How much is too much to pay for an apartment?

It's a problem I've been struggling with for the last several weeks as I have looked around the Bay Area for a reasonably priced place to life. The average rate for a 1-bedroom apartment in the East Bay (Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville, etc.) is roughly $900 a month. However, depending on where you want to live that 900 might not go very far. For a place that I'm going to be happy with, I'm probably looking at something like $1050. The perfect place, The Courtyards at 65th, which is just down the street and brand new, would run me $1450. I know it's crazy to even think about paying that.

The most important thing for me is to find a place that's good for the cats. Ideally, they would have easy access to and from the apartment and a safe neighborhood to play around in. It's limiting to search for an apartment that allows pets let alone one in area that's good for them. But this is non-negotiable.

Then I have a list of things that I would like but I can live without including: a gas stove, hardwood floors, built-in bookcases, off-street parking, close to shopping, restaurants, public transportation.

I need my own place to sleep and keep my things, and I'm desperate to clear out my storage shed, gather my belongings from various places around California and have all my things in one place, but I'm not willing to settle for some place where I'm going to be miserable.