MOVING SOON TO STOCKTON, CA

[pseith 0]

hi guys thanks so much for the tip! was finally able to convince my fiance, thank god.. the only thing he pointed out is if we could settle in the bay area or near bay area for the sake of his job. my father initially suggested sacramento but it's too far from my fiance's job.

i called a real estate person as referred to me by my father and told her our preference. she suggested RICHMOND. my fiance is okay with it. the problem is my father who won't get us a house there because 3 filipino friends of his were mugged and murdered in that area.. so i went back to the real estate person and she suggested some places near richmond called BERKELEY, EL CERRITOS and ALBANY. okay with dad, okay with fiance. the real estate will send me pictures of the available houses once i confirmed.

any personal thoughts about these places? which of the 3 should we consider? our preference is peaceful neighborhood and accessibility. and of course my fiance's safety when he walks at night.

..by the way i asked some residents in a forum called city-data.com and all they say is stay away from california if we want to have a peaceful life. i don't know why they're so upset..

OK, here's the skinny from a long-time local resident. Berkeley's a great town. But as a college town, it tends to be expensive to live in. Stay away from the flats (the area by the Bay) on the south side of town. That's the only bad part of Berkeley. That's the area adjacent to mine in North Oakland. It's cheaper there, but not as nice. Near campus, in the hills, or north Berkeley are nice.

Albany, you can't go wrong. It's a small town, but it's expensive, too.

El Cerrito is also generally nice. In the hills is best. Once again, stay away from the flats. Closer to the bay = worse neighborhood.

[Clownies 2]

just remember, even the worst cities have great neighborhoods, and the best cities have awful 'hoods.

I lived in San Francisco for two years, in the fancy, expensive, Panhandle district. During my stay there a kid was shot in a laundrymat two blocks from where we lived, and I got mugged on my street one block away from home, attacted by two youngters armed with a chain.

SF also has the Tenderloin, many areas of the Mission, Western Eddition, heck the whole financial district ... All quite unsafe to walk alone after 7pm

Now we've been living in East Oakland, near the Lake, and so far nothing happened to us, except for the occasional verbal aggression by local drunks/drugaddicts/bums. I wouldn't recommend this neighborhood, but after being mugged in SF, i wouldn't know what to recommend. The areas north of Lake Merrit look appealing.

Just do your research, and go take a walk in the areas your interested in. I do mean "walk", not ride!

[Miranda&John 0]

I don't know much about the area, but I've been living in Turlock, CA for 6 months now and EVERYONE I meet tells me to steer clear of Stockton LOL

Edited December 14, 2009 by Miranda&John