Thinking of moving to San Francisco . . . help!

We don't want your kind. Stay in the mid-west. Hope this helps.

You do not need a car, you'll be fine. In fact, it would just be a pain in the butt and a fairly large expense.

For $1100 you're basically looking at an studio or efficiency.

Stay away from the Tenderloin.

BART and Muni are the main sources of public transportation in SF. Muni will get you around town easy enough and BART can take you to the Oakland, Berkeley etc...

Good luck. It's a great city - hope you make it out here.

Homes are blowing up due to gas pipeline leaks. Best to stay away for now. Check back later.

That was San Bruno not San Francisco.

Good try though.

PG&E owns the rusted gas pipeline in Frisco too. More atrocities are forthcoming.

Man. Why live IN the city? Seriously. It will be novel and fun for about a month, and then what? You'll be stuck with super high rent. Live outside the city down on the Peninsula and take CalTrain to the city for work if you end up working there. Or, just work in Redwood City or San Mateo or some other city south of SF and live and work there. Go visit SF every weekend if you want. It IS an awesome city, and I've visited more times than I know (used to live in Palo Alto and Mountain View), but man I would NOT want to live there. Some people LOVE living there, and more power to them, but most of those people either grew up there and so SF is their hometown, or they have a spouse to count on for extra income or they just make a lot. If you're rich or plan to make a TON of money, then perhaps do it, but I think for MOST who haven't yet done so, the charm of living there wouldn't be worth the cost.

Flagpole,

I think I see this move as a temporary, long-term vacation. I want to enjoy SF whenever I want to . . . whether that be on a weekend, Monday afternoon or Wednesday night. What does Redwood City or San Mateo have to offer? Thanks for the feedback, I would appreciate any more.

Flagpole wrote:

Why live IN the city?

Flagpole, you truly are a Midwesterner. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but suggesting that the OP live on the Peninsula when he is clearly interested in city life is akin to telling a person that wants to try a SF Mission burrito to eat at Taco Bell.

And Redwood City or San Mateo? You must be joking! Terrible places for a young single.

Frisco sucks. It's 90% homeless and Alberto Salazars now.

I live in the East Bay. 1. You don't need a car. BART is the way to go. Trains that go from SF to the East Bay. There are buses too.

To be honest, I would not move to SF. I'd move somewhere in the East Bay, but of course that's all up to you good luck.

Sounds like a wonderful adventure, go for it!

Surprise! wrote:

[quote]Bay Area AREA wrote:

You do not need a car, you'll be fine. In fact, it would just be a pain in the butt and a fairly large expense.

For $1100 you're basically looking at an studio or efficiency.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/2195454828.html

Stay away from the Tenderloin.

BART and Muni are the main sources of public transportation in SF. Muni will get you around town easy enough and BART can take you to the Oakland, Berkeley etc...

Good luck. It's a great city - hope you make it out here.

All of the above.

Read a few weeks of sfgate.com and sfist.com to get a sense of what to expect - the City is better than that, of course. And continue to follow the listings at sfbay.craigslist.org.

If you can at all find someone - friend of a friend? - to crash with when you first move, to buy some time, that would be best. Check out couchsurfing.com.

Welcome to San Francisco! I wish I could attach a photo of the sunny day we had today, 3 Feb.

"Happening" neighborhoods are the Marina if you are preppie, or if you were not in a frat and are not a banker/lawyer/doctor, then maybe Haight/Ashbury or better the Mission <- my favorite, and also on the "sunny side of town."

Most of SF is extremely foggy during the summer. Neighborhoods on the SE side "over the hill" are spared the fog.

The Castro is the gay neighborhood - also pretty happening. Not required to be gay to live there. Might pick up some fashion tips.

Inner Sunset is not bad - close to UCSF - but in the fog belt.

SOMA is a concrete jungle, but increasingly happening. Hub of public transport.

Dolores Park is central to everything - if you are lucky enough to find a place there.

North Beach is the Italian neighborhood next to Chinatown. If you are quite sure you won't have a car, and want a chance to pick up foreign tourists every night - this is a strong possibility.

Portola Valley - on the quiet side, sunny, and coming up.

You can get a bigger place in more "surburban" neighborhoods like the Outer Sunset or the Outer Richmond (both foggy), with good public transport.

I'm assuming you are male. If female, different rules may apply. For one thing, SF is a great city to be a straight single male, but a tough city (by the numbers) to be a straight single female.

It's also somewhat racially segregated by neighborhood. Assuming you are white, you can live in any of the neighborhoods above.

For $1100 a month with no roomates you will be living in a shit hole. Rent in SF is insane.

Palo alto is a fun place and portola valley and los altos have awesome trails to run

Frisco is a town in Colorado. If you'd ever lived in the area you'd know that NO ONE refers to San Francisco as Frisco.

And to the OP get out here. It's great. You probably want to check out the Mission or Noe valley.

Definitely can get around with just the Muni and BART WITHIN the City. Oakland and Berkeley are accessible by BART and AC transit. You'll need a car if you live in the 'burbs.

As long as you're not freaked out by gays and transgenders, it's a great city to live out your 20's. Also in most places you won't notice them. The south of Market is where most of the clubs are and 90% are "straight".

$1100 studio is going to be tough to find though. But not impossible since there is some rent control.

Neighborhoods to avoid: Tenderloin (as mentioned before), inner Mission (at night), sections of the Western Addition, Hunters Point, any place close to a housing project (Sunnydale Projects, Visitacion Valley).

Just be prepared for some gloomy/foggy summers. As a kid I never owned a pair of shorts except for gym class/track/xc. And we do get the occasional earthquake, most of which are the "barely felt" variety (1989 and 1906 being notable exceptions).

Don't do it unless you like dirty cities with panhandlers / bums on every corner begging and shaking cups at you. And, when they are not doing this - they are peeing and sleeping in the corners and p*oping under the bushes in all the parks.