My boyfriend and I have talked deliberately and we have decided that we'd like to start looking for somewhere to live in around the Bay Area. I've heard it's very expensive (trust me, I'm from NY, and I've been to SF many times, so I know how expensive it can be). We are deciding that it would be better to not own a car (don't have to pay for a car, gas, maintenance, etc.). What areas of the Bay Area would be great to live in, if one wants to commute to San Fran (for work). The most I'm willing to rent is about $1200-1300/month. Thanks for all the Californians that can help me out
If you want to work in San Francisco, your best option is to live in San Francisco. Parking is atrocious and traffic is heavy, making life harder than it needs to be. If you can walk or take public transportation, you'll be happier. Depending on where in the city you work, Daly City or South San Francisco might be good options. Personally I'm not a fan of South SF but it's not horribly priced and it's close-ish to the city. Oakland is going to be tempting. You can pop over the bridge easily, and the rent is really low. But trust me when I say: stay the :***: out of Oakland. You will get mugged. Marin, Sausalito, and the rest of the north bay are really wonderful places, but they're not cheap. If you see anything there in your price range, take a look. Great wine & cheese up there, might be the best selection of wines in the world. The South bay is closer culturally to inland than San Francisco, but does have its perks. It's real calm and quiet, if that's what you're looking for. But it's a solid 40 minutes to an hour away from the city, so if you're moving out here to be part of the San Francisco culture, this is not your best option. That's my two cents. It's a big place with lots of options, but I recommend you stay on the peninsula if possible.
What's considered reasonably priced? I don't want to have to pay an arm and a leg to live there! Some of the places in SF go for $3,500 and I was like :eek:...*flees* *searches East Bay*. My question is, does one pay more to live "comfortably" in SF than say NY or Atlanta (where I live). Is the cost of living THAT much higher, or is it all relative? Sure, it may be $2,400 a month, but there's no car needed, and I'm sure my salary in SF will be loads higher than Atlanta, correct?
Here's my opinion... I'm from California... and relocating later this year with my employer... to the East Coast... I personally... CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT. Sorry. I've lived in three states and four Canadian provinces... California just isn't all that great. /lived in the Bay Area for 15+ years of my life, and not impressed by it.
I'm from the East Coast (NYC to be exact) and I think it's hyped up as well. I just fell in love with SF, Yosemite, etc. I like the culture, food, nature loving stuff they have, and a city in which one can always do something and never go bored. "SF is SO BORING" --said no one ever. I'm from NYC, and SF reminds me of home a lot. Also, it's far enough away from my meddling family
I've lived on the east coast (DC/Arlington area, midwest (northern OH), south (Asheville), and several places in the west (San Diego, Sedona, Berkeley, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Sacramento.) The Bay area is great. I loved it when I lived there. (I actually like Sacramento more, though, in many ways.) Bay area is ungodly expensive. You won't much of anything worth having, as far as a single apartment, for $1300, in San Francisco. You might find a small apartment in an iffy section of Oakland or a really sketchy part of SF for that price, and you could definitely find a room in a shared house somewhere in the east bay for that. To give you an idea, I had a 2br/2ba flat (upstairs of a house) in Berkeley that was in a nice area, very close to BART, but wasn't all that nice, and rather run down, not at all updated, for $2000/month, and that was 13 years ago. If you're not going to have a car, being close to BART will be almost a necessity. That pretty much rules out Marin, as public transport there is really limited. Same with most of the penninsula. And if you want to be within easy access of SF (which, for most people moving out to the SF bay area, is the main drawing card) then you probably don't want to be in the south bay (i.e, anywhere below Oakland/Hayward), or the eastern portion of the east bay (Walnut Creek, Concord) as it will take too long to get into the city on BART. Which leaves Oakland, Hayward, Berkeley, El Cerrito and maybe Richmond on the east bay, and San Francisco and South San Francisco/Millbrae on the west side of the bay. Personally, I like Berkeley a lot. If you plan on staying in the same place, there's rent control which is very strict; once you move in, the landlord can't kick you out for pretty much any reason other than non-payment of rent, and can't raise the rent either. Lot of tenant protections, good BART access from some areas, great community, resources for cheap(er) food. El Cerrito doesn't have the cache Berkeley has, but is often substantially cheaper, and a very nice community. Much of it is also close to BART. Richmond has some nice areas and some *extremely* sketchy areas. Same with Oakland and Hayward. And Emeryville is also really nice, really close to SF, and has a lot of nice, modern apartments, but they tend to be pretty spendy. Hope that helps!
I'm going to echo what has been said, and it may have a slightly different spin. The fact that you don't plant to have a car is a wise choice in reducing costs. Assuming you are a new college grad, the city of San Francisco itself may be appealing, with a few areas that are too highly priced while something that's more of a bargain might be sketchy. Other popular areas are in the East Bay, which is served by BART. Such towns would be Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley. While Oakland has sketchy areas, it also has eclectic ones. While discussing the East Bay, going north becomes more affordable, into Albany, El Cerrito, and maybe even Richmond. San Pablo is not a good area. Above that, BART is no longer, and it's too suburban. It's another world up there, toward El Sobrante and beyond. BART goes south of Oakland along the Bay, but towns like San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont, and such are banal, at least to me. BART also goes east and crosses the tunnel through the hills which seal out the Bay Area's natural air conditioning. The first towns of Orinda and Lafayette have little in the way of rentals and are super expensive. Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill are nice areas, which are more liberal than suburbs elsewhere in the U.S., but might be too suburban. Further out suburbs in the East Bay's eastern suburbs are not that enticing. Far out ones such as Pittsburg and Bay Point have crime problems. If you were to stay on the San Francisco side of the Bay, you could move south down the peninsula, but it's not cheap. BART only goes toward Burlingame, and more limited service commuter Caltrain serves tcommunities further down the peninsula. Daly City and "South City" (South SF) look more like SF. Further south, it's way more suburban. Going north of the Golden Gate takes you into Marin County. Public transit is bad. Rentals are not as common. And some of those suburbs are really expensive. Most people wanting to move to San Francisco after college do not take up residence in Marin County. Also, keep in mind that San Francisco, and the Bay Area, are a revolving door. The retention, in my experience, is fairly low, largely because of the cost, because other areas subsequently beckon a person, and sometimes because family ties pull one back to wherever they're from. But, it's something people really want to experience, so if you want to, then you might give it a try.
Chip, the only good thing about Sacramento are the malls and it's affordable. Southern California is much nicer, and friendlier.
People in the south are total creepers. You can just be minding your own business getting lunch, and someone you've never seen before in your life will just sit down at your table and start talking about his most recent therapy session. It is impossible to be left alone there
That's a handful, right there. You might get that same thing in the Tenderloin or near the Civic Center on Market Street, or riding a BART train. The issue with L.A. is the entertainment wannabees and the issue with S.D. is the superficially friendly people, IMO. L.A. is a mecca for the homeless, though. There are plenty of normal people in the southern part of the state. It's just that they don't stand out. But I am amused by your statement.
For me personally, I am not really materialistic and highly demanding. I'm from NY, so I know what living in a big city has and what I should be expecting. My ideal is to have a one bedroom loft/apartment, and have a sleeper sofa for when a friend comes to visit, for example. Also, my boyfriend is going to have a degree in software engineering, so I know Silicon Valley/San Francisco would be a wise choice to work in? That's why I choose San Francisco above L.A., Chicago, Boston, etc. To me, it has perfect weather (I love the weather there), it's gay/nature/pet friendly, plenty of stuff to do, far enough away from meddling family -_-, I love urban environments, one doesn't need a car to survive, and it reminds of my hometown Are these good enough reasons? :lol:
It's boring in comparison to San Diego apparently. That place is f***ing nuts (Both figuratively and literally_
I live in Southern California and I would really warn about the unemployment rate. I'm sorry if this has already been said, but do you have any job prospects? Those are perfectly acceptable reasons to want to move but without a job you won't get far I'm afraid. I'm not sure about San Fran but if it's anything like where I live the job market is simply atrocious. I'm tempted to move out of state based on that reason alone! Also for previous posters, I've been to Northern and Southern California and I definitely think Northern is better LoL
Yep, not a good idea to own a car in San Fran because since most of the roads are sloped, driving up and down hills can give you a headache. Imagine that there's a traffic jam, and you'd have to drive slow..., you'll be fairly nauseous so it's good that you're not owning a car. Work in San Fran is mostly based off of technology and they are usually white-collar careers. Most of the job openings in San Fran is in UC Berkeley, Google, Sony, etc.
I just got hired to work at MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) next spring and I'll a degree in public policy. ---------- Post added 17th Jul 2013 at 01:00 AM ---------- of course! (how else would I afford to live there ) My dad is a radio reporter here in Atlanta, and he had to do a story with the MARTA head (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) and my dad told the head of MARTA about how I liked traveling, city planning, maps, etc. etc. and that I would have a degree in public policy. I called the person the next day (with his business card given to me) and we talked for about 30 minutes. He would hire me tomorrow, but he will want to work for him after I graduate and finish school. Preferably, I would work here in Atlanta still until my boyfriend graduates college in 2015 and we BOTH have full time jobs available in SF. That's when we'll move. With work experience and a college degree under our belts.
The culture is dependent on one's opinion. There are pros to the culture, and a lot of cons. A lot of people out here are fake as hell, and not at all that friendly. However, you're from New York, so you'll be used to that. And I know lots of people here that avoid San Francisco like the plague and do not consider it exciting or fun. It's an overcrowded, dirty city that is filled with weird, odd people. I have to go there on business a few times a month - I live about 50 miles outside of the city, and NEVER go there on my personal time. It's not a place I'd ever consider a "cool" place to visit, or think, "hey, I want to spend my day off in SF!" The only benefit to me is that they have more options at their airport (which isn't even in SF, but whatever). Granted, I prefer small cities and suburbs. You couldn't pay me enough to live in San Francisco (or New York).
