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After browsing through threads, I get the impression that I should try to find somewhere in north side. Anywhere specific in north side? I noticed that listings that claim to be north side vary pretty significantly geographically. Any specific area there? Should I be looking places other than north side?

How did you guys find places? Can anyone share their experience of finding a place without seeing it before hand?

Most people at my 1L school lived in the same building so this whole process is unfamiliar to me.

Downtown Oakland has some new places, and is not too far from Cal. That being said, it's Oakland. What do you need in a living situation?

Craigslist...North Side is boring, if you're looking for peace and quiet, go there. There is also a special Berkeley Craigslist Housingish website that costs $25, I don't recommend it.

Studio or 1 bedroom

Most importantly, I don't want to be somewhere shady. Living in Camden for a year does that to you.

I would prefer to be able to walk to class. I don't want to be completely isolated from restaurants/etc.

What other things could I want that would change your suggestion?

I've spent the past hour scoping Craigslist myself. I knew living in Berkeley would be expensive but good lord this is so much more than I'd anticipated.

You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

TTTehehe wrote:You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

I'm from orange county.

How long is the commute from emeryville?

drmguy wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

I'm from orange county.

How long is the commute from emeryville?

SoCal, NJ, same thing ;p.

I'd say 15 minute drive, maybe 20-30 min bus. Probably less than that with BART. I haven't used AC Transit or BART in a while so sue me.

TTTehehe wrote:

drmguy wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

I'm from orange county.

How long is the commute from emeryville?

SoCal, NJ, same thing ;p.

I'd say 15 minute drive, maybe 20-30 min bus. Probably less than that with BART. I haven't used AC Transit or BART in a while so sue me.

There's not an Emeryville BART station; even if there were, I think you're better off taking the higher rent as daily BART rides begin to add up. (That's assuming we're talking about nothing more than an additional $100 - $175 a month.)

Also, not to hate on TTTehehe's advice, but one's perception of Emeryville depends largely on his/her interests. My parents love Emeryville; they cannot get enough of those Ikea breakfasts. I have yet to find a reason to go there aside from returning a gift at Best Buy.

marlborofillet wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:

drmguy wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

I'm from orange county.

How long is the commute from emeryville?

SoCal, NJ, same thing ;p.

I'd say 15 minute drive, maybe 20-30 min bus. Probably less than that with BART. I haven't used AC Transit or BART in a while so sue me.

There's not an Emeryville BART station; even if there were, I think you're better off taking the higher rent as daily BART rides begin to add up. (That's assuming we're talking about nothing more than an additional $100 - $175 a month.)

Also, not to hate on TTTehehe's advice, but one's perception of Emeryville depends largely on his/her interests. My parents love Emeryville; they cannot get enough of those Ikea breakfasts. I have yet to find a reason to go there aside from returning a gift at Best Buy.

Touche. I am a bit older ;p

marlborofillet wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:

drmguy wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

I'm from orange county.

How long is the commute from emeryville?

SoCal, NJ, same thing ;p.

I'd say 15 minute drive, maybe 20-30 min bus. Probably less than that with BART. I haven't used AC Transit or BART in a while so sue me.

There's not an Emeryville BART station; even if there were, I think you're better off taking the higher rent as daily BART rides begin to add up. (That's assuming we're talking about nothing more than an additional $100 - $175 a month.)

Also, not to hate on TTTehehe's advice, but one's perception of Emeryville depends largely on his/her interests. My parents love Emeryville; they cannot get enough of those Ikea breakfasts. I have yet to find a reason to go there aside from returning a gift at Best Buy.

What's your suggestion?

marlborofillet wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:

drmguy wrote:

TTTehehe wrote:You may want to look into Emeryville. It's not walking distance, but it's right next to Berkeley and public transpo will get you to Cal. California is not NJ. The Bay is VERY connected, so you can live farther from campus and still commute relatively quickly. I suggested Emeryville because there's a good amount of stuff to do there, and it's a good transpo hub to SF. Also, there are a lot of nice studio and 1 beds there.

I'm from orange county.

How long is the commute from emeryville?

SoCal, NJ, same thing ;p.

I'd say 15 minute drive, maybe 20-30 min bus. Probably less than that with BART. I haven't used AC Transit or BART in a while so sue me.

There's not an Emeryville BART station; even if there were, I think you're better off taking the higher rent as daily BART rides begin to add up. (That's assuming we're talking about nothing more than an additional $100 - $175 a month.)

Also, not to hate on TTTehehe's advice, but one's perception of Emeryville depends largely on his/her interests. My parents love Emeryville; they cannot get enough of those Ikea breakfasts. I have yet to find a reason to go there aside from returning a gift at Best Buy.

There is no Emerville Bart per se, but Macarthur station is like right there. Depending on where OP lives in Emeryville, it's doable. But true, he/she may not like Emeryville if that whole Berkeley culture is more appealing. I actually like Best Buy very much, thank you. Ha.

Being from Orange County suburbia, the Berkeley culture actually sounds appealing.

drmguy wrote:Being from Orange County suburbia, the Berkeley culture actually sounds appealing.

It's novel at first. Good food, cool little places, and strange things to talk about over a beer or six.

drmguy wrote:After browsing through threads, I get the impression that I should try to find somewhere in north side. Anywhere specific in north side? I noticed that listings that claim to be north side vary pretty significantly geographically. Any specific area there? Should I be looking places other than north side?

How did you guys find places? Can anyone share their experience of finding a place without seeing it before hand?

Most people at my 1L school lived in the same building so this whole process is unfamiliar to me.

If you're looking at North Berk, anything east of Sacramento Blvd is going to be generally OK neighborhood-wise. Plenty of decent spots west of there, but it's more hit or miss and you'd want to check it out.

Since you're looking to be walking distance and the law school is on the SE corner of the campus, your options are going to be limited to what your definition of walking distance is. In my book, you're probably looking for something east of Oxford and south of Cedar or Vine. Oxford is where the flat starts to become the hills, and pretty much everything up there is nice. You won't find apartment complexes, but lots of rentals, especially close to Hearst Ave across from campus. A bunch of my closest friends lived up there (if you're looking on the map, Euclid at Buena Vista; another Hilgard at LeRoy).

I live near the N.Berk. BART station and regularly commuted on my bicycle. Roughly 15 mins/two miles--pretty much all uphill going to school (but a nice easy coast home). The great thing about Berkeley and bikes is the bicycle boulevards. Some, like Hearst Ave., Milvia St. or California St. are just extra wide with bike lanes. Others, like Virginia St. are periodically blocked by planters so that bikes can get through and cars can't-- keeps down on the idiots trying to go E/W on side streets to avoid the traffic/lights on University. I could take a shorter route, but I choose to stay on the bicycle boulevards.

For a good map with the bicycle boulevards ID'd and a key for the steepness of the hills, see: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFi ... lk_map.pdf. (it also shows you parts of Emeryville and north Oakland, so you can get a sense of those other places mentioned in the thread too).

If you are going to bike rather than walk, I would recommend getting locking skewers for your wheels and seat-post and a high quality lock. With those precautions, over three years I never had any issues parking outside the law school. Others (quick disconnect wheels, cheap lock) weren't so lucky.

TTTehehe wrote:There is no Emerville Bart per se, but Macarthur station is like right there. Depending on where OP lives in Emeryville, it's doable. But true, he/she may not like Emeryville if that whole Berkeley culture is more appealing. I actually like Best Buy very much, thank you. Ha.

hehe. To each his/her own. And, yes Macarthur station is close-ish, though if you're averse to low income neighborhoods, it's not a walk / route I'd suggest. (To be clear: I don't think it's inherently unsafe; it's just not everyone's cup of tea.)

What's your suggestion?

I'm not a cal student, so I defer to them on this one.

For generic bay livin' advice, I'd say Rockridge, Temescal, Bushrod, south/north of campus all have their perks. It's more a question of availability / affordability. As TTTehehe suggested, the bay-area is well connected. I'd just stay out of Emeryville.

Would it be too risky to use a ~$2500 bike?

drmguy wrote:Would it be too risky to use a ~$2500 bike?

That would be quite a target. Personally I wouldn't be willing to take the risk with something that nice. Even the best locks can be defeated.

Now, there is bike parking in a locked cage in the faculty garage. It is more secure because you don't have the general public strolling by, but it isn't fool-proof. EVERYONE who parks there has access to the cage and you can't be sure they will close the door behind them.

Anyone else? I am most likely going to do this without seeing the location or by proxy so I want to be as informed as possible.