Post #490444 by Mai Tai on Tue, Oct 27, 2009 1:43 PM

Sure, Unga. There's a chain of ice cream stores, Loard's Ice Cream, located throughout the East Bay, - they're really good! There's one here in Alameda, at the Southshore/Towne Center mall by the beach. Their pumpkin ice cream is the best I've ever had. Then there's Tucker's on Park St. in Alameda as well. And of course, there's Fenton's Ice Creamery in Piedmont, which makes great sundaes, but their ice cream quality isn't quite as good as Tucker's or Loard's. Here's Team Midnite at Fenton's:

Now, back on track for this thread, on places to live in the Bay Area. Some parts of Alameda are still affordable, but you won't be in the best school district. The closer you live to the old Naval Air Station, the lower the prices will be, generally. If you are looking to rent for a while first, you can find something affordable, though. The Bay Area is very vast and diverse, and there are lots of areas to choose from, so it will depend on your own personal preference for each area. The Silicon Valley South Peninsula area has been priced out of reach of many, even though it's mainly just suburban sprawl filled with unfirendly old timers that don't really appreciate the dot com boom and engineers that are stressed out and unfriendly in general.

One area that I've noticed a lot of people moving to is the San Lorenzo area in the East Bay, just south of Oakland. It was a semi run down area when I was going to high school in that area, but instead of turning into a ghetto, people have fixed up their homes, and the neighborhoods have actually improved rather nicely. I see a lot of younger families buying starter homes in that area. And many larger cities have Jekyll and Hyde tendencies, with really really great areas, good areas, just okay areas, and avoid at all costs areas - Oakland is a prime example. Castro Valley in the East Bay is decent, depending on the neighborhood, plus they have a big lake reservoir and park. The Dublin area out in the East Bay Valley is okay, but kind of removed from everything else. You will just have to check things out, and see what suits you. Good luck!