moving to san francisco 2006

June 22, 2006 11:11 AM

moving to san francisco (2006), what are your recommendations

theres a year old post here http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/16962

looking to pay no more than $1500, something safe, with plenty of muni access and good food

looking at soma but the area is sketch and food is blah, it's nice that it is freeway accessible tho, and caltrain is there too

ur help greatly appreciated, thx

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

The advice in that thread still applies.

Also, take a look at this most recent one:

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/39043

which is similar and has good advice.
posted by vacapinta at 11:20 AM on June 22, 2006

I'd stay out of SOMA.

Is Caltrain important? You may want to look at Cole Valley or the Haight or the Panhandle (pretty much the same thing). With access to the N line which will take you out to Caltrain pretty easy.

Hayes Valley/Lower Haight might be another idea.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:20 AM on June 22, 2006

Inner Sunset is good for all of those things you describe. Food is good (great sushi), decent access to grocery store, great MUNI access, and you can probably find your price range. Plus, hey, Gold Gate Park is down the street. It's a pretty safe neighborhood for the most part. In the seven years we've been in the neighborhood I've only ever seen one remotely dangerous incident and that was the result of a bus carrying a load of ass hat teens fighting each other and the driver decided 9th and Judah was the corner to stop at.

I've been living at the corner of 9th and Judah for about five years now. N Judah, 44, 43, 6, 66 all come by that corner.

There are several places to eat all around 9th and Irving (a block from Judah), Andronico's grocery at 13th and Irving (13th is called Funston btw), within decent walking distance of Haight and Cole Valley.

You can take a look at the neighborhood here at my Inner Sunset Gallery
posted by smallerdemon at 12:21 PM on June 22, 2006

Whoops! Typoed that URL:
Inner Sunset Gallery - Hopefully Working Link
posted by smallerdemon at 12:23 PM on June 22, 2006

Depends on what you want...

Look into the mission if you're hipster-oriented.

Hayes Valley is up-and-coming, there's more resaurants there now. Cute shops. Muni is ok.

I'd really suggest Duboce triangle (more centrally located) or 9th & irving areas.

Fillmore/haight area is good too. All 3 have tons of good food (and a *variety* as well).

I'd stay away from inner sunset anywhere farther than 9th.... unless you're the type that likes the commute.

Good luck!
posted by dentata at 12:55 PM on June 22, 2006

i'm at 11th/balboa in the richmond district, and i hope i can stay forever...it's nice to be in the city and close to stuff yet in a very quiet neighborhood...an express bus goes along balboa during rush hour...and the 5 fulton bus is (i think) a quick shot downtown compared to the other routes...
posted by troybob at 1:21 PM on June 22, 2006

clarification: i want caltrain access, i dont wanna be in the sunset (or generally west side), too far from what i do/where i go, thx
posted by kewlio at 1:25 PM on June 22, 2006

SOMA around South Park is really nice and the whole area I'd say is livable now. You should have seen it 5-6 years ago when it was a real shithole. It's really nice being able to walk to Caltrain (I used to stay at a friend's place in SOMA and take the Caltrain down to Stanford for work).
posted by mathowie at 1:50 PM on June 22, 2006

Duboce triangle! thats my hood :P

I'd also like to chime in that I think Bernal Heights is the most overlooked area in SF.
posted by atom128 at 4:09 PM on June 22, 2006

IMO, if you're looking for safe, then I'd stay well away from the Mission, especially east of Mission St., and/or near 24th. That's where I've for about 2 years, my nerves are shot.
Gang-related homocides are way, way up, as are robberies, assaults, etc. I love living here otherwise, and it breaks my heart to say to that I'm probably going to move as soon as my lease is up. Besides the safety issue, the Mission is extremely trendy right now, so you're likely to pay too much for what you're getting (in terms of the apartment itself).

If you're interested in delving deeper into the safety of where you're thinking about living, the SFD has an interactive "crime map" that you may find useful:

http://www.sfgov.org/site/police_index.asp

Click on the "CrimeMaps" icon on the left.
posted by treepour at 4:12 PM on June 22, 2006

I'd look around 16th st between Guerrero and Church. Things turn sketchy East of Guerrero and become very, very gay West of Church (if that's an issue for you). Lots of good restaurants on 16th and Valencia and along Castro st, and it's not a terrible drive to 22nd st Caltrain from there. Taking the N Judah to Caltrain will add 30 minutes to your commute because the damn thing takes forever and never comes on time in the morning (or so I'm told by a friend who takes it sometimes).
posted by jewzilla at 5:23 PM on June 22, 2006

You can use this to help find out what is around the hoods you are thinking about moving to.
posted by Hackworth at 5:27 PM on June 22, 2006

I wish I'd paid more attention to vacapinta's advice in that thread. UCSF, which I live a block away from, is in the Inner Sunset, which means it catches that frigid ocean wind every evening at sundown, and it gets COLD. All the other advice was good too, and as occhiblu suggested, I am now spending a lot of time in the Hayes Valley area.

Other than that, if you look around you can find decent prices on housing. I have a cramped 1 bedroom with a garage spot for less than what you want to pay, which is better than what people were leading me to believe was out there.

Definitely buy a bike - SF is a super bike-friendly city.

Websites to help you feel at home: I've benefited from the SF Chronicle, SFist, the Squidlist, and the peerless BurritoEater.

Welcome! It's great here.
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:45 PM on June 22, 2006

Yeah, I laughed the first time I saw mentions of "good weather" in apartment listings. I soon learned that that was the most important piece of information in the listing.

The Mission and Potrero (and maybe Bernal Heights; I don't know it well) are much warmer and sunnier than other neighborhoods. *Much* warmer. Hayes Valley isn't bad, but it does get the fog much faster than even a few blocks south into the Inner Mission.
posted by occhiblu at 7:24 PM on June 22, 2006

I wish I'd paid more attention to vacapinta's advice in that thread. UCSF, which I live a block away from, is in the Inner Sunset, which means it catches that frigid ocean wind every evening at sundown, and it gets COLD.

Hey! Some of us like that after 30 something years in the Alabama heat. :) (Honestly, it's one of my favorite parts aboutl living here. Summer is GREAT! It's wondeful and foggy and every now and again in August I have to kick the heat on in the morning. I love it.)

Inner Sunset does, however, indeed skirt the edge of that. Seriously, you can go over the hill at Parnassus and down into Cole Valley and it's sunny. Make it to the Castro and it's 100% clear and you can see the fog bank break up coming over the hill when it hits the heat.

It is, in fact, quite foggy as I type this, and I can see the outline of a UCSF building off in the distance because the sun is shining from behind it. And I'm looking east. :)

But what the does get you is cheaper rent, and I think a little safer, quieter neighborhood.

As hip as the Mission is, yeah, I would NOT be comfortable living there myself. I love it, but it can get downright scary.

Richmond is also really nice. That one can be foggy too, though.
posted by smallerdemon at 8:36 PM on June 22, 2006

Stay until you get sick of it, and then come on down to LA.
posted by zackdog at 1:36 AM on June 23, 2006

thx for all the feedback guys, im thinking hayes valley (love it), and south park at the moment. will have to check out bernal heights

funny zackdog haha
posted by kewlio at 10:51 AM on June 23, 2006

Stay until you get sick of it, and then come on down to LA.

Don't forget your car when you do that, otherwise you're gonna have a lot of fun sitting around the apartment. ;)
posted by smallerdemon at 11:16 AM on June 23, 2006