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Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

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Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#31

Post by kemiller »

rdouble wrote: post #14
tsunamifury wrote: post #7

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas…

Nowhere in Oakland is an order of magnitude worse. Worse, yes, but few places are that bad. Parts of the Mission, and certainly the Tenderloin (both in the sweet spot on this guy's map) are worse than anywhere BART-accessible in Oakland except West Oakland and maybe Lake Merritt/Fruitvale.

If you're working in the South Bay, yeah, don't live there. But Temescal, for example, is a great option if you're working in the city. Great city feel, lots of cool stuff, and you're still only 20 minutes from the city. That's a shorter commute than many parts of the city itself. It's expensive my national standards, but still cheaper than the city.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#32

Post by cpeterso »

dr_doom wrote: post #17
rdouble wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas…

Is Oakland really that bad? I really want the most affordable place I can find. I'm not too scared of crime, I have guns and grew up in a lower class neighborhood, but am worried about theft when I'm not home. edit: I would basically like to live in a neighborhood like Pilsen in Chicago. Affordable, working class, mexican, and close to transit. Any recommendations?

I live in North Oakland, a nicer part of town. Even here, people get mugged at the BART station in broad daylight. Last year, we had a string of restaurant "take-over" robberies.

The crime problem is pretty bad and getting worse. Most of the murders, 126 last year and 3 just this past weekend, are gang-related and localized to West and East Oakland ("the Flats"). The safer parts of town are North Oakland, near Berkeley, and the Hills.

Per capita, Oakland is the nation's #1 city for robberies, #1 for vehicle thefts, #3 for violent crime, and #4 for murders. Oakland has only 15 police officers per 10,000 residents, half as many as SF and one-third as many NYC and Chicago.

Oakland is depressing because the city has so much potential. It is centrally located in the Bay Area; close to SF by BART, car, and ferry; has an international airport; and has a large shipping port. But many big employers are scared away by crime, so people have to leave Oakland to work or shop, further depressing the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_...

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#33

Post by rdouble »

mmanfrin wrote: post #30
rdouble wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas…

The 'not so nice' areas of Oakland aren't bad, as long as you stay out of East Oakland. I'm living in West Oakland right now. My rent is 1/3 the cost of an equivalent room in SF, and my commute is shorter (7 minute BART ride). I feel perfectly safe.

Oakland's crime problems are partially structural. It is much more car oriented and spread out, with a lot of dead zones where nobody is around. Thus it's much easier for a group of people to drive up behind you and rob you and then drive away. Personally, I would not suggest West Oakland unless you are broke. I felt safe, too, until I got jacked.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#34

Post by dr_doom »

rdouble wrote: post #20
dr_doom wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Oakland really that bad? I really want the most affordable place I can find. I'm not too scared of crime, I have guns and grew up in a lower class neighborhood, but am worried about theft when I'm not home. edit: I would basically like to live in a neighborhood like Pilsen in Chicago. Affordable, working class, mexican, and close to transit. Any recommendations?

Oakland is the only place in the Bay Area I've been held up at gunpoint. Property theft is a problem in both Oakland and San Francisco. Less so in the South Bay. Even if you are not scared of crime, dealing with the aftermath of a robbery or burglary is a headache. Oakland has a lot of boosters but I have never found much compelling about it. I find it similar to southern-midwest cities, whereas SF is a unique place,…

Fair enough, thanks for the advice though.

I guess I'll just have to walk around and explore for a few days.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#35

Post by cpeterso »

jbkring wrote: post #19
dr_doom wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Oakland really that bad? I really want the most affordable place I can find. I'm not too scared of crime, I have guns and grew up in a lower class neighborhood, but am worried about theft when I'm not home. edit: I would basically like to live in a neighborhood like Pilsen in Chicago. Affordable, working class, mexican, and close to transit. Any recommendations?

Oakland is like any other city. There are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. Some of the safer ones are: Temescal, Adam's Point, Grand Lake/Cleveland Heights, Piedmont & Rockridge (not technically Oakland).

Rockridge is definitely part of Oakland, but Piedmont is a separate city. Piedmont seceded from Oakland in 1907 and is completely surrounded by Oakland. I've never heard of any other city engulfed within another.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#36

Post by plorkyeran »

rdouble wrote: post #14
tsunamifury wrote: post #7

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas…

I don't live in an affordable part of Berkeley and it's still close to an hour each way to SOMA (~10 minutes walk each way, ~30 minutes on BART for Downtown Berkeley -> Mongomery, and a few minutes of slack to avoid missing the occasional train).

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#37

Post by sliverstorm »

dr_doom wrote: post #17
rdouble wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas…

Is Oakland really that bad? I really want the most affordable place I can find. I'm not too scared of crime, I have guns and grew up in a lower class neighborhood, but am worried about theft when I'm not home. edit: I would basically like to live in a neighborhood like Pilsen in Chicago. Affordable, working class, mexican, and close to transit. Any recommendations?

Is Oakland really that bad?

Well, plenty of people live there and all, but a few visits combined with Wikipedia [1] have convinced me that I don't particularly want to live there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_r...

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#38

Post by rdouble »

kemiller wrote: post #31
rdouble wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas…

Nowhere in Oakland is an order of magnitude worse. Worse, yes, but few places are that bad. Parts of the Mission, and certainly the Tenderloin (both in the sweet spot on this guy's map) are worse than anywhere BART-accessible in Oakland except West Oakland and maybe Lake Merritt/Fruitvale. If you're working in the South Bay, yeah, don't live there. But Temescal, for example, is a great option if you're working in the…

You are right, an order of magnitude was an exaggeration. But Oakland's citywide crime stats in most categories are double/triple that of San Francisco.

That said, I don't think crime is the main reason to not live in the East Bay when you are doing an internship. Minimizing transport time to work and/or recreation is why you don't want to live out there. If you are working in SF, live in SF. If work is in the south bay, live in the south bay...or maybe live in SF. It will be expensive but an internship should cover it. If the internship doesn't cover it you picked the wrong internship.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#39

Post by dionidium »

tsunamifury wrote: post #7

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

Yes. This is hilarious:

"If you don’t mind living further away from one of the central locations, you’ll be able to pay half as much for rent for a nicer place than you could afford otherwise (see heat map).

Saving money is great and all..."

For lots of people, saving money isn't "great and all." It's required. Especially if you happen to be an intern living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#40

Post by mmanfrin »

rdouble wrote: post #33
mmanfrin wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'not so nice' areas of Oakland aren't bad, as long as you stay out of East Oakland. I'm living in West Oakland right now. My rent is 1/3 the cost of an equivalent room in SF, and my commute is shorter (7 minute BART ride). I feel perfectly safe.

Oakland's crime problems are partially structural. It is much more car oriented and spread out, with a lot of dead zones where nobody is around. Thus it's much easier for a group of people to drive up behind you and rob you and then drive away. Personally, I would not suggest West Oakland unless you are broke. I felt safe, too, until I got jacked.

West Oakland's crime rates a pretty comparable to SFs. I've been robbed more in SF than in Oakland.
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