Moving to Berkeley, Hints?

[Tony Godshall]

According to Ian Zimmerman,
> 
> Tony> I live in Alameda, which is 7.5 mi from my office in Berkeley.  In
> Tony> Alameda, a 2 BR apt may be had for $1150.  I usually take the bus
> Tony> to Berkeley (it's impolitic to arrive sweaty) and bike home (yes
> Tony> the buses have bike racks).  It's also handy to San Francisco.
> Tony> Slow city bus to Berkeley is 40min, express bus to San Francisco
> Tony> is only 20min!  Email me privately if you want my apt mgr's phone
> Tony> number.
> 
> I know something about buses in the area, and 40 min from Alameda to
> Berkeley seems unrealistic.  Is your office on the US campus?  Which
> line, 51?

40 min on AC Transit 51 (or by bike).  
Office is on Dwight, about four blocks from campus.
 
> The transbay express is nice - now that traffic dropped after the Crash of
> 2000.  Before that it was torture.
> 
> But you definitely have a great deal as far as the rent goes ...

The discrepancy between rent prices (dropped since the
crash) and home purchase prices has kept me renting.
Supposedly that's a sign of a bubble but Calif has weathered
such before without real estate crash.