Poll HN: Where to live in the bay?

[huangm]

We're a three person startup looking for a house or apartment to live and work out of (specifically, 3-bedrooms and a large common space for working) around the bay area. Taking into consideration cost, size, safety, and proximity to social life, where would be the best place to live? All three of us have cars, so transportation into SF would not be a problem. Also, we're fresh out of college, so cost is a very important factor.

We would appreciate any explanations or comments for your response.

[ardit33]

SF. South Bay is really boring. I just moved from SF to Mountain View, and getting bored as hell.

Berkeley is fun, and cheaper than SF, plus there are girls there. One word of advice: Don't get a first floor apartment. it seems that break-ins are really common, mostly b/c of the proximity to west oakland, which honestly, makes Baghdad look good.

Palo Alto is Ok too. SF, is the more fun, but more expensive too.

Anywhere else is really suburban and boring.

But if you find a job in South Bay (where most tech jobs are), then you don't want to live in Berkeley, as it is too far.

[jnovek → ardit33]

We're in Sunnyvale; South Bay IS boring. And very cost effective. If you plan to spend all your time working on your startup (why else are you bringing your startup here?) you should live somewhere boring and cost effective. You can live in SF after you "make it".

[krtl]

If you all have cars, I would probably stay away from SF. Parking is expensive. I like Berkeley as your solution.

[njohnw → krtl]

The East Bay is a great option for startups on a budget. Cheap(er) rent, good food, lots to do, and many startup-minded folks. Emeryville is ~10-15 minutes away from downtown SF, so you won't be missing out on any major events in the city.

[gphil → njohnw]

I second that. I grew up in the East Bay and thought it was a great places to live. Oakland gets a bad rap, but there are certainly some nicer areas where one could rent a house much more inexpensively than in the other areas mentioned. Also, there is lots of culture in the Berkeley/Oakland area, not to mention tons of great eateries.

[jlees → krtl]

Not just parking, apartments are a lot more expensive in SF too. Most events seem to be south bay but if you like driving then Berkeley/Oakland wouldn't be too bad I guess. I'd personally go for Palo Alto area but that's because university avenue is fun.

[aditya → jlees]

Your idea of fun is going to a McDonalds in a strip mall, right?

[jnovek → krtl]

I would say that regardless of where you live, you should shed 2/3 of your cars. Cars are very expensive to own, and if you're a pre-money startup, you need to save money. Everything takes longer than you think.

[dsil]

Since you say cost is very important, San Fran is probably not the best. For a place like you describe you'd be paying about $3000/month in SF, and could find a similar place in Berkeley or Palo Alto for about $2000/month.

Between Berkeley and Palo Alto, I recommend Berkeley. Personally, I love Berkeley and currently live there, but that decision is basically would you rather live in a college-town near SF or a college-town/suburb near silicon valley. Either way they're all about an hour drive away from each other at most anyway.

[bigmac]

San Francisco is great. However, I have serious doubts that you'll want to pay for a three bedroom apartment and deal with parking for three cars. Cost being a factor, I wouldn't recommend SF.

On that note, why do you need three bedrooms? Why do you need three cars? If you could cut your expenses down to two bedrooms and perhaps one car, you might have more luck finding a reasonable place in the city. Since you're just out of college, I'd imagine that you're used to college style living -- is that an unsafe assumption?

[japanesejay]

For Cheap and Fun? Aside from Berkeley, Theres not much to do in the east bay. Berkeley has a lot to offer though. Lots of stuff going on around the UCB neighborhood. Fun stuff. Probably a great option for what you're looking for. If you want to live anywhere else, people either go to SF or SJ. Let me warn you though, driving in the bay gets old real fast. That and its really not worth driving back from a night of fun... if you can afford the option.

San Jose. SJ Downtown and SJSU is right next door so theres still some fun activity there too. You'll for sure drive everywhere if you live here.

Penninsula... Pretty much sucks if you want to do anything night life wise. Palo Alto / Stanford stuff is all there but if you're not part of "the click" it might be hard to mingle at first. PA is also expensive unless you go to East Palo Alto which is ghetto and quite unsafe. Make sure you look up where you move into before you commit.

SF. Awesome except for the parking part. Sell your cars and move up here! Lots to do, bikes, scooters and public transports will take you everywhere you need. Probably the best place to be in the bay. I think from everyone who posted in this thread who's ever lived here will agree.

[maxklein]

By the way, I'd also love to move to San Fransisco area. Let's say as a foreigner to the U.S from a Visa Waiver country, is it possible to move to San Fransisco, hire a home office and just live and work on internet stuff? Or is that illegal? What about if I left trhe country every 3 months and came back?

[dlevine]

San Francisco is going to be the most fun. However, it is more expensive, and the majority of the opportunities are in the Valley.

After a while, you may decide that you need to live in SF.

I moved up to SF, and end up commuting to the South Bay 3X a week because no matter who I work with, they always seem to be in the Valley.

[aaroneous]

Strongly recommend you guys check out Oakland. Specifically, these neighborhoods: Produce & Waterfront // Jack London Square, Old Town, Down Town, Uptown, Temesecal, Piedmont Ave, Grand Lake, Rockridge. Things are very affordable, lots of cool warehousey//industrial//unique workspaces to inspire creative working, interesting (and amazing) restaurants, bars & nightlife, well connected by public transit and freeways.

Emeryville has a couple neat pockets, but those areas are in high demand and command a higher price. Berkeley can be especially great for the fresh-out-of-college type, but it's expensive. SF is generally expensive & overrated to live in.

I've never lived in the south bay, but from my experience it's somewhat its own world and not as inter-connected as SF & the East Bay are.

[jamesk2]

Another consideration is what kind of startup are you? What companies are similar? Where are they located?

For example, google, linkedin and facebook are "Palo Alto (and South).

Your startup would benefit from relationships with other companies, so where are those relationships in the bay area?

[cracell]

San Francisco has a strong Rails community. No idea if that's relevant to your startup. I'd definitely take into account the technologies and field of your startup for your decision.

[aditya → cracell]

San Fran has a strong EVERYTHING TECH community, doesn't it? Or do Java Developers usually hang out in Santa Clara?

[cracell → aditya]

Some seem to be heavier in other areas. I'm a Rails developer so I know about Rails community mostly. :)

[davidkuchar → cracell]

I live in a sf warehouse with a java, c#, python and a ruby developer. they're all here.

[CraigBuchek]

Does anyone ever live on the water in the Bay Area? I saw some houseboats in Oakland when I was there last, and thought that it might be cool to live on a boat actually on the bay.

[benradler]

Question for those of you who live in SF currently -- in general, are you finding it difficult to network and connect with other tech-savvy individuals in San Francisco proper?

[holaamigos]

>80% of start-up networking opportunities are in the valley