moving back to ca

iluvjustin · January 2011

My husband is getting out of the military. We will hopefully be moving back to California if his job offer gets finalized. He job will be in Oakland which we are not to familiar with wondering good areas to rent around there? any suggestions? We will only be in Oakland for a year and i would like to find a temporary job for that time. Are there any good temp agency around Oakland.

Thanks

Mrs.BoomBoom · January 2011

We liked the area around Piedmont Avenue. Rockridge is also nice. Oakland is hit and miss. One block is fine, the next, not so much. You've really got to get feet on the ground and take a look around.

hannikan · January 2011

Yeah, I agree with MBB. I lived near Piedmont Ave for a few years and liked it a lot. It was on a hill between Grand Ave by Lake Merritt and Piedmont Ave. That area is a mix of apts and houses and generally a safe area. It's good to drive around and get a sense of the neighborhood when you're looking at places. GL!

ZoeMay06 · January 2011

I used to live in the Glenview neighborhood of Oakland and loved it. It's the area around Park Blvd. above the 580 fwy. It's walking distance from Lake Merritt and lots of great restaurants, and is a nice safe area. I'd totally live there again if I could.

sm23 · January 2011

Oakland is big and it can be tough to get from one part to another during traffic, so where your DH is working specifically matters in terms of where you live. Personally, I love the Elmwood, Temescal, Rockridge, and Montclair neighborhoods, and the area around Piedmont Avenue and some areas of Grand Lake and Lakeshore. But I agree with pp's that it's hit and miss and you really have to take a look at specific places and get a feel for that block.

Other than Oakland proper, another good option might be Alameda - it's much smaller, less urban but still close to a lot of stuff.

hannikan · January 2011

sm23:
Oakland is big and it can be tough to get from one part to another during traffic, so where your DH is working specifically matters in terms of where you live. Personally, I love the Elmwood, Temescal, Rockridge, and Montclair neighborhoods, and the area around Piedmont Avenue and some areas of Grand Lake and Lakeshore. But I agree with pp's that it's hit and miss and you really have to take a look at specific places and get a feel for that block.
Other than Oakland proper, another good option might be Alameda - it's much smaller, less urban but still close to a lot of stuff.

Yeah, Elmwood is in Berkeley but it's a great area to consider. If you will want to take BART, Alameda is not BART accessible.

iluvjustin · January 2011

Thanks ladies. My dh probably would take bart he will be working downtown oakland. We were even considering living out of Oakland which might be cheaper and him taking bart in. Thank you so much for all the suggestions.

hannikan · January 2011

iluvjustin:
Thanks ladies. My dh probably would take bart he will be working downtown oakland. We were even considering living out of Oakland which might be cheaper and him taking bart in. Thank you so much for all the suggestions.

Yeah, the nice parts of Oakland usually aren't close to BART stations. The Lake Merritt BART station isn't in the nice part of Lake Merritt. I had to take the bus when I didn't have car when I lived in Oakland. AC Transit is not very reliable to be on time. For my job at the time, that didn't matter much. The area around N. Berkeley BART is nice and can be reasonable. Same with the Ashby station. Berkeley also has problem areas, esp in the western part of town so you'd want to drive around to get a feel for it, esp in the evening. We lived in San Leandro, just southeast of Oakland, which has 2 BART stations. There are some nice areas in that town (closer to downtown is better than in the Bayfair area) as long as you don't mind being a little further from more cosmopolitan areas. GL!

sm23 · January 2011

I'm actually not a big fan of the area around Ashby BART but love the area near Rockridge. If he's willing to commute on BART a bit, you could always check out the El Cerrito/Albany area, or Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill. There are BART stations there/nearby and they're nice, safe areas that aren't too far from Oakland.

hannikan · January 2011

Yeah you have to find the right part of the area around Ashby BART. And Rockridge it the exception to the rule in Oakland in terms of a nice neighborhood near BART. It tends to be expensive though.

moving back to ca

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