Help From Folks Familiar With The Berkeley Area

[twinsnailsS4]

Hello my Nor-Cal Brethern,

I was hoping a few of you wouldn't mind helping me, help a close friend. She is planning on getting a LLM at Berkeley, and is currently looking for a place to live. However, all the places she has found apparently seem real dumpy and are also real expensive.

Are there any areas out there that are moderatley expensive and in a nice area? For example, she found a studio for $1200 but it was real small and in an old building...is this the norm?

Any help such as specific areas to search and/or local newspapers which may contain listings would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[3ohAvant]

craigslist.org

[angryswede]

for sure. craigslist rocks

what's up with the 1 poste 3oh? you've been on for a long time.

[stilvoll]

Yup, what they said. Here's a little more specific:

http://www.craigslist.org/eby/apa/

Good luck to your friend!

[rex_racer]

Originally posted by angryswede
for sure. craigslist rocks

what's up with the 1 poste 3oh? you've been on for a long time.

posts only count if they're outside of classifieds and regional right??? haha.

oh and berkeley is expensive in general as well, finding a nice place is pretty hard.

[twinsnailsS4]

Thanks for the help thus far! Apparently she had was searching on Craig List, so she was in the right direction. Are there any other cities near Berkely that may be a good place to commute from (i.e., not so expensive and nice/safe)?

Thanks again for all the help!

[stilvoll]

The good thing about the area (among others) is BART. There's a station right by Cal, so she can keep that in mind if she wants to look for places away from Berkeley.

Here's the BART map to give you an idea:
http://www.bart.gov/images/map500.gif

[twinsnailsS4]

Originally posted by stilvoll
The good thing about the area (among others) is BART. There's a station right by Cal, so she can keep that in mind if she wants to look for places away from Berkeley.

Here's the BART map to give you an idea:
http://www.bart.gov/images/map500.gif

That map is great!!! This will really help. If you don't mind helping me one more time, what cities surrounding Berkely are nice? I think I have heard that Walnut Creek is nice (in fact I think there is an Audi dealer there maybe). Thanks again!!!

[BoostTed]

Anything in berkely is going to be "dumpy"
I go up there quite a lot just got back from there actually. Helped my friend move from one apartment to another. If she dont mind driving maybe like 5 mins from berkeley look at el cerrito, two friends of mine just moved into a 3 brd townhouse, for $1000/month. It was really nice, just remodeled.

All the buildings in berkelry are old. So there not much difference between any of them.

[3ohAvant]

If she is going to school there, she should really live there. ESP. since parking there sucks. So if she lived there, she could just walk...

Walnut creek is nice, also expensive, and not much of a social life for college aged peeps.

But in terms of half way nice areas near there... Orinda, mt clair, piedmont, laffayette, parts of emeryville, the oakland hills, a few streets in albany. stay away from richmond : )

[twinsnailsS4]

Hey guys, I just wanted to say thanks for all of your help. As luck would have it, I had to fly up to Oakland for business and I got to see in person some of the areas you guys mentioned.

Incidentally, your freeways are rough. Of course, the area near the colliseum/airport were 10x's rougher. It was seriously SCARY!!!!! And unfortunately, I did not get to meet the infamous Bubb-Rubb or hear any whistle-tips.

Anyway, thanks again!!!

[3ohAvant]

880near Oakland is the WORST part of the bay area freeways. At least IMHO.

And the whistle tips... HAHAHAH! those still kill me. woo-wooo

[wnut]

ex of mine went there, they rented a 3 bedroom apt in Albany which is roughly 2 miles from campus. they all took the bus or carpooled.

i also have a friend that was looking for a roommate, not sure if she's still in need, but hope it helps:

From: Jen Tse <jentse@hotmail.com>
Subject: ROOM in BERKELEY FOR RENT!!!
Sent: Wednesday, September 8, 2004 2:12 PM
I'm so sorry for spamming y'all, but...

My roomie is moving out to live with her boyfriend, and I'll have a room available immediately. Rent is only $650/month as my friend is the apartment manager ($1,300 total move-in cost for first month + deposit). My name is on the lease, so you'll pay me directly as the master tenant, and I'll pay the landlord. Feel free to pass this info along. Thanks!

Please see below for details...

Here is some basic info on the place:
- The complex is 5 units. We are a downstairs unit. All the tenants range in age from around 21-30ish (not including a 2 year old upstairs). Sometimes we have a bbq or small gathering, but there are definitely no ragers in this apartment!
- 2 bedroom, 1 bath (so yes, we'll have to share....but I'm in the bathroom about 30 minutes a day TOTAL).
- Garden style apartment with carport (we'd share a tandem 2 car spot)
- Your room is the "master" bedroom with nice walk-in closet and is attached to the coin-operated laundry room that all the tenants share
- Very large Kitchen
- Good-sized living room
- Carpet throughout the apartment (minus the kitchen and bathroom areas)
- Walking distance to BART and other forms of public transpotation (less than 1/2 mile walk to North Berkeley Station where there is also casual carpool into SF)
- Biking distance to UC Berkeley campus (I'm a lazyass, so I probably would drive, but my roomie was/is a grad student and does the commute regularly on her bicycle)
- We'd share utilities of gas/electric (about $30-60/month total depending on season) and phone (basic service that is about $25 total per month). There is no cable or high-speed internet (though it is available in the area if you want to pay for it)
- There are no pets in the apartment, but there are two "resident cats" in the apartment complex that wander around OUTSIDE, fyi

Hmmm...what else?!?

Furniture - my roomie brought most of our furniture, so if you have a couch or lounge chairs or something, that would be wonderful! Otherwise, I have a futon that is currently in the living room that doubles as a couch. Other than that, I have a coffee table, a kitchen table, and a couple of chairs in the kitchen, but that's about it! Once my roomie moves, I will have no TV (boohoo!), so if you have lots of stuff and no place to move it into, this place is perfect for ya!

Email me at jentse@hotmail.com for more info or to schedule a viewing.