Hey everyone...my job search has finally come to a close, and I'm moving to San Francisco.

I know I've seen a thread like this before, but I can't find it (if you can and could link me that would be great!). I need to figure out where in the city to live. I'm going to be working south of the city (about 45mins to an hour), but lets not worry about that. I'm looking for a vibrant fun neighborhood, with good public transport, and a very local, indepdent, non name-brand scene. I'm willing to pay up to about $1000/mo for rent (and will probably be looking for a place with 3-5 bedrooms with some friends...so between $3k&$5k). I'd appreciate any recommendations that you guys have. Thanks!

-W

At the prices listed, Gilroy, perhaps? (It does have CalTrain service to San Jose and up to The City....)

Since you'll be commuting south, I would recommend something in the southern districts of the City. (assuming you're limiting yourself to SF proper, not other communities on the Peninsula)

The Mission comes immediately to mind. Close to the freeways, great public transport, alterno-hipster + vibrant immigrant scene. Since you're willing to share a place, you should be able to find something in that price range.

Potrero Hill, SOMA, Noe Valley, Glen Park could be other alternatives.

Let us know more about what you're looking.

Seriously - I think it would make a lot more sense to commute 45 minutes to SF when you want to go to the city than to commute 45 minutes each way, each and every day. Assuming five days a week, that's a minimum of 7.5 hours each week, so maybe 375 hours a year? There are some smaller vibrant communities in the south bay that are enjoyable to live in, have lower crime rates than SF, probably cost less, and put you closer to the bay area's largest city... which hasn't been SF for a long time

I might suggest downtown Mountain View. It has both Caltrain and Light Rail service as well as a number of express busses in various directions. There are lots of restaraunts and bars popping up, and it is a growing economic center in silicon valley. Ever heard of these newfangled companies like Google? That's Mountain View. You would be near jogging / biking parks such as the bay wetlands trail and concert venues such as shoreline amphitheatre and the relatively new Mountain View CPA.

I ended up choosing downtown Los Gatos. Not such a transit center - but my job precludes me from taking mass transit. Couldn't get to many customers via rail or bus in a day.... I enjoy a reverse commute to south San Jose, I am 30 seconds from the los gatos creek trail, on which I can bike to lexington resorvior or as far as willow glen in the opposite direction. I am near a multitude of great restaraunts, the post office, hardware store, dmv, AAA, grocery stores, library, police department, town hall - I don't drive once I get home. It's not like living in the "big city" - it's more like living in a community. It depends on what level of anonymity or interaction with your neighbors you desire, I suppose. There is a free shuttle that takes you around the town or to light rail, and (this is FT after all!) I'm a straight shot down 880 to SJC. Takes me a hair over 10 minutes

And for our reference, what do you mean by 45 minutes? If you mean commuting to Santa Clara, that might be 45 minutes in clear traffic but a lot more if you drive during commute hours or have to deal with pokey CalTrain.


Let us know more specifically about what is important to you. That makes a big difference. Are you a party animal? Are you looking to follow the "in" crowd? These seem to be the only reasons I could think of that SF might be a desirable destination for someone working in the south bay.

Perhaps another reason could be the choice between living in a vibrant urban environment, or what might be called a vibrant suburban environment. San Jose is geographically large and has lots of residents, but it was zoned as a massive suburb. Recent efforts to densify downtown San Jose aside, there's only one big city--a big urban center, such as it is--in the Bay Area, and that's San Francisco. Heck, even plenty of San Francisco neighborhoods don't leave one with a sense of living in the city. (as people say of Oakland, where I live--Oakland got the Port, and San Francisco got the city. On the plus side, we have a great view of SF).

Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Gatos, and plenty of other South Bay areas can be quite pleasant, especially weather-wise, but in my experience, require one to enjoy plenty of quality time in one's car to be fully appreciated.

-Hayden

I don't think I would put Palo Alto or Los Gatos in the OP's price range either. Some parts of Mountain View, maybe, but not the part within walking distance of the Caltrain stop.

In SF, that is a tight budget. 5BR places in SF -- strikes me as pretty hard to find in any case.

Maybe we need a "San Francisco reality tour" for people planning to move here and find a nice place with cheap rent, although I guess a good Craigslist perusal will probably solve the problem.

He's valuating each bedroom at $1000 (3 bedrooms = $3k per month in rent), which I think is on the low end of things for SF, but still doable if he's willing to look in the Richmond, Sunset, Mission, Hayes Valley, NOPA, and Potrero Hill

Thanks for all of the advice so far! Some clarifications:
1) I definitely NEED to be in an urban center. It just fits my personality a lot better than anything vaguely suburban, and I know that I'll be happier that way
2) Without me divulging more about my job, there is no need to worry about commute time, as it won't be hard on me.
3) I know that I obviously won't be able to live in neighborhoods like Nob Hill, Russian Hill, etc. But I don't expect to be able to live in the Ritziest neighborhood. In fact I'd probably like something with a little bit more flavor.

I don't know that much about public transportation in San Fran, so some info/thoughts on that would be great too! I'd really appreciate any thoughts/insights on neighborhoods that would work, and where to definitely stay away from.

Thanks,

W

It does depend a bit what "scene" means--but there are plenty of options. I have friends who live in the lower and upper Haight (think: along Haight Street, near Golden Gate Park, or closer to the mint/Castro), and it seems that multiple-bedroom apartments are within that price range there. Plus a decent number of interesting bars, clothing stores, etc. The Mission has gentrified quite a bit, but my impression is that if one heads towards the outer Mission, apartments (especially shared apartments/apts w/friends) are very doable for that price range. Both of those are decently close to either 101 or 280. And Hayes Valley is pretty pricey, but also interesting and right in the middle of everything.

In general, my impression is that one can find shared apartment situations for the $1,000 price range in many neighborhoods, although prices have gone up a bit. In many neighborhoods, $1,000 (on its own) used to get a modest studio apartment, but wouldn't now.

It likely wouldn't hurt to get a MUNI public transportation map to see your bus and metro (subway) options. Many of my friends who live in the City (and work there or in Oakland) don't own cars; others do, but only use them to leave the City, relying otherwise on MUNI buses and the metro. MUNI does have some odd policies--for example, they will pull buses off of some lines to fill gaps in others, if there is a problem (I have a friend on Twin Peaks who complains about the 37 Corbett bus always being poached), but plenty of lines have decent service, and it wouldn't hurt to ask in a cafe or folks in a store what they know.

If you're coming to visit, it wouldn't hurt to rent a car so you can get the feel of those neighborhoods that are more suburban or may feel a bit more disconnected from the rest of the city (Sunset/Outer Sunset, Richmond, those parts south of the Sunset, the Marina, etc.), or those that feel closer.

I guess a lot of this is pretty obvious--please pardon me, if so.

-Hayden

Are you working for Google, which provides free shuttles? Sounds about right, given all the constraints. Basically avoid anything on the south-eastern part of the city, as well as the tenderloin. The rest depends on how much you're willing to spend.

For info on the neighbourhoods, check out this link on SFGate:
http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/

I think some of these 'names' are only used by the site, for ex., I've never heard anyone actually use the term 'deco ghetto'.

For apts, check out www.craiglist.org

I just did a search for 3 bed apts for $3250 in SF...and I found several options, mainly in more outer neighbourhoods, but onese that probably have more local flavour (as you have expressed a preference for).

Be aware that you won't have parking for 3 included at that price and you may end up having to pay for parking...which could add several hundreds dollars to your cost. Or you may have to search for parking...

The areas that seem to be closest to the described environment would be either SOMA or inner Mission. You are likely to find a more reasonable rent structure in the inner Mission and would be close to BART and MUNI. SOMA is going to be pricier, but depending on what you find, you could be within walking distance of a lot of nightlife. Potrero Hill could be affordable, but access to MUNI is more limited. If you want to look at public transportation maps, you should visit the SFMUNI and BART websites to get a better understanding of the logistics.

I commute from SF to Palo Alto every day and I completely understand the desire to live in an urban environment. Yes, Mountain View is nice but it just doesn't have the same energy (or the same restaurants) as SF. There's something to be said for being able to walk down to Delfina, Nopa or Zuni for dinner on a Tuesday night.

Even if you have a door-to-door shuttle, I would STRONGLY recommend living in a neighborhood with close freeway access. Getting from certain neighborhoods (such as the Marina, Pac Heights, the Richmond, Russian Hill, etc.) can add 30 minutes or more to your already long commute. I would suggest Noe Valley, parts of the Mission, Duboce Triangle, Lower Haight, Hayes Valley and, to a lesser extent (due to slightly more difficult freeway access), the Castro. South Beach is also good, though probably out of your price range. I live in Lower Haight and love the urban grittiness of the neighborhood, though crime is a concern for some. The only way to know whether a neighborhood will work for you is to come out here and spend some time walking around.

I think urban grittiness is overrated!

When my son attended USF he lived in the Upper Richmond district (near Presidio). Hope I have my geography right. The biggest problem for him was that there was a micro-climate where he lived and he rarely saw the sun. He was fogged in nearly all of the time. He was always surprised when he traveled outside of his immediate area to see that the sun was actually shining. It was very depressing to live in that gloomy, dreary climate.