A friend of mine looking for a primary. Has a baby coming, looking for short commute to Berkeley / SF. What are some good communities that are relatively affordable? Looking for SFH / THs with 2+ bdrooms, with 900k~1.2M price range.
I don’t know many areas in East Bay - I’ve only been to / drove by a couple of places, and was genuinely concerned about my safety just visiting. 
How about Alameda?
Alameda was what I suggested. I’m not sure how Alameda ranks up against other usual places like Berkeley, Piedmont, Oakland, Walnut Creek etc. Is Albany a safe place to live?
Piedmont is too expensive for their price range. Oakland’s schools are bad. Albany is interesting. Without any research my impression is that their schools are in the same range as Alameda? I just wonder if it’s too close to Berkeley and hence more crimes than alameda.
Can buy that in Berkeley El Cerrito Kensington Albany
The commute from Alameda to SF or Berkeley sucks. Pre COVID, the tube to exit Alameda would sometimes take 45 minutes to get through. And the Ferry is inconvenient and takes 30 mins to reach SF. Alameda is nice (I lived there for 7 years) but leaving in the morning and returning in the evening sucks.
I would much rather take Ferry over BART - have free wifi and no homeless. I think that commute isn’t bad at all. Who complains about a 30 min commute???
30 minutes of sea time. 5-10 mins to drive to the ferry building, park, then walk to the Ferry, getting there a few minutes before it leaves of course, getting on, exiting. Easily over an hour. So it’s not just a “30 minute commute”
yeah i’d rather have that over 30 min of bumper to bumper traffic driving. 1 hr with me not needing to think about anything is no big deal.
I guess you don’t value your time like I do
How about by private yacht . Get a house in Alameda with a slip and a slip at Pier 40. 25’ Donzi goes 70 mph. Commute 10min.
Not a bad idea! Put a motorcycle on the yacht and ride that from pier to work. Best commute ever!
An ebike is good enough. They only weigh 50#