I finally got myself out of the New Jersey project, and am ready to start fresh in San Francisco. Since I was stuck in East Coast all this time, I gave myself two days to secure an apartment, a week to pack and 3-5 days to move and settle down.
I wasn’t sure if I was able to find an apartment in such a short time. Bay area is consisted with numerous neighborhoods and some I heard are not safe. But it’s not as simple as avoiding those neighborhoods. Most of the areas that are close to downtown are ‘mixed’, as in some blocks are nice and some blocks are ‘less nice’, so to speak.
Initially I wanted to stay as close to downtown SF as I could. The person that killed the thought was my boss, a PwC partner. Obviously he knows the best how much I make, and instead of offering a raise, he barked, ‘Are you out of your mind? You can’t afford it!! Move to East bay, and no, not the east bay that’s close to the bay like Oakland, but go over the hills and the valley to as far east as you could, like Pleasanton, it’s a mere 45 minute BART (bay area rapid transit) ride to the city.”
Riiiight. I thought. I’m not taking 45 minute train ride each way every day! So I started by looking into the part of east bay that’s close to water, like Emeryville and Lake Merritt. It’s less than 15 minute ride to the city. I went so far as to pay application fee for a tiny little studio in a gorgeous condo right by the bay, and the unit has a view of the water as well. I was pretty excited even though the rent was over 1000 and the kitchen was so small that I doubted if i could fit a microwave oven in it. Only a few hours later, I drove by the BART station and saw that the parking lot was so small that I didn’t think I’d ever get a spot past 7am. If I can’t park there, that means I can’t take the BART. How the heck am I supposed to go to downtown? How do people in this neighborhood go to SF? I bet you most people are students or local commuters, who don’t have to go across the notorious, always jammed Bay Bridges.
Then I started looking more east. I found an apartment complex that’s right by the BART station in Walnut Creek. Rent is about the same for a studio that’s slightly larger, but the kitchen is full-size and the best part, there’s washer and dryer in the unit.
After all, I ended up with what my boss suggested. Go as far east as you can. But hey it’s not bad, it turned out that the BART ride is ONLY 37 minutes, not 45! The 16 minutes i save a day is enough for me to take a quick shower huh?
All in all, for friends who might visit me in the future, Walnut Creek is my new home. Although it’s a bit far from the city, it has all the retailers that you can think of. Well, although I can’t name all the retailers, i’m convinced that wherever Tiffany is located, everyone else must be there.
