bro, not to pry, but did you guys move to Oakland because you actually like living there? or was it because the rent is way cheaper?
The short answer is both.
Well, the original core reason we moved was location, I was working in Hayward and she in Berkeley. From Pittsburg, for me, was an hour + drive in the morning, and a 2 hour drive home in traffic with a 12 hour workday in between. Doom's drive was a little better, but still a huge traffic pain.
Oakland turned my drive into 15 minutes in the AM and 30 minutes at night. Hers is probably 15 minutes both ways.
And now that I'm not working in Hayward my drive to the barber shop is 10 minutes.
As far as money, we went from $1200+/month in Pitt for a house we underutilized, to <$800 for out apartment now. From filling up my tank 2-3 times a week, to once every week and 1/2. We can walk to everything we need.
I've always been poor, am currently poor, and most likely will never be rich. And that's cool with me. I realized a long time ago, I am going to work extremely long and hard to varying success, but my happiness is going to be what I make it, and part of that is knowing what your line is, to say, what your means are.
Money aside, I truly love Oakland and I consider it my adoptive home town. If you ask me right now, Ill never live anywhere else. Living here has improved most aspects of our current lives, and presented more opportunities than I could have imagined. There is more, better, diverse food, activities, shows, people, etc. than any other city in the bay. Oakland is, quite literally, the heart of the bay. It's central to pretty much everything the bay has to offer, nothing worth a damn is more than a 30 minute drive away. Every single day there is something going on, or something to see and do here.
I go to school now in Oakland that's something we would have been able to swing if we lived anywhere else, and when I'm done there are endless amounts of shops to work at here, and around here, and I can get down at whatever kinda shop I want. Doom is in healthcare, and the opportunities for that out here and around here are great too.
The crime is what it is. Neither of us is a stranger to it, or living in what some would call bad neighborhoods. But along with that Oakland has the greatest sense of community I've ever seen in any major city.
But like I said, I love Oakland. I really mean it when I say its the best city, and I wouldn't live anywhere else. If somebody doesn't like coming here, or thinks its scary, or whatever, then you don't got the balls to hang here anyway, and they can keep their ass outta here, lol.