Starting new job in San Francisco, looking for apartment to rent (Oakland: apartment complexes, rentals)

[zagzigga]

Hi all, I will be starting in a new job based in San Francisco. I currently live in Pleasant Hill. As I recently got married, I am looking to move to a new apartment. I am open to relocation anywhere within a 30-40 minute commute(by BART or by bus) to downtown San Francisco. My new workplace is a minute walk from the Embarcadero BART station.
Any suggestions for a safe, family friendly, affordable place(1200-1400) are most welcome. If you know of any reasonably priced apartments, please let me know.

[humboldtrat]

Why not stay in Pleasant Hill ??

[mayorhaggar]

Yeah, Walnut Creek is 35 minutes from downtown SF on BART, and PH is the next stop. Maybe look at apartment complexes in downtown Walnut Creek so you don't have to travel far to get to the train. Otherwise I don't know what size apartment you want. You can get 1br's in the nice parts of Oakland for around $1100 or less, I think Walnut Creek is pretty similar in price for rentals.

[zagzigga]

@Humboldt - Pleasant Hill is okay in terms of commuting convenience but my current apartment is old and doesn't get much sunlight. It was okay as a bachelor pad but the missus prefers an apartment with more sunlight and better interiors.

@mayor - Can you suggest any specific complexes in the nicer areas of Oakland that are within walk-able distance to BART? I like the cooler temperature of Oakland and it is also a bit closer to San Francisco.

[mayorhaggar]

Oakland doesn't really have apartment complexes, unlike Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill it's a lot of older buildings. There are some new condo-style complexes in downtown Oakland and scattered in other areas but they might be a bit above your price range. If you want complexes I'd look at Walnut Creek, there are many listed on craigslist.

I can recommend neighborhoods though, Rockridge is really nice though it's mainly houses and doesn't have many apartment buildings. Could get a 2br for less than $1400, a friend of mine had one for $1250, but it might take a while to find one. Temescal is to the south and is a bit grubbier but also cheaper. The Piedmont Avenue has a lot of apartment buildings and is fairly affordable. If you were near 40th street you can walk to Macarthur BART otherwise you can take a transbay bus to SF.

Could also look at Berkeley though it tends to be a bit more expensive than North Oakland--areas near downtown, Elmwood, North Berkeley, etc.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by zagzigga

@mayor - Can you suggest any specific complexes in the nicer areas of Oakland that are within walk-able distance to BART? I like the cooler temperature of Oakland and it is also a bit closer to San Francisco.

There aren't many big complexes in Oakland, so you'll be dealing with individual landlords or property management companies.

You can look around Rockridge, Piedmont Ave, Grand Lake, Temescal, maybe Uptown or Old Oakland if you want a trendier/grittier feel. There are some areas that are a little further of a walk from BART, but they generally have commuter buses that go to SF; the bus stops around Fremont/Howard. I live in the Piedmont Ave area, when I commuted to downtown the bus ride was between 14-20 minutes. Literally. It is super fast. Look on the AC Transit website for the Transbay bus.

Oakland generally also has "casual carpools" and you can get a free (or really cheap ride) to SF. You wait at a designated spot and people who want to get in the carpool lane pickup 2 people. You sometimes need to chip in $1 for the bridge toll, and they drop off downtown.

Property company to look at: Lapham Company, they have buildings all over town.