Living in Berkeley as a Grad Student

March 3, 2008 7:59 AM

Tell me what it's like to live in Berkeley, from the point of view of a grad student.

I've been there just once for a few days, and mostly saw the campus, so I don't really feel like I have a good grasp of the city (though from what little I saw of it, it seemed pretty cool). What's good? What's bad? Where to live? Where not to live? Where is the good coffee, the best bars, and out-of-the-way places that I'd definitely want to check out? Is there anything you wish you had known prior to living there?

Additionally, are there any websites I should check out to get a handle on the community and what's going on there?

posted by barnacles to society & culture (22 comments total)

Big hat tip to killdevil for the idea for the question.
posted by barnacles at 8:00 AM on March 3, 2008

Where are you coming from, what's your background, and what are you looking for/anticipating? Because Berkeley is to students what Disney is to animators.

And who cares about that stupid Stanford/Pixar?
posted by humannaire at 8:21 AM on March 3, 2008

Berkeley is one of the greatest places to live in the US. You've got America's best pizza (Cheeseboard) and America's best grocery store (Berkeley Bowl.) Great weather, beautiful scenery, proximity to SF. Out of the way places? Maybe America's best Thai restaurant (Ruen Pair, in nearby Albany) and a terrific Szechuan (China Village, also in Albany.)

The only problem -- and I think it's a big one -- is that, being so agreeable, Berkeley is also expensive. When I was a grad student, UC grad students lived in Berkeley; now I think a lot live in Oakland. Current residents will have more to say on this.

But I really think it's someplace everyone should spend at least a year, if they have a chance.
posted by escabeche at 8:26 AM on March 3, 2008

Berkeley Parents Network is a pretty useful resource for moving here, just ignore all the kid related stuff if it doesn't apply. Here's their housing info. See especially the Cal Rentals PDF on Berkeley neighborhoods and the other small cities surrounding Berkeley. It's seems easier to find rentals now than in the previous 25 years I've lived here, but living expenses are high. Here is the birthplace of coffee mania in the US. Berkeley and Oakland have some nice casual bars, too, and it's a quick ride by car or BART into SF for something more intense. Do you cook?, because Berkeley is very food focused. You're welcome to email me; I've lived here forever and know it very well.
posted by tula at 9:08 AM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

Jupiter
Lanesplitters
Albatross
Pyramid
Becketts
Spats

Ah, happy days...
posted by MrMustard at 9:24 AM on March 3, 2008

Try to live in North Berkeley, Gourmet Ghetto area if you can (afford it). Otherwise, it's BARTable. There's so many great farmer's markets, events, and the Greek Theater (featuring awesome and ecclectic bands) is only a short WALK away. Living off Telegraph is great too, everything you need is around you (except for Cody's Books anymore, I shed a shear now).
posted by iamkimiam at 9:50 AM on March 3, 2008

I'm a grad student at Cal and recently moved to Oakland. It is totally infeasible to live in Berkeley if you're not a) independently wealthy (if you are, there are some gorgeous apartments 1-3 blocks from campus) or b) interested in living with multiple other people (if you are, you can probably get a room in a house without a private bathroom for $500 (if you're lucky and willing to live several miles from campus in a very small room in a very packed house) to $800 or $900.

I'm not as into Berkeley as I was last year. I feel like people are very smug in Berkeley. I'm a very liberal very left-wing crazy, just like all the rest of them here, but I've found people to be pretty unaccepting of personal choices that deviate from the herd. A friend, for example, is a construction worker. On the weekends, he helps Cal do watershed protection (volunteers) and surf kayaks with his two large dogs. He has a truck that he uses for all of these ventures. Whenever we hang out, people come up to him and inappropriately talk to him about the truck, with one extreme example of, "It's YOUR fault that our environment is totally destroyed, you and people like you!"

My buddy, a gentle sweet guy, always tries to explain the above- he's got two huge (rescue) dogs, he does surf kayaking, he works construction (at a carbon-neutral company that designs green ways of building, no less) and he restores watersheds in his spare time. They don't want to listen. Sometimes we come back and find his truck has been keyed. It has happened so many times that he doesn't get upset. He doesn't fix his truck because in his words "it happens every week".

Berkeley is like that for me, and utterly convinced of their moral and social superiority over every other place on earth. I was going to visit family in Santa Barbara and planning a hiking trip in the San Gabriel mountains (near Pasadena) and couldn't get another friend, a grad student studying rare books, to come with me despite the fact that L.A. houses some totally awesome rare book collections that we'd be driving by. She said, "I don't ever see a need to visit Los Angeles when I live in Berkeley."

I'm not saying that Berkeley isn't grand; it is. I'm just totally and utterly tired of people's smugness here. My less tolerant boyfriend says that when he visits, it reminds him of the South Park episode when some of the characters move to San Francisco and are so pleased by themselves that they smell their own farts- I watched the episode and have to agree.

I would LOVE Berkeley if people were just a little more chill and laid back, open to accepting other ideas than yours (though don't get me wrong, as long as the novel ideas include public nudity, taking your radiator or other alternate noise-making device to the drum circle, living without showering or some other hippie-radical type novel idea, Berkeleyites take to it just fine.

As it is- I really like Oakland and will be happy enough to move to SF if I get the opportunity (people there love their city just as much but there is a little less smugness, IMO) but as soon as I nail down my dissertation, I'm going to be OUT OF HERE.

So, if you're interested in being smug with the Berkeley populace, you've likely found nirvana on earth.

In addition, if you bike there are miles of bike trails which are really awesome and blocked off streets to keep the traffic quiet. If you like being active, this place is great. Just up in the hills are some wonderful parks to hike in that are remarkably quiet even on the busiest weekend days. Totally gorgeous hikes to be made just 30 minutes away, and UC Berkeley has something called Cal Adventures at the Berkeley marina from which you can rent all manner of outdoor equipment including kayaks, sailboats, and windsurfing equipment.

If you like food, Cheeseboard (linked above) is a wonderful collective that copied some other great collective bakeries in the neighborhood- if you move to my neck of the woods, Arizmendi is another great collective pizza restaurant and bakery.

Food is awesome in the bay area. There are a bunch of Ethiopian restaurants in N. Oakland/S. Berkeley on Telegraph that I haunt, they are SO GOOD. You'll find almost anything you could hope for, food-wise, though I did have to go to SF last weekend to get some decent Polish Pierogis. There are good grocery stores- Whole Foods (aka whole paycheck) in S. Berkeley, a sort of expensive chain supermarket called Andronicos with three locations in Berkeley. Safeway in N. Berkeley is the destination of paycheck-challenged grad students like me, or Lucky's in Oakland (used to be Albertsons).

Also, living in Berkeley has turned me into a pho-hound! I gotta have my pho.

Farmer's markets are really wonderful- there are three in Berkeley with the biggest and busiest in downtown on Saturdays but other smaller ones in S. Berkeley and N. Berkeley on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you come in the rain you'll receive a button saying that you patronize the farmer's markets. . . even when it rains!

As I write this, it is a glorious monday in Oakland- the weather here is lovely nearly year round, with moderate rain in November-March-ish (last year was really dry, this year not so much) and a couple of weekends where you really need air conditioning in July or August.

You're close to everything here, with mountains and ocean near by. The cultural events in Berkeley and Oakland and SF are its one saving grace for me- last night I went to the Epic Arts in S. Berkeley and listened to an incredibly amazing bluegrass group play essentially in someone's converted 2 bedroom apartment. There is always fantastic music happening somewhere in the area.

Parking is impossible. Don't bring your car. The meter maids in Berkeley are kinda- bad. Like, they ticket you even if your meter hasn't run out or even if you haven't been parked in a space for the full 2 hours. One of our local tv stations is doing a special on their evil ways- hopefully that will change things, but I'm not holding my breath. There is a) no parking and b) the parking available is super expensive. So DO NOT bring your car.

Bus is free for students in the east bay, BART is expensive but a really great system and almost always runs on time.

Why should you move here? Same reason I did: I'm at the best program for me in the country. That or you think that all the things that drive me crazy about Berkeley would make you happy. Maybe your experience will be totally different, and indeed I hope it is: I came to Berkeley ready to love it here and was so disappointed to find people so rigid and set in their ways. I didn't need them to agree with me, just be ok with me having different ideas and opinions.

To me, odd as it might sound, living in Santa Barbara or Glendale was much more freeing- people were much less judgmental about personal choices (like my friend's truck).

I, too, would be happy for you to contact me about my experiences in Berkeley. I'm sure I'm about to be shouted down by all of the residents of that fine town that made me move to Oakland and count the days until I can move elsewhere.
posted by arnicae at 10:13 AM on March 3, 2008 [6 favorites]

wow. guess its obvious I feel strongly about Berkeley, huh? Back to work. . .
posted by arnicae at 10:14 AM on March 3, 2008

PS- on apartment costs, all my compatriots agree that rents have gone up significantly in the last two years. Cal's web site estimating costs for a single apartment is sadly out of date. If you do find any singles in the $900-$1100 range, prepare to be one of 10-15 people at the open house.

In order to make yourself a viable candidate, you should bring a checkbook, renter's resume, pen (to fill out their application) and credit report. Most of the independent owners won't require a credit report or even a renter's resume, but you will be one of a large group of people unless you can differentiate yourself in some way.

Cats aren't too hard to find apartments with, dogs are more difficult to find apartments with. One lady advertised a dog-friendly studio apartment (and to be honest, it was beautiful- old, but really nice with hardwood floors etc) and despite the fact that the apartment was 4 miles from school in a disreputable area of town and she was charging $1750, she had dozens of people interested enough to give her a $20 processing fee (myself included). I looked at the header of the "sorry, I selected someone else" email she sent out and there were 38 email addresses on it.

If you have a dog, your very best bet is finding a shared home. Often they are owned by one of the residents and you're much more likely to find a dog-friendly environment there.

Also, for the shared homes: prepare for multiple interviews aka sororities pledging. That's one thing I *like* about Berkeley- people are really concerned to make sure your living styles and ethoses match up well before asking you to move into their home.

And has no one mentioned Berkeley Bowl? I can't believe I forgot it. If you live in South Berkeley, this will be your mecca. Don't ever drive there (ever. forget about it.) but take your bike and fill up on wonderful fruits and veggies, a mammoth bulk food section (including bulk tea and spices), great cheap wine, and all that one could ever wish for. A bit on the expensive side, but one of my favorite places to be. YUM!
posted by arnicae at 10:28 AM on March 3, 2008

from a berkeley grad student friend:

I prefer to live downtown, near Shattuck but north of Ashby. It's not as pretty as the Gourmet Ghetto area, but the downtown scene, AC Transit lines, and BART are more accessible, making nights out more agreeable. My rent is a little under $700 (one roommate) , on a takehome TA salary of $1400.

If you like the great outdoors, get a car, and you can spend every weekend in Nature's splendor (I just went to the Marin Headlands yesterday and loved it, and I'm not exactly the granola type.)

The people are uglier, as in just worse to look at everyday, than in most other towns I've seen, but I'd also never actually experienced a strong geek culture before, so maybe those two balance out.
I can also second that you can find smug pretty regularly; also, panhandling is common.

Most the time my friends want to really make an effort to have a Friday night, it's either someone's throwing a theme party in town, or we're hopping on the BART and going to The Mission.

I feel this is too long, but please be sure to check out opportunities in West Berkeley, where you have my favorite bar, ACME. If you live on the 51 line, you'd actually have a shorter commute than I do by foot from downtown.
posted by soma lkzx at 10:29 AM on March 3, 2008

I am not a grad student. I live in North Oakland and work in north Berkeley- half a block from the oft-mentioned Cheeseboard whose "pizza," imo, is tasty but is more an hors d'oeuvre - not hefty enough for a meal . I agree with just about everything arnicae says, except I couldn't live without a car here.

Part of the joy of living in the bay area is deciding to kayak in the morning, go to work (school) during the day, and hike at night, or vice versa. I go skiing when I can and surfing when I can't. All these things require a car.

Oakland has nearly all the cool things about Berkeley with a very different attitude- much more supportive of different lifestyles and it's still much more diverse in classes- Berkeley has turned into umcud central. Oakland's working on it, but hasn't gotten there yet.

By the way, I biked to work today. 2.8 miles of mostly flat roads. The route isn't very bike friendly but there are so many bicyclists here that people keep an eye out for them, so it works out pretty well. Despite what the Berkeley landlords would have you believe, Oakland isn't far from Berkeley. Do yourself a favor- live in North Oakland (in the flats- not the hills- unless you want to HAVE to depend on a car)- and enjoy cheaper rent and less stuck-up people.
posted by small_ruminant at 10:43 AM on March 3, 2008

I've been a grad student living in Berkeley for almost four years, now. The first and most important thing I'd like to point out is that MrMustard neglected to list Triple Rock. Also, Raliegh's, and the pool hall near Shattuck and Channing with the martini glass neon sign are good places.

Personally, I would avoid living within a few blocks of the south side of campus. This is undergrad territory, and there is more crime.

I've lived a few blocks north of campus for the past three years. Rent is high, but manageable on a grad student stipend, and offset by not needing a car. I walk everywhere I need to go.

I know other grad students living in North Oakland, El Cerrito, and even Lafayette, though I find that the walkability of these places is not as good, and that a car might be more of a necessity.

Being a transplant from the East, I am not terribly in tune with Berkeley culture, so I must defer to the people above who say the people are stuck-up. I have an easy enough time avoiding the stuck-up people by mostly associating with other grad students, perhaps.

I am not really a swanky food person, so I will let other people go into detail about that, but I do enjoy burritos from La Cascada, the lamb vindaloo at Naan'n'Curry, the sandwiches at Cafe Panini, the sushi at Nanayiro, the Thai food at Cha Am, and the burgers at Barney's and Bongo Burger.

Oh also! Cody's Books is reopening on Shattuck and Alston!
posted by Zach! at 11:49 AM on March 3, 2008

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot to mention Zachary's Pizza. That's my name, and I still forgot it. It is excellent pizza.
posted by Zach! at 11:53 AM on March 3, 2008

I'm a Berkeley grad student, but I technically live just north of the border, up in the hills north of campus.

I love where I live, but a car is pretty useful (a bus does run right past my house all the way to campus, but its last trip is 8 pm and, uh, I'm a grad student so that doesn't work for me). My rent is less because I'm a few miles from campus, but the place I live is beautiful, and I'd want a car anyways for skiing/hiking trips/rock climbing etc.

I have plenty of friends who live in Berkeley and aren't grad students, and I have to say, *they* aren't stuck up, or overly judgemental. Really it's a question of whom you choose to spend your time with. Smug people are around, and possibly rather noisy, but they aren't the only people here.

In short, I love Berkeley dearly and I'm very sad to be graduating and moving to Boston this summer. It is quite possible to live in or near Berkeley on a grad student budget, particularly if you don't have a family; you just have to adjust your expectations appropriately, and pick trade-offs (i.e. I live farther away so I have a car, but I pay less rent.) Anything you want to try doing is possible here, or nearby (SF for city things, close drives or even bart rides for most outdoorsy activities).

Also on the food list should be Cactus Taqueria on Solano, and I've got to second Ruen Pair. They mean it when they say spicy though! Oh and for bars, I'll second the Albatross, as long as you don't go there on Sunday nights (unless you like trivia games).
posted by nat at 12:29 PM on March 3, 2008

Avoid the south side of campus. (Telegraph from campus to a few blocks past Dwight.) It really is an undergrad shithole. It might not seem too bad at first but it gets really old really fast. North side (gourmet ghetto) is close to campus, clean and very walkable. It is also expensive, especially if you want to live by yourself. If you go up the hills you can find places that are reasonable (for the area) but they tend to be houses you are going to need to share with a few people and those hills are steep (forget walking anywhere). Being near BART is a huge advantage, but some of the areas near Ashby BART can be a bit iffy, several friends have gotten mugged/robbed around there. I don't know how much that has changed in the last few years.

Having a car in Berkeley is not nearly as hard as people make it out to be. I parked on the street a block from campus for years and almost never had to park more than a block from my house. (Although on game days I tried not to drive anywhere.) Most areas have pretty good residential permits and space turnover is high. Downtown Berkeley is really the only place that parking is hard, and go a few blocks east or west from Shattuck (the main drag) and parking is just fine again.

One cool thing people haven't already mentioned: You need to check out Thai Brunch. Fun food, great people watching, and a good place to take non locals.
posted by aspo at 2:22 PM on March 3, 2008

I'm a Berkeley grad student. Most advice given above is good, in my opinion, except I don't see why everybody seems to hate the south side so much. I live about 5 blocks from campus, near People's Park, and I like it just fine here.

One option for living that nobody has mentioned yet is the co-op system, the USCA (I live in one of the co-ops). There are about 20 different houses, ranging in size from 12 to 150 people. The rent is not bad; about $750/month including food (and dinners prepared for you most/all nights, depending on which house you live in). You have to do about 5hrs/week of chores. Obviously, you have to be comfortable living with a large number of people. There are two houses that are strictly for grad students. I like it because there is a really good sense of community, and you get to meet people outside of your own specific discipline, which can be hard if you live by yourself. Feel free to email me if you have any questions, my email is in my profile.

One other place nobody has mentioned yet is Moes, which is a used bookstore near campus.
posted by number9dream at 5:12 PM on March 3, 2008

aspo, It isn't so much the parking near your house as the parking anywhere else that is a problem, IMO. I've had a car (and parked it) in crowded cities like Istanbul and Jo'burg and never had the hassles I've had in Berkeley. A) Finding a space at all B) Paying what Cal, City of Berkeley, or private entrepreneurs are extorting for it.

For a grad student, on-campus parking is $150/month. That's PER MONTH, not per semester. (I could be off +/- $10 but you get the picture) You could get off campus university parking for a much more reasonable $75/month. Go on craigslist- if you want to park within 4 blocks of campus, parking space "rental" averages $100/month.

The only free parking zone near the campus that is unlimited by time is on Francisco and Magee, a good 30 minute walk from campus (or 15 if you bike), or heck, you could take BART back to Berkeley because it is closer to the BART station (4 blocks) than campus (12, I think?)

Really strongly disagree about cars and Berkeley, unless of course you have plenty of bucks to drop on monthly parking fees and parking tickets. You know what kind of parking is easy? Motorcycle parking. Northside of Cal and NW side there are unlimited bike parking zones. Need a ride? Bring your motorcycle.
posted by arnicae at 5:12 PM on March 3, 2008

My impression of the "don't bring your car" comments was "don't try to own a car in Berkeley". If you live someplace you can get a permit for your car that lets you park near your residence. Once you get off the main drag streets aren't metered, they are just 2 hour zones or all day if you are a resident. And I'm sorry, finding a parking space in Berkeley near campus is not that hard if you are willing to only be there 2 hours. It is nothing like, say, trying park in San Francisco.

I stand by my pervious post. You can own a car in Berkeley, park it on the street, and it won't be much of a hassle.
posted by aspo at 5:30 PM on March 3, 2008

Not a grad student but LJ UCBerkeley community is a really good resource for you, including questions asked by other prospective students (both undergrad & grad). You can use the search engine, Lj Seek, to find anything. If you don't have a lj account and want to ask the community some questions, feel free to contact me and I can post them up for you.
posted by vocpanda at 7:38 PM on March 3, 2008

Own a car or don't, but yeah, trying to park near campus is only for short trips. But being a Berkeley student means you get a bus pass for AC Transit. And biking in Berkeley is pretty doable if you're ok with hills.

Me, I drive down the hill, park more than a mile from campus, and from there take buses. I could also walk, or bike, if I were less lazy. Also arnicae, there are other places that are unlimited time about that distance from campus, but I'm not sharing where. Many of them are on bus lines as well (for lazy folk like me).

Also getting an evening/weekend parking permit for campus is alot less expensive; sorry I don't know current costs but it was more on the order of 100/semester when I got one several years ago.


I would have to say though, cars do get broken into near campus. I was unlucky enough to have all my research notes stolen from my car parked right on Hearst a few years ago... So don't leave anything visible if you're in a risky area (anywhere right by campus, or south of it, probably qualifies).
posted by nat at 7:58 PM on March 3, 2008

aspo- I'm just pointing out that it is a pain in the rump to have a car. Definitely possible, and I think life would be more difficult if I went back to not having a car (I would load my old skool external frame backpack and bike home, wavering with groceries swinging in canvas sacks from both handlebars) but still, I think it is worthwhile to realize what a pain it is. I didn't expect that coming in.

Yeah, nat, I could go war-driving and find all the little spots around school with unlimited parking, but frankly, I like to bike better- I'm about four miles from school, but when you take into account waiting for buses and circling blocks looking for parking, I think it evens out.
posted by arnicae at 9:20 PM on March 3, 2008

I may not have been very clear- when I say I park far from campus, I usually park at the Solano tunnel (which is quite a signficant distance, farther than the war-driving zone). There are 3 bus lines which run to campus so there is rarely a wait.

Additionally if you park a significant distance, but near public transit (be it bus or BART or whatnot), then you don't get in the way of residents (which if you're war-driving near campus hoping to find unlimited zones, you will).

I guess my point is that the OP should plan on some public transit or biking, but that doesn't mean having a car has to be difficult.
posted by nat at 2:11 AM on March 6, 2008