Which blocks? Certain places are advertised as "Nob Hill" when they are really "tendernob" or worse. 2-3 blocks north of Union Square would probably be fine, as long as it is due north and not west at all. Plus, you'll get to ride the cable car to work!

I couldn't agree more. This is one of many examples where just a couple of blocks can make a huge difference.

It's between Pine and Bush street, On Powell Street.

That's fine.

Yes, as long as the OP is okay with the noise and vibrations of the cable cars. I'd be fine with that.

By car. No way. You will be stuck in traffic. Having a car in San Francisco downtown areas (SOMA, Financial District, North Beach, Chinatown, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Civic Center) is a very expansive thing especially if you have no space to park your car. Best way to get around the city is MUNI or by bike. If you life outside downtown like Richmond, Sunset, Haight, Mission it might be easier to own a car since you can either park on the street or the properties have parking space.

Hey, nothing against beautiful Tendernob ;-) . I life there (Sutter and Leavenworth) and like it very much.

Totally disagree with that - Embarcadero is usually pretty easy by car, and Muni is simply not reliable enough to live a car free life. I sometimes work in the financial district and I always drive to work since Muni is so bad. Traffic is usually not bad at all unless I'm trying to get on the Bay Bridge.

You're about 60% correct with this. Traffic would not be a problem in the short distance between home and work for the OP. Even in heavy traffic, this is a 10 minute drive. Parking, however, is indeed a big deal. Street parking is very difficult to find in both places. I would do it only if I had a parking spot in both my apartment and at work.

Riding a bike to/work is a great idea, as is making it a long walk. Muni's potential vastly exceeds its reality.

its not the driving, its the parking
 

that makes the commute by car a problem.

I use MUNI almost every day and so far I had no major problems and I also don't own a car. For short trips there is Zipcar or the city car share and for longer weekend trips rental cars are not too expansive either.

Muni is hit and miss, with too much miss. I was amazed how long it took for the N Judah to go from the Haight to downtown (a mere four miles). It seemed like the train wanted to park on Church Street for at least five minutes. Some routes are surely better.

Muni is unacceptably unreliable for my purposes. I have repeatedly tried to give it a chance, and have always given up in favor of driving. When I lived in the Sunset, there were many days when I either wouldn't make it to school, or had no way of getting home. I then started working, and moved to the Castro, which is a 12 minute ride downtown that took more than 40 minutes at least two days a week. At least once a month the entire system would be down and I would have to fight with hundreds of people for a cab at the corner of market and Castro. That kind of unreliability simply doesn't work for me.

After I ran Bay to Breakers last year, I walked over to the western most stop on the N Judah at Ocean Beach. I'm not exaggerating when I say it took that train longer to go back to Embarcadero station than the 51 minutes it took me to run that 7.5-mile distance in the other direction. Muni is generally awful.

Ok, after a week in SF I came to realize that MUNI is the bus system correct?

Yes, MUNI is the bus, streetcar, and subway system within the city limits. BART operates within the city but also to the east bay and peninsula.