Tips About Living in Cape Town

Hi all,

I am from just outside of Toronto, Canada and was just hired by the
Canadian goverment to work for a small organization in Cape Town. It's
pretty much volunteer work, with travel and living expenses funded by
the Canadian goverment. I'll be living there for 5 months starting at
the beginning of November and I can't wait.

The organization that I will be working for is located in Observatory.
Can anyone give me general information on this area? I'm interested
in:

a) how safe the Observatory and City Bowl are?

b) how expensive it is to rent in that area (or are there other areas
that are safer or better priced that are still within close distance,
since I won't have a car)?

c) how is the public transportation (price and safety)?

I have LOTS of other questions (ex. how is the nighlife in that area,
what are other hot spots in Cape Town, which are the best beaches, how
expensive is it to travel to other parts of SA and what is the best way
to do that - plane, train, bus, etc.), but these are the questions that
I'm most interested in right now.

Any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Anthony