In defense of Oakland, there's some nice areas up in the hills.
The flats/avenues are where it gets scary.

 

oakland hills= all oakland raiders players lol....

 

i am just playing...but i am sure you can find ghettos where ever you go...

 

I'd avoid East Palo Alto, as well. If you plan on living in the North Bay, I'd avoid Richmond.

One thing to consider is that, if you're going to be working in SF, there's a ferry that goes from Vallejo to SF: http://www.baylinkferry.com/schedule/index.php

 

Come live in Foster City or Burlingame! We have beautiful cities with low crime. Most of the people residing in Bgame or Fost Cit are affluent professionals. There's alot of career opportunities in this area versus Santa Rosa or the "North Bay" area. Here on the peninsula, we are conveniently located in between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Commuting is not that bad (a hell of alot better then LA area!) -- and there's endless opportunity.
We have:
Major Financial institutions such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America and even VISA operating in our area.
Biotechnology: So San Fran is the birthplace of Bio Tech.
Computer/technology development: We have Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, McAfee , Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, YOU NAME IT!
We are the birthplace of the computers.

We have numerous accredited Universities in our region that are world famous. These institutions offer you the opportunity to further your education and career opportunities.
Everything from Community Colleges, to State Universities (SF State, SJ State, Hayward State) to UC ( UC Berkeley, UCSF)
to even private ones such as Stanford Univ, Notre Dame, USF.

I am sure you would find it more enjoyable living in the Peninsula versus living in the North Bay-- plus the opportunities that surround us are endless.

 

+1 avoid east bay.

 

Don't ever go to vallejo lol there one night at a buddys house and someone did a drive by.......not cool at all

Union city is pretty cool , used to go there a lot but I don't know now.

Suisun (green valley) that area is really nice , a lot of country type scenary

Hope you make a good choice , cause it will be "hella" cool when ya live here lol

 

oakland isnt really that bad at all ... honestly. just dont live in areas past 60th ave + and you shouldnt be in any danger.

 

i was going to say east bay because its in the middle
pleasanton doesnt have any bad areas
lol

 

Move to roseville!! Siiiiiick place to live!

 

every city does have its ghettos...true.
daly city - LOL cus its populated by filipinos!!! ive never seen so many asian people in one lil area. LIL MANILA.
- i go there to visit the wifeys friends...that areas cool. not bad
is it bad? well besides the parking at the houses...

- i think OP will have a lot of choices to make, but word of advice

make sure u get a job first before u venture out here, we have the highest unemployment rates right now...
my friend who had a stable job in town, decided to move to socal again...and its been 2months and still no job...

lil town/cities/suburbs - less jobs (well the ones u might like)
cities - more chances..city life..

 

Hahahaha I live in South Central L.A. driving around in my G I do get a lot of attention on it from CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS but is all good. I respect them, they respect me. Its a mutual thing LOL. Move to So Cal instead WAY better life quality out here man.

 

^^^^yeah it want to be surround by 20 mil more people than the bay than yeah go right on ahead

 

Santa Rosa is 45 minutes north of San Francisco. no one follows the speed limit. I live in windsor/north santa rosa. Its a chill place and there is always something to do. Its a great place. napa sucks bad. nothing to do ever.

Also if you get a PO Box in Healdsburg (10 minutes north of SR) you only need to smog your car once. its really nice.

There really isnt much gang activity in SR anymore. just stay away from west 3rd or west 9th st.

 

lets all go to the crest! w00t