The Bay Area

[llivermore]

The Iron Triangle is not one of Richmond's more desirable neighborhoods.

[petsounds01]

The Iron Triangle is not one of Richmond's more desirable neighborhoods.

Oh, I know... I was just pointing out that you can find a cheap place, but you will probably get shot.

[crickit]

i've been there a few times, once someone pulled a gun on me at the taco bell on university, another time i took the bart? to martinez and camped out in the hills on the shore, cool area

[prettymess]

i bet you could sleep in someones closet for 400 a month.

[llivermore]

Oh, I know... I was just pointing out that you can find a cheap place, but you will probably get shot.

Good pointing.

An old friend of mine recently wrote a children's book about the Iron Triangle.  She was trying to portray its good points (with, I assume, the aim of boosting the self-esteem of the children who have to live in it), but it was hard to avoid observing that people getting shot was part of the routine there.  East Oakland is kind of the same deal, West Oakland slightly less so.  North Oakland is supposedly the "safe" and "respectable" part, but I'd bet it's still more dangerous than Buffalo.

i've been there a few times, once someone pulled a gun on me at the taco bell on university

If you mean University Ave in Berkeley, that's about halfway between where I used to live and the West Berkeley ghetto (where I used to live a long time ago).

[bitethecurb]

If you're really looking for $400 a month, you're going to be SOL. However, if you can do like $700+, I'd look into the Orinda area. You could probably split an apartment 2 ways for that much. It's a beautiful area, close to everything and great for biking. Lots of trails and such. I'd also look into Martinez, Benicia, Concord, or Pleasant Hill. Further east, but nice areas that are usually relatively cheap.

Also, if you'd be willing to go as far east as Sacramento, just move to Davis. It's the bike capital of the world and there are some cheap apartments and always students looking for a roommate.

[petsounds01]

I have some friends who live by Lake Merritt and I got off at the 12th Street BART stop in Oakland and walked down there. It was actually pretty nice.

[llivermore]

I have some friends who live by Lake Merritt and I got off at the 12th Street BART stop in Oakland and walked down there. It was actually pretty nice.

Yeah, it's ok in the daytime.  At night, well it can be nice then, too, but bad shit happens way more often than I'd be willing to put up with.

[llivermore]

If you're really looking for $400 a month, you're going to be SOL. However, if you can do like $700+, I'd look into the Orinda area. You could probably split an apartment 2 ways for that much. It's a beautiful area, close to everything and great for biking. Lots of trails and such. I'd also look into Martinez, Benicia, Concord, or Pleasant Hill. Further east, but nice areas that are usually relatively cheap.

This is probably true.  Downside is that if you're out there on the east side of the hills, it's like living in a fairly generic suburb anywhere.  Kind of like LA, but the weather's not as nice.  If you have a car you can drive into Berkeley or Frisco in 30 or 45 minutes, but traffic seriously sucks A LOT of the time (and parking is no joy, either, especially in Frisco).  If you're relying on public transportation, BART is insanely expensive and shuts down after midnight.  Although the distances aren't that drastic, the steep hills and freeways make bicycling less practical than it would be in a flatter city.

Also, if you'd be willing to go as far east as Sacramento, just move to Davis. It's the bike capital of the world and there are some cheap apartments.[/quote[

Yeah, Davis is a pretty decent place, and so are some parts of Sacramento.  But they're both a world apart from "the Bay Area."

[bitethecurb]

Well, I'd say he's pretty much priced himself out of San Francisco or Berkeley (along with 90% of the rest of the bay area) unless he's incredibly lucky, but BART is a life saver for those without cars or just don't feel like driving into the city. Honestly, BART isn't any more expensive than bridge tolls and gas with a car. Actually, I work with a guy that owns a duplex in the city and he rents out half of it, probably for cheap. I'll ask him about it.

[petsounds01]

Well, I'd say he's pretty much priced himself out of San Francisco or Berkeley (along with 90% of the rest of the bay area) unless he's incredibly lucky, but BART is a life saver for those without cars or just don't feel like driving into the city. Honestly, BART isn't any more expensive than bridge tolls and gas with a car. Actually, I work with a guy that owns a duplex in the city and he rents out half of it, probably for cheap. I'll ask him about it.

I grew up in the Chicago area, so tolls are nothing new to me, but I was surprised that the Bay Bridge was actually a toll bridge (meaning you have to pay just to get into the city with no alternative route, unlike Chicago) and that the tolls were so high.

BART is so much better than the El, too. Since I've moved away from the Chicago area, I haven't had to use public transportation in about ten years, and was a little anxious about getting around by train and such, but it was a breeze.

[crickit]

nothing smoother than a ride on the el

[llivermore]

I grew up in the Chicago area, so tolls are nothing new to me, but I was surprised thuat the Bay Bridge was actually a toll bridge (meaning you have to pay just to get into the city with no alternative route, unlike Chicago) and that the tolls were so high.

BART is so much better than the El, too. Since I've moved away from the Chicago area, I haven't had to use public transportation in about ten years, and was a little anxious about getting around by train and such, but it was a breeze.

Unlike the Chicago El and many other transit systems, BART is priced by distance. Quite reasonable for short local trips, really expensive if you're out in one of the far-flung East Bay suburbs.

Price aside, it's quite comfortable and reliable - as long as you're not planning on going anywhere after midnight.

[Harry Hijinks]

Lake merit , glenview north Oakland. You'll be mostly fine!

[Adam_Prozac27]

BART doesn't run 24/7

[Harry Hijinks]

Barts for tourists!

[llivermore]

Barts for tourists!

It's fine for locals. Just not after midnight and hell of expensive.

[SubsonicElephant]

It's fine for locals. Just not after midnight and hell of expensive.

It's cheaper than bridge toll, and you can't bike the bridge.

I live in the East Bay, and am currently apartment hunting, so maybe I can give you some pointers. If you want to live in SF, it's going to cost you. Keep in mind that SF's minimum wage is 10$/hour, so if you get a job, it's going to be bad, but not impossible. Under $1000 a month, and you're sharing a bedroom or you're in the really bad parts of town. Tons of poor people make it work though, so

If you want cheaper, then I would advise living in the east or south bay. You can get a room for less than $600, easy, and there's like a million co-ops and punk houses that will let you live there once you say "I biked across the country, dude."

[pdowd]

If you want cheaper, then I would advise living in the east or south bay. You can get a room for less than $600, easy, and there's like a million co-ops and punk houses that will let you live there once you say "I biked across the country, dude."

If I'm wearing real bike shorts and a 100 dollar helmet would they still let me in?

[thischarmingham]

North Oakland. I was paying $1350 for a two bedroom at 41st and Telegraph. Decent neighborhood, great building. If you want to live alone plan for $850-1250 for sure roommates will obviously push that down.

[llivermore]

It's cheaper than bridge toll, and you can't bike the bridge.

Actually, not. Bridge toll is 5 or 6 depending on time of day. Round trip from Berkeley on BART is 7.30, more from EC or Richmond. But yeah, you can't bike to Frisco because the Bay Area is retarded and designed for suburban boneheads who drive everywhere.

[llivermore]

Oakland has its good points and its bad points.  Some of its not so good points:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/05/BAVJ1N3HC2.DTL&tsp=1

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2012%2F01%2F29%2FDD9P1N07CT.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/05/BAHM1N391M.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/03/BAT71N26GE.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/04/BAF51N2NB3.DTL

These all occurred in just the past week.  Bear in mind that Oakland is not a huge city, either, barely 400,000 people.  Most of whom are are nice, decent folks, but as you can surmise from these stories, a significant number of not so nice ones as well.

If you're looking for lower rent, you might do better in El Cerrito.  Not as much street cred, but just as close to Berkeley, and a lot safer than either Oakland or Berkeley (though North Berkeley, despite Downfall making it legendary as "scene of the crime," is actually a pretty safe suburban home).

[lushj]

pdowd, you should listen to more people than just Larry in this thread. These are cities, with bad areas and good areas, like any other city. (And Larry, Buffalo has bad parts too, so I think he's probably familiar with this idea)

One thing that's struck me about all California bad neighborhoods is that it's often block-by-block. These blocks are fine but literally 50 yards away is urban hell. It was a lot easier in Philly- the bad neighborhoods are much more clearly defined and larger.

Also, to be super-clear- the Iron Triangle is maybe the most fucked part of the East Bay. Maybe Edes off of 98th Ave in East Oakland is worse. Maybe.

But there's so much more of the Bay Area: Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, Hayward, & San Leandro included. All of these are bikable, on BART (local subway system), and on AC Transit (local bus system).

As the only elected member of the Berkeley Rent Board on this message board, I can confirm that yes, rents are still increasing. $1000 is the average for a studio in town. It was actually close to the average 10 years ago, but after it went up further in the 2000s, it dropped slightly- very slightly- and is hovering around $1K. A law called Costa-Hawkins was passed in 1998 and gave landlords the right to rent at market rate whenever they have a new vacancy (it's also called "vacancy decontrol"). Previously, the new rent would've been much closer to the controlled rent. This meant that rents jumped from something like $500/month to $900/month for a studio. Anyway, roommates are the way you're gonna have to go.

Come on out, meet people, and see what you can find! Keep your city-kid sense and good luck!



P.S.- Please understand that Larry takes any opportunity to bash this area for his own reasons (personal history, political differences with the locals, where he's at with what he's comfortable with/worried about) and evaluate his comments through this filter. If you read any thread where S.F., Oakland, or Berkeley are mentioned, you'll see what I mean- it's almost all negative and almost never positive. To be clear, I am not saying that he's untruthful. I'm saying that he's emphasizing the negative to a point that is weird to other transplants like me who also chose to live in this area for a couple of decades.

[Harry Hijinks]

Yeah, you don't wanna be in Hayward or san Leandro or the south bay or el Cerrito or Richmond or Albany or east Oakland or west Oakland or anywhere in Berkeley.

You want to be in north Oakland. 

[crickit]

north oakland ftw