Help me live in San Francisco without a car.

September 2, 2008 1:26 PM

I want to sell my car, move to San Francisco, and not buy a new car when I arrive. I have some questions.

I am in the final stages of my Master's degree, and would like to move to the Bay Area when I am finished. Of the many things I abhor about Southern California, traffic and transportation top the list. One of the things I find most attractive about San Francisco is that I could probably manage to live there without a car. Can any Bay Area Mefites answer some of my questions?

1. This is possible, right? I get the impression SF is one of the easier places to live without a car-am I mistaken?

2. What neighborhoods are friendliest to cyclists and pedestrians? I am thinking in terms of access to mass transit, mixed use neighborhoods, and driver's awareness of cyclists. I want to live in the city, but would be interested in hearing about the East Bay as well.

3. Do Bart or Busses have racks, so that one can bike to the stop, ride mass transit, then get off and bike to one's destination?

4. Know any good bike shops? I want to buy a dedicated commuter, but will also probably want to upgrade my mountain bike in the not too distant future (6months to a year?)

5. Any tips or thoughts from established SF bike commuters?

Thank you much!

posted by HighTechUnderpants to travel & transportation (18 comments total)

Don't forget Zipcar as an option for occasional car use.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:34 PM on September 2, 2008

I don't own a car, though the household has one. I drive perhaps once a week with it. It's entirely doable since you can replace my household-car with Zipcar or City Car Share (toss-up and preference as to which).

Anything on the east side of the city is easiest for Caltrain and BART if you're thinking of commuting down the peninsula or over to the East Bay. However, it's generally more expensive and crowded there - for that very reason. Neighborhood choice will end up being based on your overall preference, so my advice there is to find a 6 month lease in a tolerable location and then find where you fit in (aim to move in 6 months, that is).

BART and MUNI buses have racks, though you can't take bikes on BART during peak transit times. Caltrain also allows bikes (and alcohol!) but has been overly full these past months, and quite antagonistic about it at times. You can't take bikes on the MUNI light rail lines.

I'd stick with Valencia Cyclery or American Cyclery in SF. Mike's Bikes could be OK in the Best Buy sense - you know what you want and it happens to be on sale.

I don't commute by bike but I put ~100 miles in every week in the surrounding areas (north of the bridge, mostly). Commuting in the city scares me, mostly because of the other cyclists being somewhat clueless. I'm not sure what that tells you. I just buy a MUNI Fast Pass ($45/mo) and that gets me where I need to be with minimum fuss.
posted by kcm at 1:39 PM on September 2, 2008

1. This is possible, right? I get the impression SF is one of the easier places to live without a car-am I mistaken?

Not at all, we got rid of our car last year and walking, cabbing, using transit, biking and Zipcar handle all our transportation needs, likely cheaper and with much less stress than car ownership in the city.

2. What neighborhoods are friendliest to cyclists and pedestrians? I am thinking in terms of access to mass transit, mixed use neighborhoods, and driver's awareness of cyclists. I want to live in the city, but would be interested in hearing about the East Bay as well.

Pretty much anything near downtown is well serviced by transit, or close or flat enough to walk bike.

3. Do Bart or Busses have racks, so that one can bike to the stop, ride mass transit, then get off and bike to one's destination?

Busses (Muni) have racks in the front. BART lets you bring your bike in but not during Rush hour.

4. Know any good bike shops? I want to buy a dedicated commuter, but will also probably want to upgrade my mountain bike in the not too distant future (6months to a year?)

Any bike shop near your apartment is going to be the "best bike shop"

5. Any tips or thoughts from established SF bike commuters?

Get a bell, it will help with dumb-ass drivers to let them know you are there. Get the SF Bike map, get a really bright front light and back light. Get a good lock, and a thick cable lock, Bike theft in San Francisco is horrible due to all the junkies. Don't leave your bike outside after sunset. Most always cable lock your tires to your crypto lock.
Join the SF Bicycle Coalotion, they have great parties and do great work. Free food on Wednesday if you volunteer, great way to meet people. Try critical mass at least once (last Friday of the month down near the Ferry Building).

Biking in San Francisco is great, but remember most drivers are idiots and are talking on the cell phone. Assume they don't see you. Don't bike in the door zone, it's better to beeped at than dead.

Welcome to SF!
posted by bottlebrushtree at 1:40 PM on September 2, 2008

Yeah, I forgot about the SFBC. I'm a member. You should join if you have any idea of cycling in the area whatsoever. You'll get a free map and other stuff that's useful: discounts, shirt, etc.
posted by kcm at 1:42 PM on September 2, 2008

For mass transit in the Bay Area, see 511.org. They have a page on bicycling and specifically on bikes on transit. You'd probably find other things of interest on the SF Bike Coalition's bike resources page.

1. Yes, it's possible.

2. One thing to be said for the East Bay in regard to biking: much of it is much flatter than San Francisco.

3. MUNI buses have racks; BART allows bikes in all but the first car of the train outside of rush hour (folded folders are always OK.)

4-5. I'll let real SF cyclists (as opposed to Berkeleyite me) field these.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 1:42 PM on September 2, 2008

I keep thinking of things, apologies - more so than any other place I've ridden, you have to assume two things:

- Everyone can see you perfectly
- Everyone's sole purpose in life is to kill you

Ride defensively, take the lane, ride with purpose, watch the hell out for pedestrians (idiots in general), drivers (idiots in general), and other cyclists (idiots in general). Ignore Critical Mass since it's a joke with little to do cycling-wise in SF.

The SFBC (and other groups) have courses in city/road cycling that I highly recommend you take to get the basics down, and feel more comfortable on the road.
posted by kcm at 1:46 PM on September 2, 2008

Hi HighTechUnderpants,

Buses have racks, ad you can take your bike on BART(except during rush hour, unless it's folding). Muni trains do not allow bikes however - folded or otherwise.

I like Duboce Traingle, the Castro, the Haight, although really, all over the city/many parts of the east bay are pretty good for bikes.

As for little details, you sir/madam, are ready for: http://www.sfbike.org/

They have the bike map (avoid all the crazy hills!), info about bikes on transit, citycarshare and zip car, info about bike parking at work, bike events etc.

Good luck!
posted by anitanita at 1:46 PM on September 2, 2008

Be careful here to separate San Francisco from the Bay Area. San Francisco has a pretty strong mass transit infrastructure and an active cyclist community, plus Zipcar as Sidhedevil mentions. Other parts of the Bay Area vary dramatically in this regard. If traffic is your problem, not cars in general, then it may be most cost effective and enjoyable to live elsewhere in the Bay Area, use your car for local travel (e.g. shopping, errands, etc...), and use mass transit to come into the city and work and/or play.

To answer question #3: Muni busses (SF city bus system) have bike racks on the front, but you can't take bikes on the light rail trains. BART allows bikes, but not during peak hours. Caltrain also allows bikes, but my experience (it's been a little while though) is that the bike cars can fill up pretty quickly during commute times, and then you're SOL until the next train.
posted by zachlipton at 1:48 PM on September 2, 2008

I just moved to the Bay Area recently and one of the first things I did was sell my car. I don't miss it at all. I live in the East Bay (downtown Oakland near Lake Merritt).

In my neighborhood everything I need is within walking distance - grocery, PO, restaurants, bars, convenience stores, etc. I'm also <1>
I am a Zipcar member but I haven't actually had a need for it in the last 2 months, although I think I might make a run to Target this weekend to get some big things I wouldn't want to lug on BART.
posted by bradbane at 1:59 PM on September 2, 2008

Woops... that should read:

less than a 10 minute walk from two different BART stations if I need to go anywhere else. I don't even currently have a bike and I get along just fine, although I am looking for one and I do occassionally borrow my roommate's if I need to go somewhere and don't want to take BART / don't want to walk. The East Bay is nice because like someone else said... it's fairly flat. There are some neighborhoods in the city itself where I can barely walk up the hills, much less ride.
posted by bradbane at 2:00 PM on September 2, 2008

You can go car free quite easily here. Check out the Mission (lots of bike shops, necessities, transit, entertainment) or Oakland near Lake Merritt or 19th St BART stops (Lakeshore/Downtown/Adams Point neighborhoods are slightly cheaper than living in SF, and less than 15mins to SF via bike and BART).

Tip: If you get a folding bike, you can take it on BART at any time (no rush hour blackouts), save storage space in your apartment, and enjoy the experience of ultra speedy acceleration courtesy of smaller wheel sizes (a great attribute for lots of stop and go traffic).
posted by quarterframer at 2:30 PM on September 2, 2008

The regular Muni buses are erratic and extremely unreliable, especially on the weekends. I've often waited 20 minutes for a bus and then had two (or three, or four) buses show up at the same time, and one weekend I walked about 20 blocks along a bus route before a bus came along. The coverage is good, but the buses are hit and miss.

The Muni express buses (they have Xs in their route numbers, like 38BX), which are mainly for commuters, are much better. They run from the residential neighborhoods into downtown on weekday mornings, and from downtown to the neighborhoods on weekday afternoons.

BART is excellent. I commuted on BART every day for five years, and there were only two major delays. Usually the trains show up the minute the schedule says they will.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:28 PM on September 2, 2008

sf bike route planner
posted by jcruelty at 4:14 PM on September 2, 2008

Welcome! San Francisco is a great place to be a non-driver. I haven't driven in about a year.

Re #5: Be aware that bike theft seems to be a major problem. If you commute by bike, ask if you can bring your bike into office. My husband had his last bike stolen on day 1, from a Financial District parking garage in his office building, despite the fancy lock and the security guard. Now he walks, and our bikes stay at home during the week.

Also, for when the rains come, disc brakes help.

Personally, I'm a big fan of living in the Financial District / SOMA area: relatively flat, good weather, lots of places to buy good food (restaurants + grocery), and easy access to BART (subway), MUNI (buses and light rail), and CalTrain (commuter rail). Oh, and I can walk to work.
posted by CruiseSavvy at 5:21 PM on September 2, 2008

I've lived in SF for 16 car-free years, and bike about 150 miles/week. It's fantastic. There are lots of bike lanes and motorists are (mostly) considerate. The key to cycling in traffic is to behave as though you're in slow-moving car. If you move like other traffic, cars will generally respond to you as traffic. If you don't, they get aggressive or confused.

Much of SF is easily walkable, it's only 7 miles across. So you can get your bearings on foot for a while, and increase your time in the saddle as you get more comfortable.
posted by prambutan at 5:57 PM on September 2, 2008

Totally doable. I haven't owned a car since I moved here 20 years ago. (Disclaimer: Hubby owns a car but he took it with him when he moved to Seattle last year so once again I'm carless.) Zipcar works well for those rare times when you really need a car, and I've heard good things about City Car Share too.

BART is a more reliable transportation option, even though it's more limited than Muni. If you can't find a place to live near a BART station, the Muni streetcars (J, K, L, M, N and T) are usually somewhat better than the buses. Commuting by cable car would be a hoot, although quite impractical.

I used to live a few blocks from the Embarcadero BART station, and that was awesome. Muni is set up to funnel people into the downtown area, so there's tons of bus routes going everywhere from there, as well as BART and the ferries.

If you live and work in the city, a Muni Fast Pass is a real bargain. You can use it on BART within the city too, so if you can swing a BART commute you're golden. Good luck - you'll love it here!
posted by Quietgal at 6:05 PM on September 2, 2008

Nth-ing what others have said, there are a ton of bike resources here and it's easy to live without a car.

FYI, in case you haven't yet checked out their whole site the Bike Coalition lets you download their map, which may be useful in choosing a neighborhood since it shows elevations between points.
posted by cali at 9:00 PM on September 2, 2008

Thanks much all. Some good advice here, and plenty of good news.

To those welcoming me, thanks!, but it's a bit premature. I probably have 2-4 weeks of schoolwork, and a visit home to the folks before I make the big move. And I need to find a job at some point, too. Yikes.

But I'll catch you all on the flip side.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 12:04 PM on September 3, 2008