Originally Posted by
winovin
Well, everything in SF seems to be cheaper than NYC, so not an issue! Just trying to find a quality of life comparable to that of NYC (which means bars, restaurants, etc). When I went out on a Monday nite in SF recently, pretty much everything was dead. I asked a couple of hotel concierges, and the only place that had more than 2 people present was the Redwood Room, but that was not exactly busy.
I would guess that there is absolutely NO way you are going to "find a quality of life comparable to that of NYC," especially if you are used to living and working in Manhattan!
You'll really have to adjust your expectations. Of course, in time you may find that there are compensating factors, but still, you're going to experience a big shock if you move here. NYC (esp. Manhattan) is a 24/7 type of place, and there's nothing in the Bay Area (or for that matter, in most of the rest of the US) to compare to it.
Also, if you have flexible hours on your job, the car commute can be OK (I used to commute from SF to Silicon Valley for many years), but if you're locked into a regular 9-to-5 schedule, the commute could end up being miserable. So the advice about living near a Caltrain station makes a lot of sense -- and if you're also working near a station, even better. However, Caltrain doesn't run very often (again, this is NOT NYC), and you'll be a slave to its schedule if you use it.
So, go in with your eyes open.