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moving to San Fran, which area to find housing?

S

skim milk

Diamond Member
I'm moving out there next month for my job. I am looking for a cheap room to rent for now in a shared house/apt. I am going to be flying out on Mondays so I need to be accessible to an airport (any nearby airport). Preferably a place where I can drive around AND take the BART into and out of downtown SF would be great too. I looked at craigslist and it looks like I can get a cheap room in Berkeley, CA for around $600. I don't want to live in the ghetto but I am not that picky with housing at this point since I will not be home much but this will settle down later and I will sort my housing situation out afterwards. Looking for a safe and affordable neighborhood near SF. I'm leaning towards the Berkeley/Walnut Creek type area.. any thoughts on that?
 
I used to live in Emeryville and it was great for BART and had the benefit of not having to deal with SF and its parking.

I was a medic in SF for a few years and had to park over a mile away from my station to avoid a ticked. Nothing worse than working for twelve hours and then walking uphill for a mile just to drive home in traffic.

If you can make it work, stay out of SF. (living that is, SF is a great city)
 
Sukhoi said:
Check out Millbrae/Burlingame area too..easy BART parking (huge garage at Millbrae), and very close to SFO.

And for your previous question, www.bart.gov
Click to expand...

I live in Millbrae now, and used to live in Emeryville. Both are great places (Emeryville to SF by BART is essentially ~17 minutes, depending on where you're trying to go).

Both are walk-friendly; there are major stores and restaurants through each city, and the weather is generally sunnier than in SF itself.

off the top of my head -

Emeryville pros/cons:
+ about 23 minutes from Oakland airport
+ very close to highways wherever you live
+ big box ikea/best buy/home depot/sports authority nearby
+ awesome food in Berkeley and Oakland for all price ranges
- hwy 80 is horrible for traffic during rush hour - something like 5 freeways converge
- bordered by sketchy parts of berkeley and oakland - an extension of this is that the BART station nearby is MacArthur, which isn't the safest. Not saying it's a jungle but just be aware of your surroundings.

Millbrae pros/cons:
+ (personal preference) close enough to the city so that getting there isn't a huge deal but far enough so that housing prices aren't jacked sky high
+ BART station is clean, big and pretty safe
+ decent Asian and Mexican restaurants nearby, many fast food places as well (In N Out)
+ bordered by San Bruno and Burlingame, decent areas. I'm much more comfortable parking my car on the street than in Emeryville or Oakland.
+ SFO is 5 minutes away (or less, depending on traffic)
+/- not much nightlife in the immediate area
+/- (depends on where you live) close to either highway 280 or 101

I'll add more as I think of them.

Also - Walnut Creek is nice, but it's quite a commute to SF. Long BART ride or commuting through a tunnel + bridge.
 
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I'm looking into all of the ones posted in this thread

any others? How about Menlo Park/Palo Alto area? Would it be a big hassle to get to the airport from these cities? I can park at the airport no problem but I'm worried about the traffic
 
final bump...

I'm targeting my search to Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Burlingame, Millbrae, South SF (a little more south of Daly City), maybe Berkeley area (can go to Oakland Airport)

Safety is important not for my personal safety but because I don't want things happening to my car
 
Good luck getting something for $600 that isn't in the ghetto.
It is nearly impossible to get something of quality that cheap in the bay area without a room mate.

Mountain View, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto are a lot further away than they look. You don't want that commute.
 
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I grew up in Daly City. Cross it off your list.

They SAY that there is an Oakland Airport BART station. What they DON'T say is that you have to take a terrible bus ride from the station to the airport (they are miles apart). Yuck. The SFO BART station is on the airport property and there is another station just north of SFO.

Also look at the San Mateo/Belmont area. There are some nice areas and they are very close to SFO and BART.

MotionMan
 
skim milk said:
final bump...

I'm targeting my search to Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Burlingame, Millbrae, South SF (a little more south of Daly City), maybe Berkeley area (can go to Oakland Airport)
Click to expand...

Where are you working? Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Burlingame has no BART access. You would need to take Caltrain to Milbrae or take Caltrain to SF.
 
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