Commute to FiDi SF

Live in the city. Avoid Tenderloin, Mission and SoMa.

All 3 on your list are safe South SF gets foggy and colder compared to san mateo And bart does not run to san mateo, but there is caltrain which i personally prefer over Bart

I also just recently moved to the Bay area. Stayed in a hotel in Oakland for a week to check out the area. Also stayed in Hayes Valley and Nob Hill. Ultimately decided to sign a place near Jack London Square. It's an up- and-coming area with lots of bars, restaurants and new condo buildings. 5 min away to the seawall. 10 min walk to the nearest Bart station. And 20 min Bart ride to downtown. Where I signed, the equivalent rent in downtown SF would have been at least 1k higher. So, I recommend just check out the area. Oakland, and East Bay in general, is highly neighborhood specific when it comes to safety, so the only way to find out is to just explore (during the day).

I would say once upon a time Oakland was a place you didn't want to be at night but that has largely changed.

What is your budget? What are you looking for? I can recommend a few places. I live in the East Cut neighborhood.

South SF tends to get lonelier in evenings. Check out San Bruno...choose to stay at apartment complexes walking distance from BART & Caltrain. They've a mall, movie theater, Target and police station right next to Bart. And the commute to SF FiDi is a breeze.

Live in Mission Bay (different from Mission) or Lower Haight, easy bicycle commute.

Live anywhere close to BART. Daly City is not too far and relatively affordable. Oakland is not as bad as people make it sounds. There are some nice pockets in Oakland but you need to go see the neighborhoods yourself. Sunset is also an option, although it can get foggy in the summer.