Where to live in San Franciso

Hi,

I live in Perth, I was wondering what is like living in San francisco. whats the standard of living in there. I hv 3 children from 14 - 8 yrs old. What is the job availablity like?
Your information wld be hlepful.

with regards and tks
mary

Hi Mary,

unfortunatelly I can not really help you. We finally move to SF in September. So far I still live in Munich. I do not yet know so much about living there. At the moment we are looking for a house in SF, and that is extremly expensive.
So sorry, that I cannot be of any help at this stage.

Silke

If you want to live outside of the SF limits, Mill Valley, CA (north of SF) is very nice and so is Berkley.

Also, Mill Valley has dog friendly beaches in the area.

As far as fog, you're pretty much going to get fog in the whole bay area at least to some degree. The closer you are to the bay, the more foggy. I've stayed in San Bruno and Belmont, which are in southern SF bay area and they are not as foggy as the city.

The standard of living in SF is really expensive because 1) it's San Francisco and 2) it's in California. SF is near the Silicon Valley, where Google, Facebook, Apple, etc are so any career in technology and computers is going to be easy to find there.

Good Luck!

http://jamieinlondon.com

Mary,

Good luck in San Francisco! I am living in Mexico and I am from San Francisco, born and raised! San Francisco is known as the "city". There is fog in the city, but if you would like to live away from the fog, Portrero Hill is nice, The marina district, (very expensive) North Beach, or you might want to look outside of the city, San Bruno, San Mateo, Milbrae,(very nice), the upper Richmond district is nice, Cow hollow. Give that a try and it is one of the greatest cities in the world!

Jim

Hi,

There are many awesome place to live in San Francisco, in my opinion, it depend of the money you can pay for a rent.

I like the downtown cause it's every time sunny compare to the Richmond or SunSet. You can find amazing loft in SOMA and very cute houses in Castro.

I advice you to have a look on craigslist which is the best source to find a lease.

Good luck!

Sylvain

Hey,

I looked at your post and felt like I should give you some advice.  I have live all over San Francisco including outside the city and I'm not sure what your needs are but I will just give you some solid advice that anyone can use.

First of all if you're planning on spending lots of time in the city I recommend that you live in the city.  The bay area is not that easy to get around in by car and to be honest, though there is a great dill of different kinds of pubic transportation, it's not all easy to use in comparison to cities like Paris or New York and it's not all that reliable, oh and not cheap.  You can make it work if you were determined to live outside the city, but that's really not necessary unless you want to buy a house.  The bay area as a whole is not cheap so as a renter it's best to live in the city.  I did live in Alameda for a year and a half and I traveled everyday into the city for work and school and it was horrible.  To travel from Alameda, which is just over the Bay Bridge to San Francisco, it took an hour and a half and it was bumper to bumper in the morning.  Occasionally I took public transit, but sometimes I would be late even when I left the house two hours in advance.  I could have saved myself lots of trouble and money if I had just continued to live in the city. It's 4 dollars to cross the bay bridge and 5 to cross the Gold Gate and rising and if you want to have a car in the city it's like $20 a day to park it downtown, no joke.

Ok so with that lets talk about where to live in the city.  San Francisco has a ton of very different areas and when I say different I mean day to night in a very short distance.  So let me list all the different areas first, and than I will list pros and cons;  Park Presidio, Sunset district, Pacific Heights, Nob Hill, Union Square, Marina, Cow Hollow, Mission, Finical district, Noe Valley, and Haight-Ashburey, and that's not all of them but that's enough to talk about.

Yes living outside the city will lend itself to more room and parking but over all with travel and parking my car downtown it cost me more to live outside the city. 

So first let me go over an area of the city I wish I had never left. Park Presidio, it's music to my ears.  The Presidio is not technically run by the city of San Francisco though it is in the city, it is government owned property, which has some pluses and minuses.  Comparing dollar for square foot it's the best bargain in the city and because it's not owned by the city it's run like a national park which means no building, and that means a real back yard, trees, and nature.  The apartments and houses for rent are all built anywhere from 150 to 60 years ago so no new construction, however everything has been beautifully maintained.  Let me put it to you this way I had an ocean view with no large buildings around with two stories, and I paid $1000 a month with one other roommate who paid a little more than me that's a lot for your money in San Francisco speak. It's a great place for families, and nature lovers it's living in a park.  Downside, because it's government owner you cannot rent there if you have a criminal record and there is a waiting list to get on. To find out what's available just fill out a request from with the Park Presidio Office. Also you have to sign a contract stating that they can increase or decrease the rent at anytime of the lease.  If you want to get downtown it's a bit of a bus ride because it's the furthest north point of the peninsula.

Next on the list is the Sunset District and this area is not my favorite, but you should still consider it for a first time mover.  So the Sunset district sits right along Ocean Beach which means this area is also cloaked in fog and clouds, very chilly.  I would say it's the cloudiest area of the city. Pros, it's out of downtown, but there are lots of fast running MUNI lines from this area to downtown and because it's a straight shot it's easy to navigate. Big pro is the rent, its one, if not the best priced area in San Francisco better then the Presidio even, but no yards it's a bit more congested than that with out there being tall buildings, so houses next to houses.  One area in the Sunset I love is Clement Street it's also know as the new china town there are tons and tons of awesome places to eat and shop and it's way less crowded then the real china town.

Ok Pacific Heights this area is one of those coveted neighborhoods so if you want to live here you will pay. It is the most expensive area in the city, stars live here, it's beautiful, Victorian houses, great hang-outs, Fillmore St., parks, and it's not too busy while maintaining a close proximity to down town.  Most of the apartments are fair sized but your looking at upwards of 4000 for a two bedroom one bath. I lived here for a while and there is no parking so if you have a car you will get tickets, but it's beautiful.

Nob Hill is our next stop and this area is know for its close proximity to downtown while still feeling like a real, and safe neighborhood.  Much of this area is owned so the rich people tend to gather here there are places to rent and even at good prices, but I found it difficult to find something nice here that fit what I thought was a generous budget.   I might be wrong but it seems like because there are so many buyers in this area that the ones let to rent are kind of forgotten.  Moving on it's a quick bus ride to downtown from here and equally close to the Marina.  This area is up on the high hills so it has got some great views and it seems like the men and woman of San Francisco that like to live outside on the street don't come up to Nob Hill it's kind of a steep climb, and not all but most of the homeless stay drunk. So I would say this area is safe as far as the downtown neighborhoods go. I should also add that this area is quick nice and well kept.

Ok no more for now, because I'm not sure how helpful this is for you.  I really have a lot more to say about these areas and would be welling to tell you more if you like.  Also I didn't get to Union Square, Marina, Cow Hollow, Mission, Finical district, Noe Valley, and Haight-Ashburey, but I'm not sure how much I can upload at once. If you would like to know more please send me a message and I will replay with more info.

Importantly, unless you can afford to pay for a private school, definitely don't move to San Francisco if you have children.

yelp.com/biz/san-francisco-unified-school-district-san-francisco?hrid=6B1Ebk8EUvJn9beGzaVmUA#src:self

news.kron4.com/news/my-kron-4-story-frustration-mounts-over-san-francisco-school-choice-program/

news.kron4.com/news/my-kron-4-store-family-frustrated-with-sfusd-choice-program/

- Sausalito is quiet/safe/affordable (yes $2000 for an apartment is cheap for SF).
- South San Francisco is cheaper too, but you'd have to research the areas.
- Oakland is cheaper but not so safe and the commute can be a pain.
- In the city, I'd also recommend North Beach.

Most of the city itself though is very pricey and not so quiet. Hope this helps!

Definitely not the Mission district.

Do y'all think someone who asked this question in 2010 is still tuning in on here to decide where to live?