Thinking About Moving To SF Bay Area From Texas, NEED ADVICE???

Yes dont move to Oakland. Hooray you are getting out of Texas which is indeed another country. Look around San Jose if you are going to Stanford or Vacaville area near Davis is def less expensive. If you end up at UC Berkeley, look north of there in Albany or Fairfield but youll need a car to commute

yes try albany..el cerrito..not so expensive..and very close to UCBerkeley

Education and liberalism don't always go together. There are many closed-minded dinosaurs with PhDs who have ceased to except the change in times. There are many well-educated yuppies (the current Bay Area fad) to whom being "liberal" is merely shopping at Whole Foods. So please, don't confuse education and "liberalism". Likewise, most people here, sans yuppies and dinosaur PhD profs, won't really care where you go to school, or if you did at all. Some of the most successful people in the Bay Area barely graduated highschool. It's expensive... $2,000 is fine. You won't have as a high a standard of living as in Texas, but it's certainly more than enough to get a 2 bedroom in Oakland or Berkeley. As for Oakland... some areas are nice, some aren't. Berkeley is probably the PhD capitol of the world, so if that's your thing (yes, you drove your point in very well), that's your best option. Also... the rental market is very competitive. Expect to take awhile finding a place, especially with a dog (as most landlords, especially in SF, but also surrounding areas) are tools and don't allow pets (since the competition is so high and they can really pick and choose as much as they want). And be aware of what you're getting into. Frankly, the majority of the Bay Area is yuppies, soccer moms and dads who are from California so too cool be typical soccer moms and dads, hipsters (who will slowly mesh with yuppies as they get older), etc... and likewise very faux-liberal (ie: liberal, as long as they can stay within their sheltered comfort zone and don't have to really put themselves out... such as landlords who don't allow pets).

Move to Berkeley. That is a very liberal community and does have one of the best universities nation wide. It's also very pretty with lots of hills and such.

$2000/month and below for a nice two-bedroom place in SF would be pushing it. Oakland is not known for its yuppies, but sections of it do indeed have a very high crime rate. Of all your choices, I'd think about Santa Cruz. The rental housing is more available and cheaper, it's *very* laid back and liberal, and it's just a lovely little city. It also has a lot of services for seniors (if your parents are that old). If I weren't ensconced in SF, I'd definitely like to live there.

what i always saw when i go on road trips with my fmaily each ahundred miles i see a sign that says call 511 for travel advice hope this helped and good luck!

It is so expensive to live in the SF area. We were paying $2000 in rent and we left in 1996! We lived south of SF in Sunnyvale. You can always find cheaper rent, but then the area is not so nice. I would take a trip out their first if you can. Out of all of the areas you listed I would think Santa Cruz might be the most affordable area. Santa Cruz is also more laid back and not quite as yuppyish. Good luck.