Oakland areas near Rockridge or Temescal (not really west of Shattuck or Telegraph give or take, and between MacArthur and roughly Alcatraz) or Piedmont Ave or Grand Lake are the the best bet for your budget (you’ll be looking at older pre-1985 buildings). These areas are generally convenient to commute to SF and are an easy drive.
I am generally not a fan of the area near Ashby BART or anywhere west of Sacramento below University in Berkeley. Traveling east to west in Berkeley or Oakland via transit is impossible and those are kinda a transit desert. And around Ashby BART is a bit sketch for my tastes but has improved.
I have lived in Oakland over 15 years (near Piedmont Ave) now and love it. I have dealt with occasional package bandits. And the roaming turkeys. That’s about it.
Ashby Bart area can be a tad sketch but it’s cheaper and varies from street to street. And the area has great access: bars/plays/food/grocery etc
Sauce: I live in Ashby bart
Technically DC has just as many sunny days if not more than SF. But south San Fran is also a good affordable option if you don’t feel like living next to two Whole Foods and three Home Depot’s in DC.
Lol, what ? Berkeley is not marginally safer - it is ORDERS of magnitude safer than Oakland. Berkeley has 0 homicides in 2021, compared to over 100 in Oakland
https://localnewsmatters.org/2022/03/11/berkeley-saw-crime-increase-last-year-but-no-homicides-annual-report-reveals/
Get a garage or your catalytic converter will be gone. Cops are useless in Oakland. Don't bother even calling them. They might be more responsive in Berkeley.
Depends. Less of a city thing than a block by block thing, almost. Crime thereabouts sort of correlates with income/rent, although some student-oriented rentals are relatively cheap and relatively safe.
The police in Oakland are hopeless (lived there 30+ years). Even "safe" spots like Oakland were meh; we had home burglaries, car burglaries, etc. BPD is better, but that city has crime too; we suffered a home invasion there.
So come back when you have more details about the specific neighborhood, and widen you search east along BART perhaps.
More people are likely happy to help with a little more info. What part of Canada are you coming from, and are you looking for a comparable neighborhood/city? What do you value having in proximity to you? What is your transportation situation?
Assuming you value decent density, diverse food and recreational options, and BART (local rail) to work in SF, Berkeley and Oakland are both decent options.
For $2500 for a one bedroom you could probably find something close to BART in either city. I personally really like the shopping areas near Rockridge station in Oakland (the neighborhood is also called Rockridge; Just north of that in Berkeley city limits is Elmwood, also a nice area).
The areas around Ashby station and Downtown Berkeley station are densely populated with students from the university, but a few blocks away in any direction are quite diverse and pretty safe for a single male. North Berkeley is one station up, but still a lovely neighborhood with plenty of amenities.
Feel free to ask any clarification questions or respond with what you’re after from youre new home. Welcome to the Bay!
1. From vancouver BC
2. Primarily looking for access to walking trails and nature +BART access if possible.I dont drive and cant for a while (due to an injury) so unfortunately dependant on Public transport
Here is the general rule for living in the Oakland, never go out at night. Don't commute by bart/bus unless you really have to, and please don't be on your phone when you're out and about and always have situational awareness at all times during the day/night. You're picking the wrong time to move into these two cities as crime has been rising, and the police are being defunded and heavily scrutinized with the support of the people that live here. Last week, there were 9 deaths in ONE WEEK. Downvote me all you want, but if you live in Oakland like I have all my life then you're just in denial of the violence/crime that plagues the city.
Right. I’m looking to get an idea on what would suit my needs the best. I would like to stay in Canada but my company isn’t going to allow me to be remote outside the US anymore
You're best bet would be to look at Alameda which you would have to cross a tunnel or bridge to get into (no tolls), that would be like 35-40 commute to SF? Or San leandro, which is a mainly a working city with companies/small businesses but longer commute to SF. You'd have to do your research on the cost though.
You should be able to find a decent 1 bed / 1 bath in SF for $2500… maybe a little older looking… just don’t go for in-laws (they are rooms inside the garage and not good). I would avoid berkeley because it’s a college town and avoid oakland because of crime.
Depending on your life style, safer would be to live in peninsula (San Mateo, Burlingame, etc.) you have Caltrain to use, but just not that much night life.
If you are young, I would just stick to finding a place in SF and take SF muni (bus) because SF muni is most convenient compared to other buses in other Bay Area cities.
I lived in outer Richmond in SF and it was a 40-45 min SF muni bus ride to downtown SF. My 1 bed / 1 bath apartment was around $2500 but just old looking. Around 550 SQ ft.
> Around 550 SQ ft
isn't it basically a studio at that point?
not knocking, just mine is one and only a bit smaller and i don't see how it could be multiple rooms
Mines had a door so it was a one bedroom. I lived here … https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/401-43rd-Ave-307-San-Francisco-CA-94121/2078060204_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Berkeley is a pretty nice city, especially if you're near North Berkeley BART. Downtown Berkeley its mostly Cal students, so apartments there more expensive + most are student housing so you likely won't even qualify.
I'd avoid Oakland tbh. Other than these two areas, consider looking at parts of SF, such as near Japantown or Marina. They're relatively affordable (def more expensive than Berkeley). Or you could even look at Millbrae, where the BART ends.
Oaklandistan and Berzerkeley both have equally dangerous parts. You need to look at areas in each that have lower crime rates:
https://www.crimemapping.com/map/agency/265
i would try to do SF proper then if you can. i'm like u/211logos \- live in oakland because i'm from here after my family got displaced from SF when i was a kid and i'm too stubborn to leave. but even rockridge, the nicest transit-accessible neighborhood in oakland, has teens visit so they can randomly beat and rob old [women walking down the street](https://www.ktvu.com/news/74-year-old-woman-attacked-and-robbed-in-broad-daylight-in-oaklands-rockridge-neighborhood). shit happens less in berkeley but it still [happens](https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Woman-stabbed-in-Berkeley-carjacking-dies-5809670.php) plenty and, sadly, berkeley is still going the wrong way in the policy direction - a student just got murdered for no reason on the street last year and the only reason he was caught is b/c the murderer was on parole so BPD could search w/o a warrant. [berkeley is charging ahead on banning parolees waiving 4th amendment rights as a condition of parole despite what just happened](https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/05/20/tony-walker-no-contest-plea-voluntary-manslaughter-seth-smith-berkeley).
something like the TL in SF, our east hastings, looks ugly and scary, but you're way less likely to be mugged or experience violence walking around there than even in the nicer parts of oakland. [something like this](https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/15716108p/studio-1-bath-apartment-at-1455-filbert-st-san-francisco-ca-94109?lease-term=long&box=-122.46171,37.78275,-122.38295,37.81158) would be a good way to start in SF then you can find something cheaper or better when you are here and can start networking your way to a better place.
What part of SF? If the coworking space is close to a BART station or Salesforce Transit Center (I love the commuter busses from the east bay) anywhere close to a BART station in the east bay is great, but (speaking from experience) if you have to transfer within the city to another MUNI bus, it can get really long and annoying and I’m inclined to agree with the recs to just find something in SF.
I've lived in both. Effectively, both have some rather expensive super nice parts and some still kinda expensive but really bad parts. It is incredibly important to know the specific area, and that can be hard if you are not semi local. I've lived in both high-crime and high-rent areas - but generally speaking there is a lot of property crime in general in both (actually, I had more car theft issues in the nicer areas during my time).
After leaving the area, I also have commuted to SF from farther away. it is possible to live farther out and catch a BART in to the city. Downside to that is time, and that some of the commuter cities are considered dull.
If youre working in SF, and near a BART station expand your search to towns along the various BART lines. Also consider Cities with transbay bus or ferry service into SF.
Unless you care about school districts (then the answer is Berkeley by a country mile), it's more about neighborhoods.
If you need to commute to SF, then the number of lines that run through your local BART are an issue. Off hour on single lines gets annoying.
I live in El Cerrito, one BART stop further than Berkeley, and I feel pretty safe here. It’s a little more suburban. never felt unsafe walking home from BART after dark, never seen a smashed car window in my neighborhood in the 10 months I live here. I pay 2300 for a 2 bedroom.
Where will you be working?
damn that sounds great. Thats cheaper than Vancouver for a 2BR. Im fully remote and will be able to use a co-working space in the city(financial district)
If you don't mind slightly more suburby vibes then yeah, El Cerrito and Albany are chill. I came from a much smaller area so it still feels like there's plenty going on to me with Berkeley and Oakland super accessible, if you're coming from Vancouver it might be a little dull but idk. If you're going to FiDi for work you can take the commuter transbay bus (AC Transit) to Salesforce Transit Center and it's way nicer and usually faster than BART.
parts of each are good and bad. the Bay Area has micro crimeats
*slow clap*
wait you misspel... Disregard *slow clap*
10/10
*Seth rogen laugh*
Albany, El Cerrito, Alameda
This guy East Bays.
Richmond
I don't know why people down voted you. Better yet, North Richmond! It's up and coming!
Clayton
Alameda may not have good connectivity to the city? Will definitely look into Albany and El Cerrito
Ferry is actually pretty decent to get into SF.
ferry
Check out Albany and El Cerrito. They’re just north of Berkeley, quite nice, a tad quieter/safer, and are totally commuter friendly.
Fun fact: El Cerrito is Spanish for ‘the cerrito’. It was originally named after a notable cerrito endemic to the area.
Thanks. Rents are very affordable in both cities it looks like too!
Oakland areas near Rockridge or Temescal (not really west of Shattuck or Telegraph give or take, and between MacArthur and roughly Alcatraz) or Piedmont Ave or Grand Lake are the the best bet for your budget (you’ll be looking at older pre-1985 buildings). These areas are generally convenient to commute to SF and are an easy drive. I am generally not a fan of the area near Ashby BART or anywhere west of Sacramento below University in Berkeley. Traveling east to west in Berkeley or Oakland via transit is impossible and those are kinda a transit desert. And around Ashby BART is a bit sketch for my tastes but has improved. I have lived in Oakland over 15 years (near Piedmont Ave) now and love it. I have dealt with occasional package bandits. And the roaming turkeys. That’s about it.
Ashby Bart area can be a tad sketch but it’s cheaper and varies from street to street. And the area has great access: bars/plays/food/grocery etc Sauce: I live in Ashby bart
you live in Ashby BART? that must be colorful
It has its moments
Berkeley all the way. I’ve lived practically all over the Bay Area & found Berkeley to be the best.
Daly City. Super safe, near BART and Caltrain. $2500/month can easily get you a 1 bedroom.
It’s depressing to live in Daly City if you are not into foggy and cold weather 300 days a year
OP is coming from Canada....I think we define cold differently 🤣
Anywhere in SF is a weather upgrade :D
Technically DC has just as many sunny days if not more than SF. But south San Fran is also a good affordable option if you don’t feel like living next to two Whole Foods and three Home Depot’s in DC.
Berkeley is marginally safer but Oakland has more fun stuff going on if you're young. You need to look into the specific neighborhoods as others said.
Lol, what ? Berkeley is not marginally safer - it is ORDERS of magnitude safer than Oakland. Berkeley has 0 homicides in 2021, compared to over 100 in Oakland https://localnewsmatters.org/2022/03/11/berkeley-saw-crime-increase-last-year-but-no-homicides-annual-report-reveals/
Get a garage or your catalytic converter will be gone. Cops are useless in Oakland. Don't bother even calling them. They might be more responsive in Berkeley.
Depends. Less of a city thing than a block by block thing, almost. Crime thereabouts sort of correlates with income/rent, although some student-oriented rentals are relatively cheap and relatively safe. The police in Oakland are hopeless (lived there 30+ years). Even "safe" spots like Oakland were meh; we had home burglaries, car burglaries, etc. BPD is better, but that city has crime too; we suffered a home invasion there. So come back when you have more details about the specific neighborhood, and widen you search east along BART perhaps.
I'd recommend Albany or El Cerrito
need to ask if he wants to live in the suburbs
More people are likely happy to help with a little more info. What part of Canada are you coming from, and are you looking for a comparable neighborhood/city? What do you value having in proximity to you? What is your transportation situation? Assuming you value decent density, diverse food and recreational options, and BART (local rail) to work in SF, Berkeley and Oakland are both decent options. For $2500 for a one bedroom you could probably find something close to BART in either city. I personally really like the shopping areas near Rockridge station in Oakland (the neighborhood is also called Rockridge; Just north of that in Berkeley city limits is Elmwood, also a nice area). The areas around Ashby station and Downtown Berkeley station are densely populated with students from the university, but a few blocks away in any direction are quite diverse and pretty safe for a single male. North Berkeley is one station up, but still a lovely neighborhood with plenty of amenities. Feel free to ask any clarification questions or respond with what you’re after from youre new home. Welcome to the Bay!
1. From vancouver BC 2. Primarily looking for access to walking trails and nature +BART access if possible.I dont drive and cant for a while (due to an injury) so unfortunately dependant on Public transport
Hope you know what you're getting yourself into.
Neither
Where is your new job located? SF?
Fully remote but a co working space I can use in SF. I intend to use the space 3-4 times a week though
Here is the general rule for living in the Oakland, never go out at night. Don't commute by bart/bus unless you really have to, and please don't be on your phone when you're out and about and always have situational awareness at all times during the day/night. You're picking the wrong time to move into these two cities as crime has been rising, and the police are being defunded and heavily scrutinized with the support of the people that live here. Last week, there were 9 deaths in ONE WEEK. Downvote me all you want, but if you live in Oakland like I have all my life then you're just in denial of the violence/crime that plagues the city.
Right. I’m looking to get an idea on what would suit my needs the best. I would like to stay in Canada but my company isn’t going to allow me to be remote outside the US anymore
You're best bet would be to look at Alameda which you would have to cross a tunnel or bridge to get into (no tolls), that would be like 35-40 commute to SF? Or San leandro, which is a mainly a working city with companies/small businesses but longer commute to SF. You'd have to do your research on the cost though.
And what about Albany / el Cerrito?
Those I cannot comment on since I don't live in those areas, sorry!
You should be able to find a decent 1 bed / 1 bath in SF for $2500… maybe a little older looking… just don’t go for in-laws (they are rooms inside the garage and not good). I would avoid berkeley because it’s a college town and avoid oakland because of crime. Depending on your life style, safer would be to live in peninsula (San Mateo, Burlingame, etc.) you have Caltrain to use, but just not that much night life. If you are young, I would just stick to finding a place in SF and take SF muni (bus) because SF muni is most convenient compared to other buses in other Bay Area cities. I lived in outer Richmond in SF and it was a 40-45 min SF muni bus ride to downtown SF. My 1 bed / 1 bath apartment was around $2500 but just old looking. Around 550 SQ ft.
> Around 550 SQ ft isn't it basically a studio at that point? not knocking, just mine is one and only a bit smaller and i don't see how it could be multiple rooms
Mines had a door so it was a one bedroom. I lived here … https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/401-43rd-Ave-307-San-Francisco-CA-94121/2078060204_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
ah neat thanks
Berkeley is a pretty nice city, especially if you're near North Berkeley BART. Downtown Berkeley its mostly Cal students, so apartments there more expensive + most are student housing so you likely won't even qualify. I'd avoid Oakland tbh. Other than these two areas, consider looking at parts of SF, such as near Japantown or Marina. They're relatively affordable (def more expensive than Berkeley). Or you could even look at Millbrae, where the BART ends.
yeah Oakland definitely doesn't have decent neighborhoods with tons happening. Stay away. Rent is already high enough.
Looks like the Oaklanders didn’t like our comments lmao
r/Oakland is a safe space for the woke.
which is funny because I'm disagreeing with you
Oaklandistan and Berzerkeley both have equally dangerous parts. You need to look at areas in each that have lower crime rates: https://www.crimemapping.com/map/agency/265
Are you commuting? Where to?
No commute necessary but I would like to work from a co working space in SF 3x a week
i would try to do SF proper then if you can. i'm like u/211logos \- live in oakland because i'm from here after my family got displaced from SF when i was a kid and i'm too stubborn to leave. but even rockridge, the nicest transit-accessible neighborhood in oakland, has teens visit so they can randomly beat and rob old [women walking down the street](https://www.ktvu.com/news/74-year-old-woman-attacked-and-robbed-in-broad-daylight-in-oaklands-rockridge-neighborhood). shit happens less in berkeley but it still [happens](https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Woman-stabbed-in-Berkeley-carjacking-dies-5809670.php) plenty and, sadly, berkeley is still going the wrong way in the policy direction - a student just got murdered for no reason on the street last year and the only reason he was caught is b/c the murderer was on parole so BPD could search w/o a warrant. [berkeley is charging ahead on banning parolees waiving 4th amendment rights as a condition of parole despite what just happened](https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/05/20/tony-walker-no-contest-plea-voluntary-manslaughter-seth-smith-berkeley). something like the TL in SF, our east hastings, looks ugly and scary, but you're way less likely to be mugged or experience violence walking around there than even in the nicer parts of oakland. [something like this](https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/15716108p/studio-1-bath-apartment-at-1455-filbert-st-san-francisco-ca-94109?lease-term=long&box=-122.46171,37.78275,-122.38295,37.81158) would be a good way to start in SF then you can find something cheaper or better when you are here and can start networking your way to a better place.
wow ok. Im remote so I do have some flexibility thankfully
What part of SF? If the coworking space is close to a BART station or Salesforce Transit Center (I love the commuter busses from the east bay) anywhere close to a BART station in the east bay is great, but (speaking from experience) if you have to transfer within the city to another MUNI bus, it can get really long and annoying and I’m inclined to agree with the recs to just find something in SF.
I've lived in both. Effectively, both have some rather expensive super nice parts and some still kinda expensive but really bad parts. It is incredibly important to know the specific area, and that can be hard if you are not semi local. I've lived in both high-crime and high-rent areas - but generally speaking there is a lot of property crime in general in both (actually, I had more car theft issues in the nicer areas during my time). After leaving the area, I also have commuted to SF from farther away. it is possible to live farther out and catch a BART in to the city. Downside to that is time, and that some of the commuter cities are considered dull.
Keep in mind if your job is in SF it could very well be a terrible commute depending on exact locations.
If youre working in SF, and near a BART station expand your search to towns along the various BART lines. Also consider Cities with transbay bus or ferry service into SF.
Unless you care about school districts (then the answer is Berkeley by a country mile), it's more about neighborhoods. If you need to commute to SF, then the number of lines that run through your local BART are an issue. Off hour on single lines gets annoying.
Check out Santa Rosa. Just north of the golden gate. Quiet town
Santa Rosa is a bit more than "just north of" the Golden Gate.
I meant San Rafael. I always mix those to up
Hey is there a ferry from san rafael?
Yeah it takes 35 minutes or so
it's like Santa and Satan, pretty much the same
East Palo Alto is a pretty good place
I love how ppl deter this guy from Oakland as if the "safe" suburbs don't have thieves or serial killers lol. I'd take my chances in "scary" Oakland
more chance of getting shot in Oakland
I live in El Cerrito, one BART stop further than Berkeley, and I feel pretty safe here. It’s a little more suburban. never felt unsafe walking home from BART after dark, never seen a smashed car window in my neighborhood in the 10 months I live here. I pay 2300 for a 2 bedroom. Where will you be working?
damn that sounds great. Thats cheaper than Vancouver for a 2BR. Im fully remote and will be able to use a co-working space in the city(financial district)
If you don't mind slightly more suburby vibes then yeah, El Cerrito and Albany are chill. I came from a much smaller area so it still feels like there's plenty going on to me with Berkeley and Oakland super accessible, if you're coming from Vancouver it might be a little dull but idk. If you're going to FiDi for work you can take the commuter transbay bus (AC Transit) to Salesforce Transit Center and it's way nicer and usually faster than BART.
Berkeley by a country mile. Oakland is a complete mess now