JHU has one of the top IR programs in the country - probably top 10 with SFS, Tufts, and Princeton. (I know that Ivory Tower has it lower ranked but its evaluation doesn’t include undergraduate experience or overall college resources and as a very rich private university JHU beats UCB by a mile. Remember you’ll have 2/3 of your curriculum outside of your major and you’ll be using the university’s resources for everything, so it makes a difference.) Berkeley is a wonderful public university but it’s best enjoyed when you’re a graduate student - the huge lecture halls and lack of personal advising would be detrimental to a first gen/lower income student who needs to rely on the university for advising, recommendations, career advice and preparation, etc.
It also sounds like JHU is cheaper, but do go over what each package includes and doesn’t include.
As for area, clearly you’ll have better weather in California and SF is much better than Baltimore, but for the actual area the universities are located in (Oakland v. Leafy upper middle class area of Baltimore) it’s the reverse.