We initially chose Vicki's place as we could simply not afford the prices over in the city. The cost of housing and rentals in the city is simply mind boggling. So although our daughter lives near the Mission District, we chose to live 'across the bridge' and do the commute on Bart from Rockridge Station. The walk to the station is a very pleasant 10 to 15 minutes past many quaint houses and beautiful gardens. The trip to the city takes about 20 to 30 minutes depending on what station to get out at. Close to the station is 'Trader Joes'. A fantastic supermarket with top quality foods etc at bargain basement prices. Not sure how they do it but I think they restrict the range of certain products and can thus keep the prices down. Huge range of wines however.
And apart from Trader Joes there are streets of very smart shops, bars and restaurants on both sides of the station.
Vicki's place is very comfy and had all the facilities we needed for the 3 weeks we were there. It has the great advantage of being very quiet with just the occasional mournful hoot of a train somewhere off in the distance.
Vicki herself was a wonderful host and just went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable.