I second that. I grew up in the East Bay and thought it was a great places to live. Oakland gets a bad rap, but there are certainly some nicer areas where one c

I second that. I grew up in the East Bay and thought it was a great places to live. Oakland gets a bad rap, but there are certainly some nicer areas where one could rent a house much more inexpensively than in the other areas mentioned. Also, there is lots of culture in the Berkeley/Oakland area, not to mention tons of great eateries.