Just to add more specificity to West Side, try to be in easy walking distance of the following:

1. Pleasant St

2. Chandler St

3. June St between Chandler St and Pleasant St

For the most part this is where the buses run, all of which should give you convenient access to your downtown job if you don't want to deal with parking (free parking is becoming less and less common). Getting to downtown is one of the few things that the bus system here is consistently decent with, at least on weekdays.

The Elm Park area is also on a couple bus routes and decent for outdoor dog walks, plus would put you closer to more interesting things to do.