Closer to Hayes Valley/Van Ness corridor is better. Your public transit/driving commute is exponentially simpler the closer you are to Market St/Octavia on ramp/BART access. I'm moving to 55 Page in December and can't imagine a more ideal location. (I've been in the East Bay for six years, and rented in the city for 13 years before that.) The Mission and Noe Valley are both fine. Mission is more interesting, better weather, but higher crime than Noe Valley. Noe Valley, while charming, really has gotten insufferable in so many ways. Agree with you on South of Market. Glen Park really is a hidden gem too, but is slightly out of the way in relation to the other areas you are looking at. Do post where you end up and we can give you the scoop on the local gems. Good luck.

I will temporarily hijack Wingman32's thread to jump on the Moving to SFO bandwagon as well. After nearly 4 years in pain and suffering in Detroit, we're headed back. I can't even begin to say how excited I am to be getting out of here...and more importantly, to be returning to SF.

We're still a month or so a way from our move, but I have been monitoring craigslist over the past few weeks. From those of you have been around through it all -- do you have any feel as to whether the apartment market is as tight as it was back in 1999? Unfortunately, we're probably 2-3 years away from buying a place.

Was in Glen Park tonight and found myself wondering why I don't know more people who live there. It is very sweet and has some nice new restaurants etc. Very residential, but urban. BUT, the weather is not great, there is no nightlife and it is just a bit off the beaten path. Which could be a good thing. Or not.

No way is it as tight as it was in 1999. I was looking for a three BR in early Summer 1999 and I would often show up to apartment viewings to find 30+ people waiting, credit reports and rental resumes in hand, offering $200 more a month for the place without wanting to look at it. Now you can actually find a decent place and get it if you have good credit, aren't terribly awkward and have a good job. It will, however, take some serious time and energy to wade through all the crap out there.

That is very encouraging to hear. Finding a place in 1999 was tortuous. I ended up finding a roommate situation until I could secure an apartment, but even the roommate screening processes were absurd.

Great topic - this is helpful stuff.

I'm a former Chicagoan, currently living in Vegas, planning to relocate to San Fran soon - and I've got some questions / thoughts...

Wouldn't Noe Valley (within walking distance of the 24th St. Bart Stop in the Mission) be ideal for a commute south? As far as I know you could take BART south to Millbrae and transfer to Caltrain. Anyone do this - how's the commute?

Other than SOMA - are there any other hoods reasonably close enough to the 4th St Caltrain to make that a viable commute?

You can do what you suggest but it would take quite a bit of time - at least an hour and fifteen minutes, most certainly more if you are anywhere South of Redwood City or not on a baby bullet stop or don't get a well timed connection at Milbrae. It only takes me 45-60 minutes to drive from Lower Haight to Palo Alto, depending on traffic in the City and the Page Mill Road exit.

There are certain parts of Potrero Hill that are walking distance to another Caltrain station. I think the baby bullet makes a stop there, so it could be a good area for that commute. However, Caltrain can be a difficult (i.e. very long) commute if you aren't working close to a baby bullet stop or don't keep regular enough hours to be able to work with Caltrain's limited schedule outside of commute hours.

How long would the commute (drive) be from an area like Noe Valley to San Jose in somewhat normal commute hours? Curious....

Where in San Jose? Much depends on whether you can take 280 (rather than 101), and how far into San Jose you need to go.

Re: Noe Valley, I personally prefer to be closer to the Octavia Blvd. onramp to 101 as it is easier to use 101 between the city and the airport. 280 is generally the better of the two freeways South, except in the stretch between the city and SFO. Both are pretty bad to SFO during commute hours, but I find that 101 on the bay shore moves a bit better than 280 through Daly City and Colma. Between the airport and at least Palo Alto, you are far better off taking 280, which moves at or above the speed limit. 101 South of the airport crawls during commute hours.

As far as where in San Jose - how about near eBay HQ?

Octavia street onramp, huh. So Cole Valley wouldn't be a bad choice either - pretty near to that area unless there is horrible surface traffic or something I don't know about in that region. Thoughts?

Not sure where eBay HQ is so I'll leave that question to others. Cole Valley isn't a bad location as it is pretty close to Fell/Oak, both of which move pretty fast at all times of day. I personally would prefer to be a bit closer to the onramp, though I realize many people would prefer Cole Valley or Ashbury Heights over Hayes Valley, Lower Haight or the Alamo Square area. There will be plenty of traffic trying to turn right on Octavia from Oak. I use Page St. for the few blocks between my house and Octavia. That seems to move pretty well despite Page St. being the bus route.

Unless there is a truck blocking a lane, Fell and Oak to and from Octavia moves quickly as the lights are timed, and there are three lanes of traffic.

As the previous poster noted, it does tend to get backed up as you getting closer to Octavia, with people trying to make a right.

OT rant: what especially annoys me are the people who don't move over earlier, try to sneak in at the end, and then block through traffic!

A commute from SF to Hamilton/Bascom (near ebay HQ) in San Jose can get pretty ugly. I believe the best route is 101 south to 380 (or 85, if it's well ouside of normal commute hours) to 280 south to 17 south. The distance is about 50 miles and the drive time can be as fast as 1 hour if the roads are clear, but unless you will be driving well outside commute hours, they won't be. I would plan for a commute of at least 1.5 hours. Public transportation is an option, but not a great one. It would require a train ride to San Jose, and then a bus or light rail, and then another bus or a half-mile walk - also taking at least 1.5 hours.

GREAT thread. I am relocating to SF next month, and leave it to FT to supply the best source of on-the-ground advice. Bravo.

So what about this fog-line and micro-climates? Is it just around the university, or are there other areas that are more prone to fog than others?

No the fog is not just around the University. The Sunset, the Richmond, the marina (i.e. close to the water) are foggier. The sunnniest parts are the Mission, Potrero Hill and parts of Noe Valley. We live near Dolores Park in the shadow of twin peaks. We can often see the fog rolling in and splitting at Twin Peaks leaving fog two blocks to either side of us, while we have sun. If you are more concerned about sun than some other things (proximity to whatever etc.) I would research this more. If it is a bad summer it can stay foggy most of the time in certain parts of the city.