't be a problem but it will be slightly warmer than Berkeley, however I wouldn't say the difference is "significant." I would probably start looking at homes in North Berkeley first (very quiet, the area closest to the northside of campus is filled mostly with engineering nerds and grad students) and then look at Pleasant Hill/Walnut Creek.
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On April 18 2012 05:39 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Does Walnut Creek have significantly hotter weather?
I was just comparing it to Berkeley and Oakland and it looks like the summers are much hotter, which we really want to escape from (coming from San Antonio, TX we are tired of the oppressive heat in the summer)
its about ten-fifteen degrees cooler once you go through the tunnel. oakland/berkeley are on the bay so you get more oceany weather with cool winds. walnut creek/concord/pleasant hill are in kind of a valley with the river to the north and the heat tends to collect.
summers are probably around 85-105 (usually tending towards 95) in concord/walnut creek. much cooler in berkeley/oakland. also, its less humidity than texas (my brother lives in austin so i visit often) so its a dry heat. its also much warmer in the winter than oakland/berkeley.
fyi, walnut creek is expensive. if you want to come to our side of the tunnel, you should consider pleasant hill, concord and this weird place called "transit village," which is trying to become a quasi-city. the development is right next to pleasant hill BART.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_village
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On April 18 2012 05:39 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Does Walnut Creek have significantly hotter weather?
I was just comparing it to Berkeley and Oakland and it looks like the summers are much hotter, which we really want to escape from (coming from San Antonio, TX we are tired of the oppressive heat in the summer)
It's a little warmer (also a little cooler in the winter) than the bayside cities but not as hot as Texas. Humidity in California is much lower than a Texas summer so while the sun can be strong the air itself isn't as sweltering. All areas of the Bay will get nice cool sea breezes in the afternoon during warmer weather. There are maybe a couple weekends a year that are pretty intense, which just make for a great excuse for a trip to the ocean or the high sierra, both of which would have great weather when it's super hot elsewhere. Keep in mind that the bayside areas are going to have more fog as well, although the east bay is nowhere near as foggy as San Francisco itself.
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I know you said you're looking for a house but if you decide to get an apartment, I would recommend
The Landing at Jack London Square. It was the nicest place I found when looking for apartments in the Bay Area with the "cheapest" price. I say "cheapest" because nothing is cheap out there but it was an amazing place. Lots of restaurants nearby, you're right on the estuary and the BART is about a 10 minute walk.
I came from a small midwestern town and I didn't have a single issue in the 6 months I lived there. I can't wait to move back in a couple years and would strongly recommend that apartment complex to anyone that's looking out for a place out there. The biggest adjustment I had was all the protestors that take place every weekend. I swear, there's a new protest daily. Also the panhandlers are kind of annoying too in SF.
Anyways, good luck with the move, super jealous of everyone that lives out there. Just wish I could find a job out there and move back ASAP, such an amazing area and the weather is perfect for me.
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On April 18 2012 05:55 dAPhREAk wrote:Show nested quote +On April 18 2012 05:39 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Does Walnut Creek have significantly hotter weather?
I was just comparing it to Berkeley and Oakland and it looks like the summers are much hotter, which we really want to escape from (coming from San Antonio, TX we are tired of the oppressive heat in the summer) its about ten-fifteen degrees cooler once you go through the tunnel. oakland/berkeley are on the bay so you get more oceany weather with cool winds. walnut creek/concord/pleasant hill are in kind of a valley with the river to the north and the heat tends to collect. summers are probably around 85-105 (usually tending towards 95) in concord/walnut creek. much cooler in berkeley/oakland. also, its less humidity than texas (my brother lives in austin so i visit often) so its a dry heat. its also much warmer in the winter than oakland/berkeley. fyi, walnut creek is expensive. if you want to come to our side of the tunnel, you should consider pleasant hill, concord and this weird place called "transit village," which is trying to become a quasi-city. the development is right next to pleasant hill BART. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_village
here is a better link for the transit village.
http://www.contracostacentre.com/
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I am sure I am just repeating other people at this point, but you really want to avoid oakland in general. You can try places like piedmont, but you should definitely look into walnut creek. (my friend describe it as full of rich old folks, so you know...pretty safe). Alameda is also a pretty good option, its a nice place right by the bay right some decent sushi spots.
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Yea, Walnut Creek is more expensive than Pleasant Hill, and the latter is just as close to its own BART station and close to all convenience stores, etc.
Pleasant Hill is a cheaper to my knowledge, and the neighborhood is VERY safe (plus all the neighbors are really nice).
Lots of good places in Pleasant Hill as well to walk around.
Commuting to Berkeley from there again takes 20-30 minutes (BART is very very useful, but even using a car isn't that bad).
So if you don't want/can't do North Berkeley (since it is more expensive), my full recommendation goes to Pleasant Hill.
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Berkeley is not that cheap, although I love the place (UCB student, haha). I'd look for a place around Rockridge. East and West Oakland are the only really notorious parts of Oakland. Rockridge BART has some nice small places around it that should be fairly affordable.
In terms of neighborhoods in Oakland, I'd look for a place in Temescal/Shafter/Rockridge. Upper Rockridge is really nice but may not be very affordable. All of those neighborhoods are quite close to Children's Hospital.
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there's a good like 15 degree difference between somewhere on the bay and about 10 minutes inland. walnut creek is a really really nice city, if you can find somewhere there that's cheap i'd recommend that. berkeley is really nice too, but it has some shitty parts and some expensive parts. oakland is a surprisingly nice city, in the nice parts. i believe east and west oakland are the parts with more crime, but other than those areas it's a really beautiful city.
that's cool that your wife is going to work at oakland's children hospital, i was hospitalized there for a few days when i was younger, pretty nice hospital.
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On April 18 2012 05:35 Liquid`NonY wrote:Show nested quote +On April 18 2012 05:01 Grantiere wrote:
Awwww yeah ferrets by the bay incoming! We won't be bringing our ferrets
you can own ferrets, you just can't purchase them in cali.. big difference.
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Walnut creek isn't too bad. It's not significantly warmer.
Where is she a resident at children's. I go there for a couple medical issues @.@
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On April 18 2012 07:39 sc14s wrote:Show nested quote +On April 18 2012 05:35 Liquid`NonY wrote:On April 18 2012 05:01 Grantiere wrote:
Awwww yeah ferrets by the bay incoming! We won't be bringing our ferrets you can own ferrets, you just can't purchase them in cali.. big difference.
free legal advice online is worth every penny.
http://law.onecle.com/california/fish/2118.html
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I live in Pleasant Hill currently. Don't live in Concord. Walnut Creek is great and I recommend some place there, if not in the southern side of Pleasant Hill near downtown.
The summer heat can get pretty bad in Pleasant Hill/Walnut Creek but it's nothing compared to Texas.
Also, I find the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek BART hilariously close to each other, as if there's no point having both of them.
Dublin is another nice place to live in, though it may be a bit far from Berkeley.
Edit - and three more recommendations if you want a nice, quiet town: San Ramon / Lafayette / Orinda
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Well if you're looking for a house to rent you'll probably be better off not in Oakland itself. If you had a family (i.e. kids) my immediate recommendation would be Pleasanton (it's about a 35 min commute to UC Berkeley [45 with traffic]) in the tri-valley area. If the house you're renting is not one you'd be looking to purchase in the future, you'd probably be fine within a not so large/not so small city right outside of Oakland. I'd say Emerville sounds nice depending on which part of the city. If you're looking to get away from the heat entirely just find a nice calm city closer to the bay than others. From the few times I've been in Alameda it's a nice tiny town (I wouldn't call it a city) and it looks very safe/clean. The main places you want to cross right off the bat are Richmond and Oakland itself. The further south of Oakland you go, the nicer the cities become until you get to San Jose, it's a fact. In regards to BART, If you have the possibility of driving and you live in the Bay Area, unless you really hate driving on heavy traffiic or are making a trip from one end of the line to the other or going to downtown San Francisco where you'll never find parking, I'd just suggest to not use it. It's overpriced, not particularly fast, and inconvenient as its stops only follow a certain way and it entails driving/walking/taking the bus to bart, getting on bart, and driving /walking/taking the bus from bart to your destination. In the time you do that you could've driven to you destination and came back.
Hayward could be a decent option as well. It's got some nice neighborhoods I believe. Good Luck!
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On April 18 2012 08:07 newvsoldschool wrote:
I live in Pleasant Hill currently. Don't live in Concord.
That's cruel! 
If she wants less than a 30 min commute, as well as a house, the best bet would probably be El Sobrante, El Cerrito, or Rockridge (though that might be pricey). If she is willing to put up with 40 min - 1 hour than Concord/Pleasant Hill are an option, but they are on average 10 - 15 degrees hotter (though they are still pretty cool in comparison to Texas). The Bay Area is pricey, and renting has been quite difficult recently (there recently was an article about it in the Local section of the Contra Costa Times) but it's not impossible. The Bay Area is a fabulous place to live and Children's is probably one of the best places in the county in terms of Pediatrics.
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Congratulations to your wife! I ended up at children's hospital once when I lacerated my spleen. Anyways, Montclair is a very nice neighborhood. I currently live in Piedmont. There are plenty of nice suburbs around Oakland, gl with your search!
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I think Walnut Creek, Danville, Alamo, Orinda, or Lafayette would be great choices. Small cities (town in Alamo's case) with great neighborhoods. Lived/ went to school in those areas and liked them a lot. The commute range for these cities to Oakland is about 20-30mins by car.
Pleasanthill and Concord are cities I don't know too much about since I don't go there often, but I haven't really heard anything negative about either area so I think they are pretty solid choices. Also around a 25min or so commute.
As far as Berkeley and Emeryville go, I think they should be choices behind what is listed above. Personally, I don't like the feel of Berkeley. I, too, enjoy my privacy and, no offense to Berkeley people, enjoy more traditional folk. I never really like travelling to Berkeley and I just don't feel comfortable there. Just not my style. Emeryville is pretty whatever. I traveled there a few times a week for a year or so and don't really see it as a good place to live. It's got a cool center but that's pretty much it. Pretty noisy whenever I went there. I would rank it pretty much even with Berkeley as far as my overall preference goes when ranking the cities. 15min commute maybe. Closer, but based on what you said about privacy the other cities I listed have more options I believe. Not that these two cities don't, there are just more likely more in the other cities.
Avoid Oakland if you can.
Good luck in your choice!
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Advice on moving to Oakland....dont move to Oakland. There have been some very nice suggestions with some of the surrounding cities.
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A lot of good advice from everyone!
Depending on how far away you're willing to live, how much you're planning on driving, and what your wife's schedule is like, another thing that might be worth considering is the flow of traffic. People can probably advise you on the details of specific routes, but the general rule of thumb is that traffic will be backed up on the freeways toward San Francisco in the mornings and going away from San Francisco in the evening.
So, for instance, El Cerrito/Pinole/etc. have some cheaper housing options that aren't too far away, but if your wife is working something around a 9-5 schedule, she'd be fighting traffic to and from work, which can be aggravating.
(As people have noted, this is all the more reason to try to be near Bart if you end up looking for housing in a nearby city!)
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You should check out Castro Valley. (Grew up there, gonna move back after college). Its a pretty quiet town, and has a bart station. Its about 15-20 mins from oakland. Low crime, doesnt get too hot in the summer prolly 75-80ish.
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Welcome to Norcal! I'm not in the bay, I'm in Sacramento, but I have family who lives in the bay and I love going down there to visit. I will echo the Walnut Creek sentiment. I know people who live there and they like it quite a bit. And it doesn't have the problems that Oakland does.
Like one of the other guys said, be sure to explore Northern California as much as you can. There is so much great stuff here. I moved here about a year ago from Pennsylvania and man, its so much better. San Francisco is a great city. I also love going up to Lake Tahoe. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
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On April 18 2012 08:07 newvsoldschool wrote:
Dublin is another nice place to live in, though it may be a bit far from Berkeley.
Edit - and three more recommendations if you want a nice, quiet town: San Ramon / Lafayette / Orinda
Dublin is about 45 minutes from Berkeley thru BART and about 35 minutes driving. I don't know if that is too far or not, but I will attest to Dublin/San Ramon area being super quiet and nice. I've lived there for the last 5 years and to me, it is the stereotypical suburbia. I believe its sorta pricey, but I'm not too sure since I don't pay attention to that stuff. If the commute isn't too bad, San Ramon area would be a solid place to live.
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I think this image is pertinent to the discussion. I agree with basically everyone else, and personally recommend the north side of Berkeley =]
+ Show Spoiler +
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Congrats to your wife!
There have been a lot of really good recommendations made so far, so I won't repeat what everyone else has said. Something to consider however:
The two major options for you are the areas immediately around Children's Hospital (Berkeley, North Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, San Leandro, Alameda etc.), and the farther East Bay (Orinda, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek). All of the cities I just listed are great, but it may be helpful to think about the type of community you two want to live in.
The areas immediately around Children's Hospital are a little more "city-ish". The houses/yards are smaller, and the buildings older, but there are tons of things to do (great food, fun night life, access to SF etc.); there's always something going on in this area. The farther East Bay is probably a lot more like Texas, in that the buildings are typically (but not always) newer, nicer, with more space and quiet neighbors; much more of an archetypal suburb.
I grew up in Pleasant Hill/Martinez, and it was a very safe and nice area, but a little boring. I live in Albany now while I'm finishing up my Masters at UC Berkeley (done in two weeks!), and I LOVE IT. To be honest, Albany is the best marriage of the two types of places I listed above. The houses were mostly built in the 1950's and aren't huge, but the neighborhoods are beautiful, with a really pleasant small town feel (quiet, good restaurants, family oriented, Point Isabel Dog Park right on the ocean etc.) Add that to the fact that it's an 11 minute BART ride to MacArthur (the station your wife will get off) and still has access to all the fun nightlife stuff in this part of the East Bay.
If you're interested in checking out anything in this area, feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to show you around. Good luck finding a place!
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On April 18 2012 09:49 jmbthirteen wrote:
Welcome to Norcal! I'm not in the bay, I'm in Sacramento, but I have family who lives in the bay and I love going down there to visit. I will echo the Walnut Creek sentiment. I know people who live there and they like it quite a bit. And it doesn't have the problems that Oakland does.
Like one of the other guys said, be sure to explore Northern California as much as you can. There is so much great stuff here. I moved here about a year ago from Pennsylvania and man, its so much better. San Francisco is a great city. I also love going up to Lake Tahoe. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
What!?!? Why isnt there more SC2/Barcraft stuff from Sac up? I live in Grass Valley which is about 2 hours away.
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Living in Berkeley, going to school in Oakland, and even having visited a cardiologist regularly at Children's Oakland, I think it is awesome you are coming to the Bay Area. In my personal biased opinion I think Berkeley is a better option. Not only is the Starcraft community already growing around the university, (2 barcrafts have already taken place on telegraph, one MLG, one IPL) but also has 2 bart stations that take a total of 7 or 10 minutes to get to Rockridge bart station from. (I commute everyday on BART.) Downtown Berkeley is known as the Gourmet Ghetto due to all the amazing restaurants. As for Pricing the Berkeley hills tend to be quite a bit overpriced, and further away from downtown where there is a BART station. I would suggest trying to find a place closer to the downtown area, which should be more convient and more reasonably priced.
Glhf finding a place!!!
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Couldn't resist.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1e4Xc.jpg)
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This is pretty awesome news Tyler. Congratulations and best of luck
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Goodluck on your new environment.
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Congrats to your wife!
I currently work at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Insitute (CHORI), which is a few blocks from the hospital, and I went to school at UC Berkeley.
Honestly anywhere in Berkeley would be a really great choice to live. It's close and there are many housing options that fit exactly what you want. Obviously too close to the University would not be ideal; anything south of Derby would be far enough from students.
Oakland is a bit trickier to figure out. Anywhere close to the hospital is a bad idea. About a month ago, we couldn't leave work because the Oakland SWAT team was trying to arrest some suspected armed robbers a couple blocks away. I have a coworker who is moving out of her place in the Temescal neighborhood (a few blocks from the hospital) because it got broken into a couple times in the last month. Also, police helicopters are not uncommon. A little further south is Lake Merritt/Downtown Oakland, which is nicer than near the hospital. The houses there are generally very close together, but it's mostly families. I don't want to say anything inaccurate about the rest of Oakland, but I would not recommend going further east/south of Lake Merritt.
Emeryville is developing really quickly so you'll have a good chance finding a recently built place. It's also ridiculously close to the hospital and the traffic is minimal (she won't have to use the freeway). Like others have said before, it's close to malls and movie theaters. Freeway traffic can be really horrible around there because it is next to two freeways that dump cars onto the Bay Bridge.
I live in Danville, which is in the valley east of the hospital. First of all, anything east of the Caldecott tunnel (Orinda) gets really hot during the summer. Berkeley/Oakland is pretty much always the same cool, bay temperature. If you guys are looking to live out here, the commute will be more of an issue. My 25 mile drive takes about 40-50 minutes during normal commute hours. I'd say that Walnut Creek might be the farthest you'll want to look to preserve the short commute time. Orinda, Lafayette and Walnut Creek are pretty much as suburban as you can get. The areas are really nice, lots of families, open space, and old people haha. That said, the price would probably reflect this.
I wouldn't rely on BART too heavily for getting to the hospital. The MacArthur BART station can be sketchy and your wife will have to wait there while the less than punctual shuttle takes its sweet time getting around.
My best piece of advice is not to live near the hospital. Places are cheaper there for a reason. I'd recommend Berkeley because it seems to knock off all the items on your checklist (assuming the sticker shock hasn't got you yet).
Let me know if you have any specific questions and welcome to the Bay Area!!!!
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Grew up in Alamo / Danville (wow, didn't know so many people on TL are from there!) and now going to UC Berkeley (and living in Berkeley). Bay Area is seriously just awesome and I think you guys have made an awesome choice to come here Btw it does get hot on the east side of the tunnel over summer, but it's never unbearable because it's not humid, so even 100 degree whether is bearable. Alamo / Danville is a really nice quiet suburb, I'd probably suggest Pleasant Hill / Walnut Creek instead since they are a bit bigger and from what I know should be less expensive. If you're willing to live in Antioch I've heard the the housing there is all super cheap because of foreclosures and stuff, and the area is very new so everything looks nice, although the area isn't the best (it's not bad either I think).
If you want to live at Berkeley in a Starcraft / gaming team house next year let me know LOL! Berkeley is a nice place to live too, lots of stuff going on and our CSL team has recently been trying to run a lot more events here and start up a nice community here
Walnut Creek -> Berkeley is 20-25 minutes if you drive during non rush-hours so it's very close. Just don't go during rush hour as it could take upwards of an hour.
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On April 18 2012 11:33 Superiorwolf wrote:Grew up in Alamo / Danville (wow, didn't know so many people on TL are from there!) and now going to UC Berkeley (and living in Berkeley). Bay Area is seriously just awesome and I think you guys have made an awesome choice to come here Btw it does get hot on the east side of the tunnel over summer, but it's never unbearable because it's not humid, so even 100 degree whether is bearable. Alamo / Danville is a really nice quiet suburb, I'd probably suggest Pleasant Hill / Walnut Creek instead since they are a bit bigger and from what I know should be less expensive. If you're willing to live in Antioch I've heard the the housing there is all super cheap because of foreclosures and stuff, and the area is very new so everything looks nice, although the area isn't the best (it's not bad either I think). If you want to live at Berkeley in a Starcraft / gaming team house next year let me know LOL! Berkeley is a nice place to live too, lots of stuff going on and our CSL team has recently been trying to run a lot more events here and start up a nice community here Walnut Creek -> Berkeley is 20-25 minutes if you drive during non rush-hours so it's very close. Just don't go during rush hour as it could take upwards of an hour.
Or an hour and a half. Or two hours. Sometimes it gets so ridiculous.
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Bay area native here. I would consider living in SF and commuting via BART to Oakland. SF life is quite the mind expanding experience.... Oakland...... well honestly I don't know much about it except to stay away. I'm sure there are nice spots, and its certainly the most affordable part of the bay area, but its high risk low reward. Top 10 murder city every year, and nothing fun or exciting there, especially when compared with the rest of the bay area.
I have a friend who's an administrator at an Oakland hospital.... and she tells sad stories about the sights she see's on her way to work. Lots of street crime and under aged prostitution. She commutes from Palo Alto, about an hour away.
I think a commute and a nice location is a better option than being near a hospital in Oakland.
Good luck! Gratz to your wife
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I am from the East Bay and there's definitely positives and negatives about each neighborhood. I wouldn't recommend San Francisco because it's expensive, and it's easy enough to access by taking BART. I wouldn't recommend Walnut Creek either. Your wife would have to fight the commute with all of the people who live across the other side of the tunnel, trying to get to SF.
I recommend the Rockridge area of Oakland. It's located in between Downtown Oakland and Berkeley, with College Ave as the centerpoint. It's a very walkable neighborhood, relatively young, and good food. It's a safe neighborhood, unlike other parts of Oakland. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/hhh/eby?query=&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=&nh=66
Others have suggested the El Cerrito/Albany area. This is also a great location. It's in between North Berkeley and Richmond and is pretty nice with lots of good restaurants, public transit access, and close to a nice Asian mall area, and there's also a fair amount of bars. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/hhh/eby?query=&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=&nh=47
Also worth checking out is the Temescal area, which is also between Downtown Oakland and Berkeley, but centered around telegraph ave. It's got a ton of good restaurants, and is right next to Oakland's (Small) Koreatown.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/hhh/eby?query=&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=&nh=62
Alameda is not a bad choice. It's pretty safe, but kind of boring, since it's on an artificial island and caters to its k-12 school system.
Piedmont is too pricey and has no rental units. Montclair is not bad, but is pretty much a soccer-mom town. South SF isn't bad but too far of a commute. Berkeley is very nice, but prices are inflated because of UC Berkeley. North Berkeley prices are even higher for some reason.
You may also want to check out downtown Oakland. It's becoming gentrified/hipsterfied with new condos, and lots of bars, but still not the safest area.
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On April 18 2012 11:33 Superiorwolf wrote:Grew up in Alamo / Danville (wow, didn't know so many people on TL are from there!) and now going to UC Berkeley (and living in Berkeley). Bay Area is seriously just awesome and I think you guys have made an awesome choice to come here Btw it does get hot on the east side of the tunnel over summer, but it's never unbearable because it's not humid, so even 100 degree whether is bearable. Alamo / Danville is a really nice quiet suburb, I'd probably suggest Pleasant Hill / Walnut Creek instead since they are a bit bigger and from what I know should be less expensive. If you're willing to live in Antioch I've heard the the housing there is all super cheap because of foreclosures and stuff, and the area is very new so everything looks nice, although the area isn't the best (it's not bad either I think). If you want to live at Berkeley in a Starcraft / gaming team house next year let me know LOL! Berkeley is a nice place to live too, lots of stuff going on and our CSL team has recently been trying to run a lot more events here and start up a nice community here Walnut Creek -> Berkeley is 20-25 minutes if you drive during non rush-hours so it's very close. Just don't go during rush hour as it could take upwards of an hour.
i doubt nony would want to live in a teamhouse with his wife, but since he'll be in the area i'd ask him to help you get it set up like the bw prohouses have their practice schedules, just to know what it's like and how effective it is just for the chance that he does on free time
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People die in Oakland, you sure you wouldn't rather live somewhere nicer like Berkeley or SF?
Let us know, I'll come visit you some day
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Come to Berzerkly please!
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stay away from Oakland .__., lots of stories from friends who got robbed going there/ in there, and also depends where your neighborhood is.
Honestly, i would rather look towards probably El Cerito, Berkely, around that area but not directly IN oakland. If your wallet is a bit tight, San Francisco won't forgive it, property here is ridiculously expesnive now >__<
Also, does this mean that we'll see you @ Bay Area BATTL LANs?
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On April 18 2012 13:11 kochanfe wrote:
Come to Berzerkly please!
he could hang out at eudomonia! I'd take the drive to hang out with him 
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I think this is something fairly hard to gauge without knowing how comfortable you and your wife are with more urban areas. If you think you might fit in with a coastal (read snobbier) view of Texans as suburban drones who like safety, homogenity, and rent-a-cops outside your gated community, then absolutely, move to one of the suburbs over the hills (walnut creek, danville, concord, whatever). Personally, I think if you're somewhat excited about moving to a fairly diverse and unique as a young person interested in some things beyond having a lawn, you're going to be missing out hugely by living in one of these suburbs. I don't think there's anything explicitly wrong with that kind of suburban life beyond the myriad of socioeconomic and environmental issues arising from it, but if you're going to be paying hugely elevated Bay Area real estate prices, you might as well live in the actual Bay Area, and not the suburbs.
For a more peaceful/suburban experience in the East Bay where I'd suggest you look, the aforementioned Temescal area of Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, and Emeryville are all extremely viable choices. Certain areas of Berkeley are also great, though real estate prices fluctuate wildly between neighborhoods. I imagine that your best bet in Berkeley is going to be looking for student neighborhoods, of which there are many even at some remove from the UC. The Oceanview neighborhood in which I reside is also a possibility; historically industrial/poor = cheaper housing/more land, recent gentrification via Fourth Street and the Apple Store they just built means things can only be looking up for upwardly mobile white individuals.
A note on public transportation and BART -- as others have said, absolutely use it. It's quite reasonably priced, and generally comfortable aside from the busiest rush hour or sports game times. However, be wary of any housing located TOO close to the BART tracks above ground, since they're hellishly noisy. This typically drives down the prices within a block or so of BART tracks immensely, and they don't run later than midnight usually, but there's a very good reason that these places are usually rock bottom deals.
Finally, it's great to hear that your wife is going to CHO, it's a great place from what I remember of my trips there, and I've never heard a negative thing about it.
EDIT: Yes, Oakland is a fairly dangerous area. Yes, there are bad neighborhoods and the police force is chronically understaffed, probably racist, maybe corrupt, and seemingly ineffective. That doesn't mean that you won't be almost entirely safe by avoiding shady areas late at night, having some confidence about you, and generally not looking like a vulnerable moneyed mark and having some street smarts.
Also, the Marin Headlands are a serious gem that gets overlooked way too much. GO.
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I live in north-ish Berkeley and it is nice. Tons of good restaurants, BART is walkable, as is Eudemonia for LAN parties and viewing events Walks in town are pleasant, folks have some amazing gardens and there are some fun pedestrian-only shortcuts climbing the hills. North and west of campus there's not as much designated undergrad housing so it's a bit quieter than if you were hugging the south side of campus. Put north Berkeley, and Albany on your list if they're not there already.
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Not really sure about the Oakland area. What is she doing her residency in? Which specialty? Good luck on the move.
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We have a group where we try to announce all local East Bay esports events like LANs and Barcrafts, would love to have you join it! Already have many people from IPL and Painuser and Axslav in it
https://www.facebook.com/groups/263481943728694/
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Move to Berkeley and come hang out with meeeee!!!!
I'm moving to the Bay Area in August; super pumped. I love the area, and I'm sure both you and your wife will as well.
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Few things: Don't live in SF its too expensive. The weather shouldn't be a concern for you, since you lived in Duke as well as are from Texas. A hot summer will have peak days of 105, no humidity, but most summers will max out like 95ish.
Alameda, Walnut Creek are nicer places, everything in the Bay Area is pretty expensive but those aren't AS bad I suppose. Keeping commute time to 30 minutes or less is a bit difficult because the traffic is notoriously bad in East Bay (I'm from South Bay), especially Highway 880. Maybe the Richmond area as well. I'm not AS familiar with the East Bay area as South Bay, but don't think of Oakland as ALL bad, just like all 'bad' cities its usually just certain areas. In fact I do believe TwitchTV's Fishstix and Thegunrun and IPL's Joshy all live in an area of Oakland together.
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I've lived in the Bay Area for my entire life but i can't really comment on the housing prices, but i hope to see you around!
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Try not to live in Oakland... It's dangerous.
I live in San Francisco and my mother works in Berkeley, about a 45 min commute by BART. If San Francisco is out of the question, try to look for a place in the north bay (north or northeast of berkeley) or even Berkeley itself.
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Congratulations to your wife on her residency and good luck with the move!
Oakland has changed a lot since I was last out there years back so I can't offer much advice but I have heard its cleaned up a fair bit. Although all the funny comments in this thread cracked me up.
The bay area is probably one of my favorite places on the western coastline and I think it will be really awesome for you two. I wish I live out there to be honest. Ocean, hills, hiking, so much within an hour or two driving distance, plus san fran is fully fantastic to explore around any time you two have a free afternoon.
Good luck, have Batman!
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Ok so, according to my friend, West Oakland should be avoided, Lake Merritt is a nice area (but fairly pricy), and Jack London square may or may not be OK. They recently made it more upscaled, but people say it's still not as safe, not sure about this one. Being around or east of the BART stations will be fine.
But as I said earlier, I still think living in south Berkeley will be good for you guys.
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Visit Napa valley often, and become a wine snob. I think you'd make a good one. I mean that in a good way!
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Your wife went to med school! wow that is amazing, congratulations to her!
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Alameda is maybe 20 minutes away. I live in alameda and its much safer than Oakland in general. also, you can play basketball with me at leydecker park too it's very nice there.
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8748 Posts
Thanks everyone we've been reading every post and you've helped us get quickly acquainted with all the neighborhoods in the area and the towns a little further out. Right now we're leaning toward North Berkeley / Berkeley Hills and most of the East side locations like Piedmont, Montclair, Rockridge and up to Claremont. But Berkeley is our #1 area right now. I hope I haven't offended anyone by not prioritizing the place they recommended!
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Woohoo, you're going to love North Berkeley and the gourmet ghetto. Hell, all the food around there.
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Berkeley is lovely. I live in San Francisco but still make it over there sometimes for sports, concerts, & food. The Greek theater is my favorite place to see concerts, there's world class food like Chez Panisse, & (though it pains me to say it since I went to Stanford) the Cal sporting scene is really fun. Can't really beat the weather, either.
Good luck on your move and I hope you find some great digs!
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Those are great locations that you guys are leaning towards right now, hope you find a place that suits you two well
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Piedmont and Montclair will probably be quite expensive. I would suggest something within a mile and a half of the North Berkeley BART. Generally, prices are more reasonable in that area, you will find small houses for rent, and it will be close to public transportation.
Buy a couple bicycles.
Disclosure: I was a student at Berkeley for seven years and lived in Berkeley for six of them. It is awesome.
Final edit: Getting to the Children's Hospital from North Berkeley is not very easy unless you live close to Solano or Shattuck, as the 18 (AC Transit Bus) runs along those streets to within blocks of the hospital. You could consider Temescal as well, given that it is slightly easier to get there from that area without transit.
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United States1050 Posts
On April 18 2012 02:27 harrypl0tter wrote:
Walnut creek.
Walnut Creek is an awesome place to live and is only 15 min away from Berkeley
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Nony, as the Chill Toss, I think your gonna love California.
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I dont know too much about California I am from the midwest, however, if I may contribute something to your quest. I would highly suggest getting verizon fios as your isp for internet they have great speeds upload and download if you are going to still be streaming and want the most reliable connection you can, I highly recommend it if you can move to a house with it available. Sorry I dont have housing or location recommendations but I felt that online internetz would be a good help too ya know?
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Congratulations on your wife's new residency at Children's Hospital! I have a friend who's a nurse there and another friend who's in administration.
Regarding the hate towards Oakland, it really depends on where you want to live in Oakland. I grew up in Walnut Creek, went to UC Berkeley for undergrad, and lived in Berkeley for a few years after that. I currently live on the other side of the Bay but I head over to the East Bay for work and for getting good food so I'm pretty familiar with the area.
The areas that you mentioned in Oakland are great! Piedmont/Montclair/Rockridge has a lot of early 20th century homes so there's a lot of charm there. The food scene in Oakland is AWESOME. Lots of small neighborhood restaurants and dives with a vibrant upscale restaurant scene as well. You're in close proximity to BART as well as the major freeways (580, 880, 24). The rent is going to be comparable to North Berkeley/Albany. Your neighborhood demographics will mostly be upper middle class families, yuppies, and hipsters.
Crime is no where near as bad as people say in Oakland as long as you stay away from certain areas at night. However if you DO venture out at night in those areas, then it's probably as bad as people think. Stay away from West Oakland, outside of Jack London, Chinatown, East Oakland by Merrit College, and south past Laney. The general rule in Oakland is the more trees you see, the better as the blighted areas are very urban looking. The Oakland hills are beautiful and the view of the bay is even better.
I lived in Berkeley for 7 years and I loved it! Definitely check the area around Solano Ave. and Gilman as that's where most of the places to eat and things to do are. The best thing about Berkeley (in my opinion) is there is probably no better place in the Bay Area to get groceries. If you're coming from San Antonio, you'll probably be blown away by the freshness and variety. I regularly cross the bridge and drive 20 miles to go grocery shopping there. Between Berkeley Bowl, Tokyo Fish Market, the Neighborhood Butcher, The Cheese Board, Monterey Market, you can probably find anything you could want.
Downtown Berkeley is very college-ey so you'll find lots of cheap places to eat. The more upscale shopping area is closer to the 80 at 4th street and there are tons of small boutiques and shops.
I don't recommend living on the other side of the Berkeley Hills closer to Walnut Creek, Lafayette, whatever since you guys are a younger couple. You'll be really bored as there's not too much to do as it's pretty deep into suburbia. If you need to find cheaper rent, you can look a little North of Berkeley into El Cerrito and El Sobrante/San Pablo, but if you do, make SURE that you're closer to the hills. Generally the further North and West you get from North Berkeley, the more ghetto it gets culminating in Richmond being the most ghetto ever.
If you have any questions, let me know through PM and I can give you my email address and I'd be happy to help you out!
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On April 19 2012 09:18 Alex.IGN wrote:Walnut Creek is an awesome place to live and is only 15 min away from Berkeley
This is true, however with traffic considerations, it could be more like 30-45. Highway 24 is a very heavily commutted corridor and rush hour traffic through the Caldecott tunnel is horrid.
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On April 19 2012 08:57 terrio wrote:
Piedmont and Montclair will probably be quite expensive. I would suggest something within a mile and a half of the North Berkeley BART. Generally, prices are more reasonable in that area, you will find small houses for rent, and it will be close to public transportation.
Buy a couple bicycles.
Disclosure: I was a student at Berkeley for seven years and lived in Berkeley for six of them. It is awesome.
Final edit: Getting to the Children's Hospital from North Berkeley is not very easy unless you live close to Solano or Shattuck, as the 18 (AC Transit Bus) runs along those streets to within blocks of the hospital. You could consider Temescal as well, given that it is slightly easier to get there from that area without transit.
I agree that Temescal would be a good location. However it's a bit closer to Telegraph that you might want to be... Stay as East as possible.
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Forgot to mention, if your wife decides to BART into Children's Hospital, I'd advise her to be careful of when she commutes home at night. MacArthur station is the closest station and is one of the busiest since it's a transfer station so there's typically a lot of commuters around, but it can get pretty shady later at night. Driving is probably the best option if she plans on staying at work later than 8-9pm.
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Welcome to the area! I am graduating from UC Berkeley Law in May, so I have lived as a professional student in Berkeley for the past 3 years. I have a good sense of the various areas around the campus, and I would be happy to answer any questions you two have about the area. If you want a house and fewer noisy undergraduates, the North Side of campus is the way to go. For the best experience / commute I would say look in the area around Gourmet Ghetto (Shattuck Ave. north of downtown). World class food available in the area, and more houses than on the South Side. Commute would be about 12-15 by car, about 20 by bus to the hospital.
When you come out to see the area, I would be happy to talk with you about my experiences in and around Berkeley to give you a feel for the various areas, or to give specific feedback on craigslist options! PM me for my personal email address.
Edit: Yes, I did just finally make a TL account to give housing advice, haha.
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Good luck to you are your wife
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Best of luck to you and your amazing wife Tyler! Hope your move is swift and painless so we can see you stomping nerds and your wife pwnin' residency <3 ~~
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On April 19 2012 07:38 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Thanks everyone we've been reading every post and you've helped us get quickly acquainted with all the neighborhoods in the area and the towns a little further out. Right now we're leaning toward North Berkeley / Berkeley Hills and most of the East side locations like Piedmont, Montclair, Rockridge and up to Claremont. But Berkeley is our #1 area right now. I hope I haven't offended anyone by not prioritizing the place they recommended!
I lived in Oakland for 10 years after college, started my family there, only moved to south bay when my commute got too hard to balance with my family time. If I could control the world I'd move back in a heartbeat!
Everyone is going to have their favorite little neighborhood in North Oakland/Piedmont/Montclair/Berkeley - which is what's so awesome about the area - there are so many of them! Personally I love the area around Piedmont/Grand/Lakeshore Avenues, North of Lake Merritt - its very walkable with plenty of things very nearby, beautiful, and regardless of what the haters say as safe as any city. But you could make the same argument for Rockridge, Montclair, and Berkeley around downtown as well.
One consideration I would throw out is that Berkeley is harder to get in and out of. That won't matter so much for your wife's commute since Children's Hospital is relatively central, but if you want to get out of town at all (even to SF, Walnut Creek, or wherever) it just takes 15 minutes extra to get out of Berkeley.
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i live in sacramento but commute twice a week to richmond. shithole describes it succinctly. dont ever go there.
ive lived all over california and the bay area is def. the best part (+the surrounding areas you can drive to).
im not sure how far tahoe is from the bay (real quick drive from where i live in sacramento), but its some of the best skiing in the country. not that i expect you to know how to ski being from texas (im not very good myself and i live so close), but it is fun to go up there and drink some beers and fall on your ass.
edit: about the weather, my brother lives in austin and i visit him often. california heat is nowhere near texas heat trust me. berkely in particular has beautiful weather and if you can find a conveinently located house to rent i think you guys would really like it. its an interesting place, definetly not boring.
if i was moving there i would try my damnedest to find a place that is close enough that your wife wont have to get on a freeway to get to the hospital. if your wife has to sit in rush hour traffic day after day it will wear on her. i lived in LA for 2 years and the traffic is the main reason i moved back to norcal. it sucks the life out of u after a while.
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bahaha... this thread is so unintentionally funny to me...
It's amazing how well some of you dance around the topic of racism.... I'll be direct.
Check out the local school districts. The demographics of the school should tell you whether the neighborhood is good or not.
You're obviously going to want to find a school with the lowest amount of black and hispanic students... I know this sounds incredibly racist but deep down you know it's good advice.
You're gonna want to find a school with at least less than a 30% hispanic population. I grew up in south florida just outside Miami and we were 35% hispanic, 30% black, and 30% black... the lower the diversity the 'better' the community. I'm currently living in Canada as a Native American in a town that is 96% white... it's been two years since my town had a murder and you have to go back another 2 or 3 years to find another murder.
LOL actually... here's better advice that just struck me... I
Here's what you do. Look up the addresses to the realestate listings you're interested in.
Punch the addresses into google street view. Take a look at the neighborhoods yourself.
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I wish I could give some information about moving there, but I don't so good luck and congrats Nony! You're a lucky man to have such a great and successful wife! <3
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How was your trip out here? Find any good places?
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Awesome you are in bay area you HAVE to have a meet and greet so we can officially welcome you, if you have found a place let us know, idk how far it is but benicia is amazingly nice, im from sonoma county myself SONOMA for life. Also what are you doing with your ferrets arent they illegal?
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On April 19 2012 07:38 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Thanks everyone we've been reading every post and you've helped us get quickly acquainted with all the neighborhoods in the area and the towns a little further out. Right now we're leaning toward North Berkeley / Berkeley Hills and most of the East side locations like Piedmont, Montclair, Rockridge and up to Claremont. But Berkeley is our #1 area right now. I hope I haven't offended anyone by not prioritizing the place they recommended!
Absolutely great choice! I've lived in Walnut Creek my entire life, which is actually hotter than the areas you've listed, and am very familiar with all of the cities in the Bay Area. Also, I've worked at a hospital that's very close to Children's in Oakland, and was commuting by BART to MacArthur as well. The whole commuting by BART and shuttle is DEFINITELY the way to go if possible. Parking costs around hospitals are absolutely absurd (not to mention fairly unsafe for your unattended vehicle), so as long as your wife isn't getting her parking paid for she should definitely take the other route. She could bike/walk to Rockridge bart depending on how close you'll live to the station and just have a 5 minute BART ride to MacArthur and catch the shuttle. Very convenient, although I'm almost positive the Children's shuttles aren't bike friendly. Could always lock her bike up at either of the BART station's many bike racks. As someone having used BART 7 days a week for the past year, I can tell you with confidence that it'll be a very safe mode of transportation for your wife as well. Of course there will be the few characters on/around BART, but I didn't see one violent incident all year. She might get annoyed to death by some of the silly drunk people during late night rides though .
Sorry for the wall of text and I hope it provides some useful information!!!!! Always been a huge fan of you and love that I'll have even more reason to cheer for you as a fellow Bay Area dweller! Feel free to ask me any more questions if you wish! Good luck this weekend!!!!!!!!!!
Edit: I also think a meet and greet would be awesome :3! There's a local LAN center called Eudemonia close to CAL that has had some TL LANs in the past, as you're probably aware of . Would love to see you at the next event ^_^!
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If you're looking for a reasonable commute and cheaper housing, I'd live closer to where I live in the pinole area. Once you hit the berkeley/emeryville area the rent get's pretty expensive because of students and all that. Walnut Creek or Martinez is also solid if you can find a good price but it's typically expensive out there too.
edit: hercules/rodeo/crockett will find reasonable house renting prices and within the 30 minute allotment. Renting a house in berkeley might land you next to some noisy students and some busy areas you might not want to be around. Just a warning
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EPT
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