Hello Norcal members. In July-Aug of this year I will be moving to the bay area, around Vallejo to be exact. I need some suggestions from you local guys as to which apartment complexes and neighborhoods I should look into and where to stay away from.

I have already been to the east bay area several times but still haven't found the right place. My criteria is the following:

- < $1100
- < 20 yrs old
- 1 or 2 bedroom
- washer/dryer in unit
- preferrably gated
- garage optional
- dog friendly

I would like to stay within Vallejo if I could since my fiance will be going to med school on mare island and I am attending CA maritime academy.

Thank you in advance for your help

 

Socal to Norcal? WHY??????

lol...

 

meah... after leaving home from the east coast i've been itching to hop around. after finishing my degree and post grad in norcal, i'll be heading to shanghai, china for a couple of years as well.

 

I used to live in the northern most part of Vallejo, neighborhood called Hiddenbrooke. Liked it a lot but it's 100% single detached homes. Didn't really like a lot of other neighborhoods in Vallejo, but there are some cool pockets. Why not consider a short commute? Not sure what the rental market looks like but Benicia is a cool spot. Very small town with a nice vibe and is close to the water. Fairfield might be cool too, much more mini mall oriented but it's convienient. Good luck with the search and welcome to NorCal!

Also have a couple of buddies who have relocated Shanghai within the last couple of years. They love it there and aren't even considering coming back to the US anytime soon.

 

I was kind of curious so I looked up Benicia:

http://www.move.com/searchresults.as...r=11-15&nor=58

Spot in Fairfield:

http://www.rentnet.com/apartments/fy...61C65E17353CD3

 

Some of them are just stupid... I got a fine for "too many pots in front of the house" (pots that came with the house)...

Anyway... I would give Fairfield and Vacaville a look see...

 

you definitely want to stay away from the four dollar bridge toll. lots of rental units in fairfield due to the air force base up there. im right in between vallejo and benecia on the 780 and the guy who posted earlier is right benecia really is a nice quite little place to stay.

 

anyone else agree that Norcal and SoCal are different worlds. I do. Everytime i go up north i feel like such an outsider. Just saying. GL with the move.

 

Yeah I agree. SoCal has a completely different feel to me. Never really got used to it though I travelled there often for business.

 

Check the city of American Canyon also

 

I came from Northridge/Thousand Oaks/Culver City/Montrose to NorCal and if I can help it I''m never going back. But I hate the way people drive here, its all binary, they are either tailgating or slamming on the brakes. Been here ten years and still can't get used to that. I go down to SoCal to "relax" on the freeways, people drive fast (when they can) but they usually leave at least a car length or two.

Can't help with the place to live, the area you are looking at is about an hour from where I live.

Chris

 

Thanks for all the input guys, I was surprised to see this many replies over night, you norcal guys are night owls.

apharmdb, Thanks for the links, up till now I was only looking through craigslist and rent.com, so those sites will help. I'll look into Hiddenbrooke as well.

For those who mentioned Benecia, looks like a good bet too. I haven't been on my latest trip up but I'll make sure to schedule time to look around there.

UrbanTacticZ, I was looking into American Canyon last week and it looks like the boonies but I noticed a good deal of development. It was either old or new and nothing inbetween. Shaping up to be a nice area tho.

Again, thank you and this will help me greatly.

 

No problem, and good luck with the search. Skip Hiddenbrooke though as its all single detached homes 3+ bedroom homes. Seriously look into Benicia though, if you are looking for some peace and quiet without being too far away from it all.

 

check out Glen Cove in Vallejo -> 5 mins from Academy, 10 min from Mare Island.

 

Glen cove is $$$!

 

i can get you a loan.

 

How did you look into it? Things like Google earth show old old pictures. American Canyon is apart of Napa County and is RIGHT next to Vallejo. So much so that you don't even know if you are in AC or Vallejo unless you live there.

AC is basically all housing too

 

I was up in the bay area for few days last week. I've been pretty swamped at work and catering to out of town friends that I wasn't able to look into some of the sites you guys have requested. Hopefully I can after this weekend.

I looked into Vacaville and Fairfield, a little to far for my liking unless the area is a lot nicer than Vallejo/Benicia. Benicia looks like my best bet at this point.

 

Wooohoo! Do I get a commission for this if you move to Benicia Seriously though if you are there on a weekend, check out 1st Cafe on well....1st Street. Used to be my regular weekend breakfast spot. Not the greatest for dinner though.

 

In Vallejo, you probably won't be able to find $1100 rental in Hiddenbrooke...
You'll be better off finding a place on the East side of I-80 b/w Tennessee and Columbus...

Traffic TO and FROM Fairfield and Vacaville can be pretty bad depending on your commute time.

Good Luck with your move...
Let us know when you're up here so we can do a welcome to Vallejo meet...