Question About the San Francisco Bay Area

Would Second the Peninsula- Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont. weather is really good and commute to the city is not bad. If you are okay with a longer commute or train ride you could also look at San Jose/Santa Clara/ Sunnyvale. Closer to the City- Daly City, South San Francisco might be a little cheaper- but I swear the sun never comes out! :) You can message me off line in you need more info.

Just moved from Redwood City to San Jose.

I would go out to the Walnut Creek area and see if there is anything. If you are close to BART it makes the commute easier. Marin tends to be expensive. I don't know all that much about the south Bay. In SF, the Marina/Cow Hollow are great. We had a studio for $800 per month (but that was years ago).

I grew up in the Newark/Fremont area. It is a nice area. Make sure to check with the police dept for the good areas/bad areas/crime report. Im not sure about pricing, it has been awhile since I have lived there. I know it is lower for pricing than living on the other side of the bridge.

It depends on what kind of place you personally define as "safe" and how far you want to commute. NOTHING is inexpensive in the Bay Area, but there are plenty of places where you can get help finding rentals, including possibly some really nice shared rental situations. When I lived there, I lived in the East Bay--Berkeley, Oakland, El Cerrito, and Albany. All have very nice areas and some not so nice sections. The more towards the hills you go, the nicer the neighborhoods, but also the more expensive. San Francisco tends to be the same way, but again, you could find something very nice in a mixed neighborhood that is perfectly safe, but not like some suburb.

Marin County, north of the city, is totally beautiful, but tends to be pretty outrageously expensive, but then I've heard of people who luck into a very cheap rental just because some wealthy person wants to leave the country for a year or two and needs someone reliable to house sit, so keep your eyes open.

The further south you go, either on the San Francisco side of the Bay or the East Bay side, the less expensive, more suburban, and longer the commute. There are some really nice areas just on the other side of the Oakland/Berkeley hills, and it's not a terrible commute.

Good luck and enjoy the Bay Area! I loved living there.

I grew up in San Mateo/ Foster City. You can easily take the train into San Francisco or drive. (30 minutes) It is really nice. My mom has been a 3rd grade teacher for 35 years for a parochial school. She is now retired but she is tutoring. She can tell that the students in these public school districts are receiving a great education. Any town around that gereral area will be a great place to live. (San Carlos, Belmont, Redwood City, etc....)

Be aware that in the Bay Area we have micro climates. Meaning that you can go a relatively short distance and the weather will be dramatically different. San Francisco tends to be on the 'cold' side of things. If you like warmer weather, this alone will take time to get use too.

You will find everything expensive but maybe with the economy being what it is you may luck out. 11 years ago my husband and I rented a two bedroom apartment in Redwood city for 900.00. Eventually it was raised to $950.00. In Gilroy, too south for you to live here and work in SF, our renters pay us $2400.00 for a 4 bedroom house.

This is a really wonderful place to grow up and live. Lots of musuems, parks, culture, colleges, restaurants, etc.....

I agree with the previous post that the Walnut Creek area is really nice. It will be pricey though. Worth checking out the 'Pennisula' (the area I mentioned before) to see how the two compare. You may find that the San Mateo area is less expensive but just as nice.

Good luck!