Potential move to San Francisco

Jammin909

I have never been to San Francisco, but I hear it is an awesome city. I know it's expensive but DC isn't exactly cheap either. Anybody have some thoughts or words of wisdom for me? I have an offer that should be finalized this week so work is not a problem. I'm 25, liberal, love electronic music (and PJ of course), cycle all the time, and have a strange group of friends. I think it will be a good fit!

jammergirl

Jammin909 wrote:

I have never been to San Francisco, but I hear it is an awesome city. I know it's expensive but DC isn't exactly cheap either. Anybody have some thoughts or words of wisdom for me? I have an offer that should be finalized this week so work is not a problem. I'm 25, liberal, love electronic music (and PJ of course), cycle all the time, and have a strange group of friends. I think it will be a good fit!

then i think you will really love it! you're right, the city itself can be pretty expensive, but you could live in the east bay and commute. my sis lives in berkeley and takes the bart every morning to her job in the city. she loves it. good luck and keep us posted!

beachdweller

Jammin909 wrote:

I have never been to San Francisco, but I hear it is an awesome city. I know it's expensive but DC isn't exactly cheap either. Anybody have some thoughts or words of wisdom for me? I have an offer that should be finalized this week so work is not a problem. I'm 25, liberal, love electronic music (and PJ of course), cycle all the time, and have a strange group of friends. I think it will be a good fit!

great restaurant city...eat out often.

justam

If you're single and have a good job, you might like it there.

alexers

it's beautiful & the weather is really nice. i absolutely love it there. i think i might transfer to a school there once i finish my second year of college. but like someone said... the food is amazing and the atmosphere is great. lots of tourists, but that's a given with a city. one thing i noticed is that it was an unusually large amount of homeless people, though.

elmer

Well, there's Mrs Doubtfire, it's hilly. Oh, and Alcatraz and turd-burgling.

Wobbie

I love SF!!! The baseball team has sucked for awhile but is usually BADASS!! Seriously, I do love the city. It seems pretty unique for the States. As a desert dweller, I love their weather but some people up there long for sun and heat! Pick a sunny "micro-climate." The homeless situation downtown is bad. Personally, I feel bad for half of them; want to say "get a job" to the other half. I can't really explain my feelings for SF - I'll just tell you, I'd live there in a heartbeat if I could afford it!!!!!.

riffrandall

Truly awesome city. I live there about 1/2 the time, depending on work, and I have for years. Just love the place.
If you go, live in the city. And by the city I mean San Francisco proper, not Daly City, and most DEFINITELY not anywhere in the East Bay. The East Bay SUCKS and the commute will make you wonder why you moved there. Seriously. You won't save enough money to justify living in the hell of being outside the city.

Feel free to PM me for recommendations. My first place in the city was in Glen Park which is awesome. There's always great apartments available, mine even came with a parking space (this is key).
Yes it's expensive, but show me a place where you want to live that isn't. Everyone knows it costs a bundle to live here, but its sooo worth it.

Jammin909

riffrandall wrote:

Truly awesome city. I live there about 1/2 the time, depending on work, and I have for years. Just love the place.
If you go, live in the city. And by the city I mean San Francisco proper, not Daly City, and most DEFINITELY not anywhere in the East Bay. The East Bay SUCKS and the commute will make you wonder why you moved there. Seriously. You won't save enough money to justify living in the hell of being outside the city.

Feel free to PM me for recommendations. My first place in the city was in Glen Park which is awesome. There's always great apartments available, mine even came with a parking space (this is key).
Yes it's expensive, but show me a place where you want to live that isn't. Everyone knows it costs a bundle to live here, but its sooo worth it.

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I will most definitely be moving to SF proper. I have been in the suburbs of DC and am totally over this fringe/suburban lifestyle. It's really because my work is in the burbs and I can walk to work.

Anyway- I was looking at The Mission, Castro (despite being straight) and Noe Valley. I want a place like U St or Dupont Circle in DC where there are always young people out and about during the day and out dancing/drinking come the night. I should know for sure whether my transfer has been approved by the end of the week!

catch22

i'm applying for positions there too. might not land there for a few years though.

i visited last spring and the only downside is there truly are a LOT of homeless there. i'm not sure why that is. we wandered into some tough neighborhoods by accident and that was a bit spooky. but you'd get the same on south side chicago. just be smart on where you live.

alexers

Jammin909 wrote:

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I will most definitely be moving to SF proper. I have been in the suburbs of DC and am totally over this fringe/suburban lifestyle. It's really because my work is in the burbs and I can walk to work.

Anyway- I was looking at The Mission, Castro (despite being straight) and Noe Valley. I want a place like U St or Dupont Circle in DC where there are always young people out and about during the day and out dancing/drinking come the night. I should know for sure whether my transfer has been approved by the end of the week!

FUCK the DC suburbs! I leave tomorrow! Yessss

riffrandall

Jammin909 wrote:

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I will most definitely be moving to SF proper. I have been in the suburbs of DC and am totally over this fringe/suburban lifestyle. It's really because my work is in the burbs and I can walk to work.

Anyway- I was looking at The Mission, Castro (despite being straight) and Noe Valley. I want a place like U St or Dupont Circle in DC where there are always young people out and about during the day and out dancing/drinking come the night. I should know for sure whether my transfer has been approved by the end of the week!

The Mission is OK- not as gentrified as it will be in a few years, but there are good deals to be had if you can deal with the neighbors. I opted out of living there only because it is not as "neighborhoody" as I wanted.

Castro is awesome- it's actually not as "gay" as you might think. I mean, it's pretty gay, but there's a lot of straight families there now. Really fantastic neighborhood. It might be a little overpriced, but the apartments there are beauties. The one drawback to living there (I think) is the number of tour busses that come through so people can gawk at "the gays." I find that slightly creepy.

Noe Valley is great! Of the 3, that's probably the one I would pick. Such a great area of town. Very liveable all around, and great places to hang out, really not such a touristy part of town either.

If you get a chance, I would get a copy of "San Francisco Not For Tourists" it's this little black book with great maps & pointers for people who are either new to the city or thinking about being new to the city. I found it- still find it- to be a great resource.

Jammin909

alexers wrote:

FUCK the DC suburbs! I leave tomorrow! Yessss

I have been in Reston for 19 months and it sucks. I really enjoy DC and I think I take advantage of all we have here on the weekends, but it just isnt feasible for me to spend an 60-70 minutes in the car each way to live in the city. I could just find a new project downtown, but I'm in the mood for a bigger change.

jamie uk

If you are going to San Francisco...be sure to wear some flowers in you hair.
:cool:

alexers

Jammin909 wrote:

I have been in Reston for 19 months and it sucks. I really enjoy DC and I think I take advantage of all we have here on the weekends, but it just isnt feasible for me to spend an 60-70 minutes in the car each way to live in the city. I could just find a new project downtown, but I'm in the mood for a bigger change.

Vienna. Bite me! I like Reston better than Vienna. The town center isn't bad and it's a lot more artsy. Why don't you drive to the Vienna Metro? You're guaranteed a seat every morning because we're the first stop!

Wobbie

riffrandall wrote:

The Mission is OK- not as gentrified as it will be in a few years, but there are good deals to be had if you can deal with the neighbors. I opted out of living there only because it is not as "neighborhoody" as I wanted.

Castro is awesome- it's actually not as "gay" as you might think. I mean, it's pretty gay, but there's a lot of straight families there now. Really fantastic neighborhood. It might be a little overpriced, but the apartments there are beauties. The one drawback to living there (I think) is the number of tour busses that come through so people can gawk at "the gays." I find that slightly creepy.

Noe Valley is great! Of the 3, that's probably the one I would pick. Such a great area of town. Very liveable all around, and great places to hang out, really not such a touristy part of town either.

I agree with everything riffrandall says. I, also, would choose Noe. Last time I was in SF, we headed down to the Mission for some of the supposed "cheap eats." Two things struck me - every place was packed on a Thursday night (9:30) and the "cheap eats" set me back $156 for four people (and all we drank was 4 beers and 1 martini) :eek:

Tour buses to see gay people - hehehe

edpearson

Good luck in your move to the Bay Area. I'd seriously consider Noe Valley, too. Also look into Cole Valley (even closer to GG Park). The Richmond District can be very nice in some parts, too. It's far less hectic than places (and these are very nice places, too) like North Beach, Russian Hill, etc. I used to live in Glen Park and I loved it. Also, I lived in Bernal Heights and that was great, too. But I'd take Noe Valley over those places in a heartbeat. You actually have a lot of choices to read up as much as possible. I'd avoid the Marina District or Pacific Heights, unless you're a trust-fund kid. I now live in the Wine Country and that's another cool part about living in the Bay Area. You'll find that it's an amazing place and we do have the best weather in the US (well, the Bay Area that is; SF can get too chilly in the summer months for me). Good luck!

Allie

I lived in SF briefly, in 1996 and '98. I loved it. It has a real 'city' feel and so much natural beauty, within the city and nearby. I lived near Mission Dolores. And all the food is SO tasty! The burritos in the Mission area are the best in the world. It is about as pricey as NYC and it is not easy to find an apt unless you are wealthy. And it's very 'laid-back' and 'chill'. But I miss it, even now. If I didn't live in NY, I'd live there. There are a ton of transplanted NY'ers and East Coasters out there

Trailer

Jammin909 wrote:

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I will most definitely be moving to SF proper. I have been in the suburbs of DC and am totally over this fringe/suburban lifestyle. It's really because my work is in the burbs and I can walk to work.

Anyway- I was looking at The Mission, Castro (despite being straight) and Noe Valley. I want a place like U St or Dupont Circle in DC where there are always young people out and about during the day and out dancing/drinking come the night. I should know for sure whether my transfer has been approved by the end of the week!

Yeah I would also agree with the others and say that Noe Valley is your best bet out of those choices. The Mission is okay on the west side (near Castro), but can get kinda shady on the east side. Lots of cool bars and restaurants though.

I used to live in Cow Hollow (Union St. and Laguna).. which is fucking awesome!! I loved it there.. nice vibrant atmosphere. Russian Hill and North Beach are also great neighborhoods.

Wobbie

Allie wrote:

There are a ton of transplanted NY'ers and East Coasters out there

Well, no place is perfect!!