OGF wrote:

For rent I would say $800 a month isn't enough. (Don't listen to SB and V on this. They aren't wrong. Just out of touch with the cost of living around here. Things have changed signifigantly since V was around.) Things are really expensive now in the bay area. Everything here cost more. Tack 20-40% onto about everything you pay now in Wisconson and you'll get the bay area cost. Get ready for sticker shock. (Example a bottled soda is $1.25 to $1.50, and a gallon of gas is 2.41.) I doubt that's what you'd pay for those items in Wisconson. Housing costs are outragous. There is no such thing as affordable housing. You should figure about $1000 minimum for what you want. That will put you someplace decent. There are parts of Richmond, El Cerrito, and Oakland that you won't be able to live in. Those are also the parts that are close to Bart. (Bart is for people who commute to San Francisco) Start looking close to Cal's campus in Berkeley. Berkeley has super strick rent control. They also make is nearly impossible to kick a tennant out after you move in. Also look in Emeryville and El Cerrito. Stay out of Richmond. Good rule of thumb for Oakland, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Richmond is nothing anywhere near a numbered street, or close to anything named Martin Luther King.