I can't stand Berkeley for the most part but there are pockets I'd still live in.
TRUFF.
The thing is that much of the rent in Berkeley is so inflated b/c it's Berkeley that I really wouldn't recommend folks try to find a spot there unless they REALLY want to live in Berkeley. Trew's far better off hunting in Oakland. Shit, even Albany or El Cerritos (though those wouldn't be my first choices, remotely).
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I can't stand Berkeley for the most part but there are pockets I'd still live in. There are tons of parts of Oakland and SF that one can achieve the kind of life Harvey's talking about - as such a staunch defender of Oakland and San Francisco rap music I'm a bit surprised that he's slaying both cities so hard in favor of Lafayette. East Oakland itself is as big (and varied) as many smaller towns in the "outer Bay Area". And without having seen Harvey's actual spot back then I can say that I've seen plenty of substandard housing around Contra Costa county - that's not at all unique to the bigger cities of the Bay. The dope traffic is now flowing out to Pleasanton, Livermore, Concord, Pittsburg, and so on... I'd rather be in Oakland at this point.
Not trying slay Oakland at all. I could live there right now...quite happily...if need be...at least for another 3 year run. Then I'd have to move to Antarctica though...
Frisco-wise, I love Fillmore...although probably more for what it once was than for what it has become.
I can't stand Berkeley for the most part but there are pockets I'd still live in.
TRUFF.
The thing is that much of the rent in Berkeley is so inflated b/c it's Berkeley that I really wouldn't recommend folks try to find a spot there unless they REALLY want to live in Berkeley. Trew's far better off hunting in Oakland. Shit, even Albany or El Cerritos (though those wouldn't be my first choices, remotely).
We actually moved from North Oakland to South Berkeley because the rent was about $150 cheaper a month for comparable digs. That was a couple years ago though, which is when there was a temporary surplus of apartments. I think things have tightened up again since then. BTW, there are few university students in my neighborhood. Maybe some scattered grad students here and there. I fuckin' love my neighborhood!
I can't stand Berkeley for the most part but there are pockets I'd still live in.
TRUFF.
The thing is that much of the rent in Berkeley is so inflated b/c it's Berkeley that I really wouldn't recommend folks try to find a spot there unless they REALLY want to live in Berkeley. Trew's far better off hunting in Oakland. Shit, even Albany or El Cerritos (though those wouldn't be my first choices, remotely).
We actually moved from North Oakland to South Berkeley because the rent was about $150 cheaper a month for comparable digs. That was a couple years ago though, which is when there was a temporary surplus of apartments. I think things have tightened up again since then. BTW, there are few university students in my neighborhood. Maybe some scattered grad students here and there. I fuckin' love my neighborhood!
I can't stand Berkeley for the most part but there are pockets I'd still live in.
TRUFF.
The thing is that much of the rent in Berkeley is so inflated b/c it's Berkeley that I really wouldn't recommend folks try to find a spot there unless they REALLY want to live in Berkeley. Trew's far better off hunting in Oakland. Shit, even Albany or El Cerritos (though those wouldn't be my first choices, remotely).
We actually moved from North Oakland to South Berkeley because the rent was about $150 cheaper a month for comparable digs. That was a couple years ago though, which is when there was a temporary surplus of apartments. I think things have tightened up again since then. BTW, there are few university students in my neighborhood. Maybe some scattered grad students here and there. I fuckin' love my neighborhood!
What part of SOuth Berkeley you in?
Fairview/California
(couple blocks from Adeline and Alcatraz)
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
Why all the Berkeley hate? I'm really curious having grown up here most of my life, I really don't see how Oakland > Berkeley.
Ever watched a How Berkeley Can You Be parade?
The thing that I discovered about Berkeley is that its liberalism is more a myth advanced by true believers than it is a reality. For instance, people will all-too-readily brag about their recycling efforts and their custom diets, yet still look down at minority groups as people who can't make it without extra help.
In other words, Berkeley is much more conservative than advertised.
And that should make sense in that I think the whole reason why the anti-war movement in Berkeley during the 60's was so widely publicized was more about the harsh backlash it was handed by area cops and rednecks than it was about the anti-war movement itself.
I don't know...I definitely saw some great things happening there, typically involving area youth groups coming up with original ideas...but I just never could stomach the Kool-Aid that was to have me believe that a city so clearly polarized along racial lines (that really made me miss the face-to-face cohesion of white, black, and Mexcian cultures in Texas) spread across an all-too-typical American scene that had the rich living high on the hog up in the hills versus the Section 8 poor living down in the flatlands was anything close to resembling a progressive utopia.
Yet Berkeley people insist that their shit don't stink.
For instance, people will all-too-readily brag about their recycling efforts and their custom diets, yet still look down at minority groups as people who can't make it without extra help.
I don't know...I definitely saw some great things happening there, typically involving area youth groups coming up with original ideas...but I just never could stomach the Kool-Aid that was to have me believe that a city so clearly polarized along racial lines (that really made me miss the face-to-face cohesion of white, black, and Mexcian cultures in Texas) spread across an all-too-typical American scene that had the rich living high on the hog up in the hills versus the Section 8 poor living down in the flatlands was anything close to resembling a progressive utopia.
I agree with you there. Funny that the kids from Berkeley High are more racily integrated than the adults could ever hope to be. I can't speak for the condition in the school (being that I know nothing about it) but during lunch when they hang out around downtown BART is always seems well mixed and drama free. Yesterday I think was their first day of school. Now I have to battle teenagers for lunch everyday.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I don't know...I definitely saw some great things happening there, typically involving area youth groups coming up with original ideas...but I just never could stomach the Kool-Aid that was to have me believe that a city so clearly polarized along racial lines (that really made me miss the face-to-face cohesion of white, black, and Mexcian cultures in Texas) spread across an all-too-typical American scene that had the rich living high on the hog up in the hills versus the Section 8 poor living down in the flatlands was anything close to resembling a progressive utopia.
I agree with you there. Funny that the kids from Berkeley High are more racily integrated than the adults could ever hope to be. I can't speak for the condition in the school (being that I know nothing about it) but during lunch when they hang out around downtown BART is always seems well mixed and drama free. Yesterday I think was their first day of school. Now I have to battle teenagers for lunch everyday.
Your advantage being that the "progressive" shopkeeps on Shattuck will only let the black kids into their stores one at a time...true story.
I don't know...I definitely saw some great things happening there, typically involving area youth groups coming up with original ideas...but I just never could stomach the Kool-Aid that was to have me believe that a city so clearly polarized along racial lines (that really made me miss the face-to-face cohesion of white, black, and Mexcian cultures in Texas) spread across an all-too-typical American scene that had the rich living high on the hog up in the hills versus the Section 8 poor living down in the flatlands was anything close to resembling a progressive utopia.
I agree with you there. Funny that the kids from Berkeley High are more racily integrated than the adults could ever hope to be. I can't speak for the condition in the school (being that I know nothing about it) but during lunch when they hang out around downtown BART is always seems well mixed and drama free. Yesterday I think was their first day of school. Now I have to battle teenagers for lunch everyday.
Your advantage being that the "progressive" shopkeeps on Shattuck will only let the black kids into their stores one at a time...true story.
Put said shops on blast then.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I don't know...I definitely saw some great things happening there, typically involving area youth groups coming up with original ideas...but I just never could stomach the Kool-Aid that was to have me believe that a city so clearly polarized along racial lines (that really made me miss the face-to-face cohesion of white, black, and Mexcian cultures in Texas) spread across an all-too-typical American scene that had the rich living high on the hog up in the hills versus the Section 8 poor living down in the flatlands was anything close to resembling a progressive utopia.
I agree with you there. Funny that the kids from Berkeley High are more racily integrated than the adults could ever hope to be. I can't speak for the condition in the school (being that I know nothing about it) but during lunch when they hang out around downtown BART is always seems well mixed and drama free. Yesterday I think was their first day of school. Now I have to battle teenagers for lunch everyday.
Your advantage being that the "progressive" shopkeeps on Shattuck will only let the black kids into their stores one at a time...true story.
Put said shops on blast then.
What we always called "the greedy cousins shop", which was on the University side of Shattuck near Channing. They' had a better-than-decent deli if that rings a bell.
Then there was a larger grocery store about a block or 2 down from there on the other side of the street that was even worse with the same shitty policy.
Why all the Berkeley hate? I'm really curious having grown up here most of my life, I really don't see how Oakland > Berkeley.
Oakland isn't a college town. That alone merits the ">" on almost every level I can think of, especially since the student population tends to inflate the local rent b/c of high demand, not to mention greatly increases the % of annoying undergrads lurking everywhere. I might be biased - I see undergrads at work so I don't need to see them in my neighborhood spots too.
And Berkeley's crunchy liberalism just isn't for everyone.
hmm undergrads vs. liberals. tough choice ahaha. although, right now i live in wrigleyville aka 24/7/365 frat party neighborhood so my tolerance for annoying shit is quite high...
2) Berkeley High is not racially integrated - it's hugely divided, and the racial barriers are much more strict there than at many other schools percieved as less diverse/integrated/etc. Really an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved, and the school feels powerless about it. It's probably the worst part about going to Berkeley High actually, other than their severe lack of college counselors.
3) Berkeley is advertized as a liberal mecca. That is wrong, I don't dig it for it's politics - I agree that the general attitude of most of the people with money in Berkeley is out of wack. But many people here really are putting their money/work where their mouths are and do make an effort in many ways. I usually get the "look at me, I recycle!" shit from the more liberal suburbs of CA.
4) I am a college student (Santa Cruz, not Berkeley) so I can't speak on their impact on the city, but other than driving up rent prices they don't seem to make that big an impact on the city - it's more the campus and its expansion plans that seem to be at issue. The Berkeley parties are pretty concentrated along Piedmont ave. and surrounding areas too - I've seen student/resident clashes way worse in Santa Cruz.
Where is Kensington anyway? Is that up by Tilden? Ive seen it on maps but I can't remember a time when I actually visited (and apparently, there'd be no reason to).
Where is Kensington anyway? Is that up by Tilden? Ive seen it on maps but I can't remember a time when I actually visited (and apparently, there'd be no reason to).
It's between North Berkeley and El Cerrito up in the hills. Its really small. If you Drive on Arlington (by Indian rock and that circle fountain... on Marin) you'll get there.
Kensington = North Berkeley snobbiness on steroids
I can't really fuck with the Berkeley mentality but it's not unique to Berkeley, I see it just as often in SF and the richer pockets of Oakland. Very smile-in-your-face liberal lip service but as Robert mentioned kind of "not in my backyard" social attitudes which are deep seeded if you look back on the town's history. But the hills is a beautiful place to live, I will not lie. Kensington isn't worse than Berkeley it's just an extension of the Berkeley hills and anyone would be hard pressed to define a difference, perhaps just more entrenched rich folks who come down into town less often. Berkeley is and will always be something of a hamlet with a small-town mentality. The college undergrads drive the local economy because college kids now more than ever have HUGE amounts of disposable income from their parents. I would say when I was growing up Cal students kept more around campus and north Berkeley and places like waterfront and south side were a lot rougher.
I think Spelunk gives Berkeley High something of a bad rap; given, I attended during a time when there were severe racial tensions culminating in a mini riot but at the same time I counted as friends kids from everywhere from Orinda to dogtown, Black white Mexapino and everywhere in between. Very few people I know had such a diverse high school experience, no matter what part of the country. The majority still cliqued along racial lines though (the steps vs. the slopes and so on) and academic tracking basically ensures that the classes themselves do not integrate... still, the opportunity to know other walks of life was still above and beyond most high schools (especially public ones).
I mean what are your other options in the Bay? College Prep? Bishop O'Dowd? O High? Tech? Mac? Kennedy? Berkeley High was decent. I wonder how Albany High is now, back when I was in high school it was very white.
I can't really fuck with the Berkeley mentality but it's not unique to Berkeley, I see it just as often in SF and the richer pockets of Oakland. Very smile-in-your-face liberal lip service but as Robert mentioned kind of "not in my backyard" social attitudes which are deep seeded if you look back on the town's history. But the hills is a beautiful place to live, I will not lie. Kensington isn't worse than Berkeley it's just an extension of the Berkeley hills and anyone would be hard pressed to define a difference, perhaps just more entrenched rich folks who come down into town less often. Berkeley is and will always be something of a hamlet with a small-town mentality. The college undergrads drive the local economy because college kids now more than ever have HUGE amounts of disposable income from their parents. I would say when I was growing up Cal students kept more around campus and north Berkeley and places like waterfront and south side were a lot rougher.
I think Spelunk gives Berkeley High something of a bad rap; given, I attended during a time when there were severe racial tensions culminating in a mini riot but at the same time I counted as friends kids from everywhere from Orinda to dogtown, Black white Mexapino and everywhere in between. Very few people I know had such a diverse high school experience, no matter what part of the country. The majority still cliqued along racial lines though (the steps vs. the slopes and so on) and academic tracking basically ensures that the classes themselves do not integrate... still, the opportunity to know other walks of life was still above and beyond most high schools (especially public ones).
I mean what are your other options in the Bay? College Prep? Bishop O'Dowd? O High? Tech? Mac? Kennedy? Berkeley High was decent. I wonder how Albany High is now, back when I was in high school it was very white.
And I'll cosign that the physical space of the Berkeley Hills are niiiiiiiice. A friend of mine used to live up off La Loma and it was crazy chill up in the trees and hills, not to mention million dollar views. Now that I think about it, there might be some good rental opportunities up there though you'd be going up against student demand. Then again, depending on when you're moving down, it's probably going to be after the main summer push for academic year housing so that might work out.
I think Spelunk gives Berkeley High something of a bad rap; given, I attended during a time when there were severe racial tensions culminating in a mini riot but at the same time I counted as friends kids from everywhere from Orinda to dogtown, Black white Mexapino and everywhere in between. Very few people I know had such a diverse high school experience, no matter what part of the country. The majority still cliqued along racial lines though (the steps vs. the slopes and so on) and academic tracking basically ensures that the classes themselves do not integrate... still, the opportunity to know other walks of life was still above and beyond most high schools (especially public ones).
I mean what are your other options in the Bay? College Prep? Bishop O'Dowd? O High? Tech? Mac? Kennedy? Berkeley High was decent. I wonder how Albany High is now, back when I was in high school it was very white.
I guess I did overstate my point a bit, but I guess what I'm trying to get across is that in some ways BHS is great - you're bound to have friends with all kinds of different backgrounds despite the tracking and division. It's the way those boundries are institutionalized by the school and teachers (and some stuck up students) that are the bad part. There's this really awful attitude with some of the white kids there that comes off as "I only accept Black people if they're "different" i.e. gay/mixed/not South Berkeley or Oakland Black." There's also the "It's because I'm black" mentality that is so strong with a lot of Berkeley kids that it's hard to communicate at all.
I know the era of Albany High you're talking about, and it's significantly less white now, though a big part of that has to do with kids from Richmond and El Cerrito transferring or "transferring" to Albany High. I don't think Albany High is any better, it's the same deal - you might go to school with the Black kids from Richmond, but the line is drawn there, aside from stuff like P.E. & group work that really forces more interaction. The tension is much lower, but maybe that's just because AHS is more ignorant of the divide. The issue for Albany is really that if they're going to let any more transfers into the district (it's already overcrowded) then they need to encourage them to start in elementary school, where the racial and class barriers are much less apparent.
In terms of other options, there really aren't any. Berkeley and Albany are a league above the rest. Really the only high schools I'd consider sending kids to. I really do feel lucky to have gone and other than a few friends in Oakland I don't know anyone who had a more diverse high school experience. I certainly don't know anyone who learned as much from high school teachers as I did.
Anyone live in the Bernal Heights neighborhood or have thoughts?
On my last visit I was strolling through that area and my gut feeling was that if I was ever going to try to afford to live in SF, I would try to live in/on Bernal. It seemed to have all the advantages I'm looking for as a pedestrian (right on a major busline; library, groceries, video store and other goods on the main strip), residents were claiming it was the sunniest hood in SF (even more so than the Mission), it had very close proximity to the Mission, and seemed like you could get a nicer place for about the same $$$ as the Mission.
But again, all this was based on one afternoon's fleeting perceptions.
Anyone live in the Bernal Heights neighborhood or have thoughts?
On my last visit I was strolling through that area and my gut feeling was that if I was ever going to try to afford to live in SF, I would try to live in/on Bernal. It seemed to have all the advantages I'm looking for as a pedestrian (right on a major busline; library, groceries, video store and other goods on the main strip), residents were claiming it was the sunniest hood in SF (even more so than the Mission), it had very close proximity to the Mission, and seemed like you could get a nicer place for about the same $$$ as the Mission.
But again, all this was based on one afternoon's fleeting perceptions.
I really like Bernal but so has everyone else. It would have been a dope place to try to move into 10 years ago. These days, shit is practically like Park Slope West and just as $$$. That said, it's still a cute little neighborhood. For the money, you're better off looking down from the hill in the Mission lowlands.
Anyone live in the Bernal Heights neighborhood or have thoughts?
On my last visit I was strolling through that area and my gut feeling was that if I was ever going to try to afford to live in SF, I would try to live in/on Bernal. It seemed to have all the advantages I'm looking for as a pedestrian (right on a major busline; library, groceries, video store and other goods on the main strip), residents were claiming it was the sunniest hood in SF (even more so than the Mission), it had very close proximity to the Mission, and seemed like you could get a nicer place for about the same $$$ as the Mission.
But again, all this was based on one afternoon's fleeting perceptions.
I really like Bernal but so has everyone else. It would have been a dope place to try to move into 10 years ago. These days, shit is practically like Park Slope West and just as $$$. That said, it's still a cute little neighborhood. For the money, you're better off looking down from the hill in the Mission lowlands.
I see. I tricked myself into thinking I had happened on a little corner of town the hipsters hadn't entirely colonized yet, based on a random sampling of people I know from the Mission either not thinking highly of the neighborhood, or, in some cases, not even knowing it existed (despite the obvious proximity).
Comments
TRUFF.
The thing is that much of the rent in Berkeley is so inflated b/c it's Berkeley that I really wouldn't recommend folks try to find a spot there unless they REALLY want to live in Berkeley. Trew's far better off hunting in Oakland. Shit, even Albany or El Cerritos (though those wouldn't be my first choices, remotely).
Not trying slay Oakland at all. I could live there right now...quite happily...if need be...at least for another 3 year run. Then I'd have to move to Antarctica though...
Frisco-wise, I love Fillmore...although probably more for what it once was than for what it has become.
We actually moved from North Oakland to South Berkeley because the rent was about $150 cheaper a month for comparable digs. That was a couple years ago though, which is when there was a temporary surplus of apartments. I think things have tightened up again since then. BTW, there are few university students in my neighborhood. Maybe some scattered grad students here and there. I fuckin' love my neighborhood!
What part of SOuth Berkeley you in?
Fairview/California
(couple blocks from Adeline and Alcatraz)
Ever watched a How Berkeley Can You Be parade?
The thing that I discovered about Berkeley is that its liberalism is more a myth advanced by true believers than it is a reality. For instance, people will all-too-readily brag about their recycling efforts and their custom diets, yet still look down at minority groups as people who can't make it without extra help.
In other words, Berkeley is much more conservative than advertised.
And that should make sense in that I think the whole reason why the anti-war movement in Berkeley during the 60's was so widely publicized was more about the harsh backlash it was handed by area cops and rednecks than it was about the anti-war movement itself.
I don't know...I definitely saw some great things happening there, typically involving area youth groups coming up with original ideas...but I just never could stomach the Kool-Aid that was to have me believe that a city so clearly polarized along racial lines (that really made me miss the face-to-face cohesion of white, black, and Mexcian cultures in Texas) spread across an all-too-typical American scene that had the rich living high on the hog up in the hills versus the Section 8 poor living down in the flatlands was anything close to resembling a progressive utopia.
Yet Berkeley people insist that their shit don't stink.
Berkeley ain't that bad but I hope there's a special little place in hell for people who live in Kensington.
Care to elaborate?
(I smell a race thread a'coming)
I agree with you there. Funny that the kids from Berkeley High are more racily integrated than the adults could ever hope to be. I can't speak for the condition in the school (being that I know nothing about it) but during lunch when they hang out around downtown BART is always seems well mixed and drama free. Yesterday I think was their first day of school. Now I have to battle teenagers for lunch everyday.
Your advantage being that the "progressive" shopkeeps on Shattuck will only let the black kids into their stores one at a time...true story.
Put said shops on blast then.
What we always called "the greedy cousins shop", which was on the University side of Shattuck near Channing. They' had a better-than-decent deli if that rings a bell.
Then there was a larger grocery store about a block or 2 down from there on the other side of the street that was even worse with the same shitty policy.
Among others...
Oakland isn't a college town. That alone merits the ">" on almost every level I can think of, especially since the student population tends to inflate the local rent b/c of high demand, not to mention greatly increases the % of annoying undergrads lurking everywhere. I might be biased - I see undergrads at work so I don't need to see them in my neighborhood spots too.
And Berkeley's crunchy liberalism just isn't for everyone.
2) Berkeley High is not racially integrated - it's hugely divided, and the racial barriers are much more strict there than at many other schools percieved as less diverse/integrated/etc. Really an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved, and the school feels powerless about it. It's probably the worst part about going to Berkeley High actually, other than their severe lack of college counselors.
3) Berkeley is advertized as a liberal mecca. That is wrong, I don't dig it for it's politics - I agree that the general attitude of most of the people with money in Berkeley is out of wack. But many people here really are putting their money/work where their mouths are and do make an effort in many ways. I usually get the "look at me, I recycle!" shit from the more liberal suburbs of CA.
4) I am a college student (Santa Cruz, not Berkeley) so I can't speak on their impact on the city, but other than driving up rent prices they don't seem to make that big an impact on the city - it's more the campus and its expansion plans that seem to be at issue. The Berkeley parties are pretty concentrated along Piedmont ave. and surrounding areas too - I've seen student/resident clashes way worse in Santa Cruz.
Kensington = North Berkeley snobbiness on steroids
I think Spelunk gives Berkeley High something of a bad rap; given, I attended during a time when there were severe racial tensions culminating in a mini riot but at the same time I counted as friends kids from everywhere from Orinda to dogtown, Black white Mexapino and everywhere in between. Very few people I know had such a diverse high school experience, no matter what part of the country. The majority still cliqued along racial lines though (the steps vs. the slopes and so on) and academic tracking basically ensures that the classes themselves do not integrate... still, the opportunity to know other walks of life was still above and beyond most high schools (especially public ones).
I mean what are your other options in the Bay? College Prep? Bishop O'Dowd? O High? Tech? Mac? Kennedy? Berkeley High was decent. I wonder how Albany High is now, back when I was in high school it was very white.
Where's our resident O-Tech teacher at? Motooooowwwwnnn.
And I'll cosign that the physical space of the Berkeley Hills are niiiiiiiice. A friend of mine used to live up off La Loma and it was crazy chill up in the trees and hills, not to mention million dollar views. Now that I think about it, there might be some good rental opportunities up there though you'd be going up against student demand. Then again, depending on when you're moving down, it's probably going to be after the main summer push for academic year housing so that might work out.
I guess I did overstate my point a bit, but I guess what I'm trying to get across is that in some ways BHS is great - you're bound to have friends with all kinds of different backgrounds despite the tracking and division. It's the way those boundries are institutionalized by the school and teachers (and some stuck up students) that are the bad part. There's this really awful attitude with some of the white kids there that comes off as "I only accept Black people if they're "different" i.e. gay/mixed/not South Berkeley or Oakland Black." There's also the "It's because I'm black" mentality that is so strong with a lot of Berkeley kids that it's hard to communicate at all.
I know the era of Albany High you're talking about, and it's significantly less white now, though a big part of that has to do with kids from Richmond and El Cerrito transferring or "transferring" to Albany High. I don't think Albany High is any better, it's the same deal - you might go to school with the Black kids from Richmond, but the line is drawn there, aside from stuff like P.E. & group work that really forces more interaction. The tension is much lower, but maybe that's just because AHS is more ignorant of the divide. The issue for Albany is really that if they're going to let any more transfers into the district (it's already overcrowded) then they need to encourage them to start in elementary school, where the racial and class barriers are much less apparent.
In terms of other options, there really aren't any. Berkeley and Albany are a league above the rest. Really the only high schools I'd consider sending kids to. I really do feel lucky to have gone and other than a few friends in Oakland I don't know anyone who had a more diverse high school experience. I certainly don't know anyone who learned as much from high school teachers as I did.
On my last visit I was strolling through that area and my gut feeling was that if I was ever going to try to afford to live in SF, I would try to live in/on Bernal. It seemed to have all the advantages I'm looking for as a pedestrian (right on a major busline; library, groceries, video store and other goods on the main strip), residents were claiming it was the sunniest hood in SF (even more so than the Mission), it had very close proximity to the Mission, and seemed like you could get a nicer place for about the same $$$ as the Mission.
But again, all this was based on one afternoon's fleeting perceptions.
I really like Bernal but so has everyone else. It would have been a dope place to try to move into 10 years ago. These days, shit is practically like Park Slope West and just as $$$. That said, it's still a cute little neighborhood. For the money, you're better off looking down from the hill in the Mission lowlands.
I see. I tricked myself into thinking I had happened on a little corner of town the hipsters hadn't entirely colonized yet, based on a random sampling of people I know from the Mission either not thinking highly of the neighborhood, or, in some cases, not even knowing it existed (despite the obvious proximity).