Where would you live?

My partner and I will be moving to SF before the end of the year is up. We're two Aussies currently living in Asia. My partner will be working full-time in Pittsburg, CA and we'll both be wanting to live close to a BART station as we'll be without a car. As we're in our early 30's and have no children, we'd prefer to live somewhere central and handy to cafe's, shops...that sort of thing. Here are some questions that hopefully some savvy fellow Aussies can help answer: Is Pittsburg a hole to live in? Is Walnut Creek another name for Stepford? Would Berkley be too long a commute? Where would you live given our circumstances? Any advice, would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hi,

Pittsburg is a bit of hole to be honest. We live in Walnut Creek which is nice enough - good walks, countryside etc. It is mostly known as a shopping mecca though and is very sub-urban in its attitudes. I don't drive but get by with my bike and bart. The bike-paths are good out this way.

The bart will take you straight to San Francisco and the airport from around this area too. Pittsburg and Walnut Creek are both on the Pittsburg Baypoint Line.

Also on the same line is Rockridge. It is closer to Berkeley and San Francisco and technically part of Oakland. It's a bit older and bit more "arty" I suppose and has fewer chain shops and more one-off stores, independent bookstores etc. It depends what you are looking for.
This would take you about 35 minutes on Bart to Pittsburg but you would be going the opposite way to most commuters. Further into Berkeley would mean changing trains at McArthur and that can add up to 30 minutes to your journey on bad days.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, it does. We'll be coming over in September for a tentative viewing and interview. I might like to arrange for a real estate agent to give us a showing of what's available in the area of Walnut Creek. Are there any agencies you could recommend for this?

craigslist.org is a decent way to find rentals if that is hat you're into. The housing market is pretty inflated right now, and people seem to think it will drop soon enough.

We live on the Concord/Walnut Creek border and it's a nice area, although the other side of Concord is pretty divey (but its huge with 120k people living in this one suburb).

Walnut Creek I think will offer everything you could need. Berkeley is way over-rated and extremely expensive for what you get, and without a car is a pain in the butt to get to any place else. The Bart is cool, but there isn't a lot of options.

I agree that craigslist is the way to go with rentals.

Berkeley is also inflated because of the students and the die-hard Berkley "yipees" but I do still like Rockridge.

Concord is pretty nice though - cheaper and has a good community feel with its town square. On the edge of Walnut Creek is Pleasant Hill which has a lot of purpose built apartment rentals but it is difficult if you don't drive.