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so the lady received news that she has the ability to transfer to a position within her company at the SF office. the likeliness of her actually taking it is pretty slim, but we are still curious about what SF has to offer in terms of livability and affordability. i already know it's a pretty expensive place to live, but can some people who live or have lived there list some of the better, more affordable, but not terribly unsafe neighborhoods in the region that would be worth looking into?

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so the lady received news that she has the ability to transfer to a position within her company at the SF office. the likeliness of her actually taking it is pretty slim, but we are still curious about what SF has to offer in terms of livability and affordability. i already know it's a pretty expensive place to live, but can some people who live or have lived there list some of the better, more affordable, but not terribly unsafe neighborhoods in the region that would be worth looking into?

Basically there is no reasonable area in SF to live that isn't insanely expensive. You'd have to live in Oakland or one of the other surrounding areas. I live in a nice area of Oakland in a 2br for $1300 per month, and we're about a 15 minute walk to BART and then a 15 minute BART ride to downtown SF.

edit: If you really want to live in SF check out Richmond, Sunset, Twin Peaks. They're kind of out there but pretty nice. I also don't reallly know how much they cost.

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Basically there is no reasonable area in SF to live that isn't insanely expensive. You'd have to live in Oakland or one of the other surrounding areas. I live in a nice area of Oakland in a 2br for $1300 per month, and we're about a 15 minute walk to BART and then a 15 minute BART ride to downtown SF.

Basically this.

You're not going to find a reasonable spot in SF unless you bring like 5 roommates with you. You're better off getting in place in Oakland or Berkley and just commute into the city for work or fun. Most of Oakland and all of Berkley is within walking distance of a BART which will get you into the city in under 20 (usually).

Here are some areas to look into:

Lake Merritt, Oakland

Rockridge, Oakland

Vicinity of Ashby BART station, Berkeley/Oakland border.

Vicinity of the intersection of Telegraph and Temescal, Oakland

Piedmont, Oakland (actually kinda a "village" within Oakland called Piedmont, but has oakland on all sides)

The Hills in Oakland

Downtown Berkeley (very college-y)

All in all it's an amazing area. SF is beautiful, there is a ton of stuff going on all the time, and you're minutes from 3 very distinct environments (SF, Berkley, Oakland).

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thanks, guys. i figured the chances of actually finding an affordable place on the peninsula (probably not how it is referred to, but you know what i mean) would be astronomically low. the location at which she would be working is in the financial district of SF, less than a block from BART. we are just kind of trying to feel out options for the hell of it. we also currently live in a large, open floorplan/multi-tiered loft in a historic downtown kcmo building for only $730 a month, so there is an obvious difference in income between the two locations.

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I left SF about 8 years ago when I got tired of driving around my neighborhood for 20 minutes trying to find a place to park, people on buses who don't use deodorant or shower water, and HIGH rent prices.

I am in Oakland now and it is THE place in the bay area to live. It's got its rough spots, but there is a burgeoning bar/restaurant/club scene, cool record stores, lots of uncrowded shoreline areas, close hiking spots in the Oakland hills, and the rent is reasonable. If you need any more "insider" info on cool places to go etc. PM me.

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Yeah, I live above Lake Merritt (Adam's Point) and I couldn't reccommend it more. It feels like a neighborhood, everyones nice and you're within walking distance of anything you could ever want.

Lake Merritt is a cool area. I like going to Heart and Dagger Saloon. I always seem to be sitting next to Matt Pike when I go there.

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pulled up a few CL apt listings in oakland and it seems much more affordable, but i have no idea about the neighborhoods.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2569208927.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2577244886.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2567256239.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2569080832.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2578243580.html

not expecting anyone to actually pull up those and look at the addresses, but those seem like decent areas..

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pulled up a few CL apt listings in oakland and it seems much more affordable, but i have no idea about the neighborhoods.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2569208927.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2577244886.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2567256239.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2569080832.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2578243580.html

not expecting anyone to actually pull up those and look at the addresses, but those seem like decent areas..

Pad Mapper is clutch for this. It pulls all it's info from Craigslist/Apartments.com/etc and has a ton of filtering options. You can even overlay crime data (in the super secret advanced options).

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pulled up a few CL apt listings in oakland and it seems much more affordable, but i have no idea about the neighborhoods.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2569208927.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2577244886.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2567256239.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2569080832.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/2578243580.html

not expecting anyone to actually pull up those and look at the addresses, but those seem like decent areas..

The third one is like a block from my apartment! Looks like a deal. Some of the others are in the ghetto. You probably wouldn't want to live anywhere more than a few blocks east of lake merritt or anywhere west of 980. If its a biggish looking victorian house with a fence around it its probably bad.

Avoid East Oakland or West Oakland.

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Yeah, I live above Lake Merritt (Adam's Point) and I couldn't reccommend it more. It feels like a neighborhood, everyones nice and you're within walking distance of anything you could ever want.

Lake Merritt is a cool area. I like going to Heart and Dagger Saloon. I always seem to be sitting next to Matt Pike when I go there.

I had to look up who that was, but yeah Heart and Dagger is great. Having a big outdoor area is a huge + for bars.

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