NorCal....School me. Alameda area.

Lets skip the whole part where everyone says its expensive and the traffic sucks. I'm being recruited by another company (yeah yeah, i change jobs more than my pants get the jokes out now) and I am STRONGLY considering taking it after reviewing the financial piece, role, responsibility, etc. We were going to move back to Austin in March too that may be out now.

I will be flying out on the 14th in the morning and will be in about 5 hours of meetings which will probably take up the whole day. They wanted me to stay the weekend to look at areas to live and to figure out a game plan (if they make an offer) on moving so I'll have Friday (14th) at night, Saturday (15th) all day/night and Sunday (16th) all day until I have to be at the airport @ 5pm. I grabbed an AirBnB Saturday night into Sunday in Alameda and I'll have a car (probably use Turo for it) so I'll be mobile. Family is staying home while I go.

• Areas to check out within a 45-hour drive (traffic isn't a huge concern for me since I'll be able to schedule myself in before or after). I was looking at Alameda, parts of Oakland, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, etc.
• They'll have to be in good school areas for my kids
• Racing is out for a long time for me due to recent health developments so I'm not concerned so much with that I'll probably go back to cars for a while so i'll need a good sized garage or a place to wrench.
• Safe area

Any suggestions? Any places I should just go check out to eat while I'm there?

Thanks in advance.

-Alex

 

Alex, probably easier to do with a phone call. There are no places meeting your criteria that are not downright expensive but the short answer is I would strongly recommend to stay on the island if you can find workable housing. Pm me if you want to chat by phone.
—dave

 

Man you sure do change jobs alot...

 

45 hour drive? Man you’re a tough SOB.

 

Man, you sure move alot.

 

Will shoot you a PM and we can chat tomorrow. Budget is going to be $4k a month max for a rental. Might have to move further out it looks like. Thank you in advance!

 

Fucker.

 

I change jobs a lot lately and I absolutely hate it. Technically I’ve rented the same house in Long Beach for 3 years.

 

Chicken Waffles in Oakland on the waterfront. 444 Embarcadero near Broadway.

Oakland Grill (301 Franklin) is a cool place to grab breakfast or lunch. I have a buddy who lives near Jack London Square.

Decent housing near there is hard to find at a reasonable price. East end of Oakland is good, or farther out into Alameda County. If you end up near the Sacramento River, you can commute via Amtrak to Oakland, then a bus through the tunnel to Alameda. Taking the train beats driving by a long shot.

 

Once you start talking food, the list is massive. Housing/transpo is the crux.

 

Thanks! I’m definitely going to check at lest the grill out.

I know this might be ridiculous but is taking the ferry across the bay a bad idea? Work would be 1 mile from the ferry. Not that I think I can find housing besides maybe in South San Fran.

 

Ha ha ha haha... ha ha...ha....ah ha.

 

Point taken. Worth asking I guess

 

The ferry across the bay is awesome! To bad you will be homeless in SF... Housing in the city is ridiculously expensive, even by California standards.

 

A quick check on Zillownshows several 3/2 rentals in the hills above Oakland and even on Alameda for 3.5-4k a mo.
These even had some yard and garage space.

So you should be good with that budget.

If you go over the hill into Pleasanton or San ramon you should be able to find bigger or cheaper. But then the drive in could suck.

I used to make a trip to OAK/SF every 6-8weeks to see customers. If you get the drive time right going across bay or over the hills to Livermore/Pleasanton/etc is fine.
Get it wrong....well let's just say its CA traffic. You know what that's like.

 

I would really prefer to live in Alameda but I know it might not be possible. I’ve gotten used to a 5 mile commute everyday with no freeways. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have at minimum 30-45 minutes. I think my requirement of being within 45 minutes is going to be a tough one.

 

If you go, be sure and check out the.....

 

I live in Pleasant Hill and am in Alameda semi-regularly. I'm originally from GA and have now been out here for 10 years. I've come to adopt it as home, but there are definitely some nuances. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions at all.

 

I lived there for 2 months...until I graduated boot camp (all jokes aside, you could pick plenty of worse places to complete boot camp at).