Moving to the BAY AREA/San Francisco, need some help/advice VOL: Filipino night @ Warriors Game

[artysm]

Cliffs first:

-Rent budget cap: $1800/mo

 (would rather spend below $1500 if possible) not including utilities, food, etc

-work in San Bruno

-Plan to take the Bart to work/around the city

-Places recommended to stay: Lake Merced area, Outer/Inner Sunset, Mission, Castro ( 

 ), "stay away from Oakland"

-Advice given as "avoid living in san bruno/daly city due to it being boring"

-Only been to the bay area 3 or 4 times in my life and never really for leisure

-where should I go to eat, chill, walking distance, etc

-Surfing: is it possible?  How cold are the waters?

-Should I bring my bike?

-Single, no kids, no wife aka places to acquire yambs
NT fam, I need some help.  So I'm moving to the bay area at the end of the month.  I accepted a job opportunity but don't have much knowledge on the bay area.  All I know is I like the weather, culture, people, etc from the minimal times I've visited which is why I accepted the offer.  Anyway, need some advice on where to live, what to look for, places I should go to or stay away from, do's and dont's, just a gist of the bay area in general.  I've had friends recommend to find a roommate but if I can find a place to live dolo, I would rather take that option.  However, I know parking may be difficult as not all places have free parking which leads to paying for a parking garage.  I plan to take the bart to work so any places close to bart stations would be helpful (also never ridden bart, any advice on buying pre-paid cards, paying as I go, etc).  How safe is the bart?  I hear nothing but good things about it so I feel it's pretty legit (with exception to news headlines of cops gunning down kids in Oakland).  I'd like to live car free if possible to get around the city, similar to Tokyo (if anyone has ever been, it's the closest experience I can relate it to).  I have a bike but not sure how often I'll use it as I assume most places in the bay are hilly, true?  Also, I'd like to surf but word is the waters are pretty damn chilly, is it worth bringing a board?  Single, no wifey or kids, bachelor style, so I'd like to live somewhat near places with a good nightlife.
Overall, I'd like to save as much money as possible and my budget cap is $1800 for me to still live comfortably but would rather spend under $1500 if possible.  I'd like a place where I can either walk or take public transportation to places like grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc everything you seen on an episode of House Hunters, no Frank Ocean.  

So NT bay area fam or former bay area heads, can you help out?

 

[cryingfreemancoa]

$1800 rent is ridiculous buddy. You must have a serious job to be considering that.

 

[i3allistic]

Get a car bro, MUNI suck but BART is ok, you can bike here in the city but biking to san bruno is gonna be a pain...also you can surf in the SUNSET district area but the water is cold as hell ...

 

[artysm]

Originally Posted by CryingFreemancoa

$1800 rent is ridiculous buddy. You must have a serious job to be considering that.

Trust me, I don't want to spend that by any means, I can get a house for that.  However, most of the places I was looking through (mainly padmapper) I had to keep upping the rent in order to get a place in the city (should I choose to live there).  Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by i3allistic

Get a car bro, MUNI suck but BART is ok, you can bike here in the city but biking to san bruno is gonna be a pain...also you can surf in the SUNSET district area but the water is cold as hell ...

Thanks for the advice but I plan to take the bart to work.  It's in the cliffs fam 

.  Why is Muni horrible?  Isn't SF around 7 square miles?  Just curious.

 

[i3allistic]

in that case, i think westlake area in daly city has some apartment for rent around your price range and its not too far from the bart station, good luck man 

 

[MetalMario]

god I remember my friends said "let's go to a warriors game" I was like cool, and turns out they specifically went to Filipino night ,making me even more token (mexican) than ever going while their all Filipino 

 

[decemberlove]

Originally Posted by artysm

Originally Posted by CryingFreemancoa

$1800 rent is ridiculous buddy. You must have a serious job to be considering that.

Trust me, I don't want to spend that by any means, I can get a house for that.  However, most of the places I was looking through (mainly padmapper) I had to keep upping the rent in order to get a place in the city (should I choose to live there).  Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by i3allistic

Get a car bro, MUNI suck but BART is ok, you can bike here in the city but biking to san bruno is gonna be a pain...also you can surf in the SUNSET district area but the water is cold as hell ...

Thanks for the advice but I plan to take the bart to work.  It's in the cliffs fam 

.  Why is Muni horrible?  Isn't SF around 7 square miles?  Just curious.

You risk your life every time you go on muni

Feels like the buses and trains are built from legos

 

[TheGodFresco]

Originally Posted by DecemberLove

Originally Posted by artysm

Originally Posted by CryingFreemancoa

$1800 rent is ridiculous buddy. You must have a serious job to be considering that.

Trust me, I don't want to spend that by any means, I can get a house for that.  However, most of the places I was looking through (mainly padmapper) I had to keep upping the rent in order to get a place in the city (should I choose to live there).  Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by i3allistic

Get a car bro, MUNI suck but BART is ok, you can bike here in the city but biking to san bruno is gonna be a pain...also you can surf in the SUNSET district area but the water is cold as hell ...

Thanks for the advice but I plan to take the bart to work.  It's in the cliffs fam 

.  Why is Muni horrible?  Isn't SF around 7 square miles?  Just curious.

You risk your life every time you go on muni

Feels like the buses and trains are built from legos

no

 

[ricky409]

Seems like SF >> la with them prices ...

Why is it so high there?

 

[ninerfaithful]

You working on that tunnel OP?

Ricky409, SF is higher because its more of a metropolis type city compared to LA

but yea Oakland isnt as bad as people make it, try it if you dont mind commuting farther.

Mission district is pretty much the Mexican district that's being gentrified by hipsters. Sunset is pretty chill also, its almost like a suburb compared to the rest of SF but still very populated. Lot's of Asian people in that area and it's easy to get around due to its grid formation. The Richmond district on the other side of the park is also nice too.

You can surf at Half Moon Bay, its like half hour south of where you work. Im pretty sure there are spots north in marin county.

Yea definitely bring your bike, SF has a good cycling infrastucture and there's just a good bike culture here overall. A little tough riding the hills in SF but there's ways around them.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

You could live in downtown Oakland and be good. It's West and East that you should keep clear of.

Surfing is probably unlikely in the Bay Area. If you have a car you can travel a bit down to Santa Cruz and enjoy the waves there. Bay Area water is just too cold.

 

[luong1209]

Originally Posted by ricky409

Seems like SF >> la with them prices ...

Why is it so high there?

It's a pretty condensed city. Plus, there's a lot to offer - Food, scenery, diversity, friendly folks and etc.


Best bet would be in South SF or Daly City if you'd like to rent. There are some cheap basements you could look for on Craigslist or newspapers.

 

[6dollaburger]

Art, try South City or San Bruno? hotpads.com... But maybe its just best if you try to lock a short term lease, then try to room up with some coworkers. My bro shares a house with coworkers in SSF and only comes out to $700 monthly, rent only.

 

[ricky409]

Originally Posted by Luong1209

Originally Posted by ricky409

Seems like SF >> la with them prices ...

Why is it so high there?

It's a pretty condensed city. Plus, there's a lot to offer - Food, scenery, diversity, friendly folks and etc.


Best bet would be in South SF or Daly City if you'd like to rent. There are some cheap basements you could look for on Craigslist or newspapers.

so cut and dry... which is better... San Fran or Los Angeles

 

[6dollaburger]

Originally Posted by ricky409

Originally Posted by Luong1209

Originally Posted by ricky409

Seems like SF >> la with them prices ...

Why is it so high there?

It's a pretty condensed city. Plus, there's a lot to offer - Food, scenery, diversity, friendly folks and etc.


Best bet would be in South SF or Daly City if you'd like to rent. There are some cheap basements you could look for on Craigslist or newspapers.

so cut and dry... which is better... San Fran or Los Angeles

I'm really considering moving back to LA (suburb though, likely Glendale area). I like the weather and access to beaches much better.

 

[esefcee]

if bart is gonna be your main mode of transportation sunset would be ruled out cuz bart is not within walkin distance at all. westlake would be better vicinity to daly city bart than lake merced and youd be right at the shopping area to eat but youd have to take bart to sf for nightlife and probably taxi it back. if you wanna live in the city close to good nightlife and places to eat id recommend around 16th st mission station. downside would be noise and the homeless people. i had friends who used to surf at ocean beach san francisco and linda mar in pacifica. pretty sure its cold but if its your thing im sure youd be allright.

 

[sfc415]

Originally Posted by ricky409

Originally Posted by Luong1209

Originally Posted by ricky409

Seems like SF >> la with them prices ...

Why is it so high there?

It's a pretty condensed city. Plus, there's a lot to offer - Food, scenery, diversity, friendly folks and etc.


Best bet would be in South SF or Daly City if you'd like to rent. There are some cheap basements you could look for on Craigslist or newspapers.

so cut and dry... which is better... San Fran or Los Angeles

Depends on what you like better. I like the feel of a real city, so SF works much better for me. I love being able to walk everywhere/take a $1.50 BART ride to wherever I need to go. That's why there are MANY NYC transplants over here, cause SF is basically a smaller version of NYC with better weather. Of course, some people can't stand cities and prefer large suburban sprawls like LA. I lived in San Jose for a while (basically a giant @#$ suburban city) and got tired of having to drive everywhere. Similar housing costs as SF+$240 of gas a month was not a good look, so LA (which is even more spread out) wouldn't work for me

    

 

[sfc415]

Also, 70 degrees year round might be good weather to 80% of the world, but to people who live in hotter climates like SoCal or Southern cities, the weather here always demands jackets. You can easily tell which people are from SF and NYC (the people who wear basketball shorts and flip flops when it's foggy and cold in the morning) versus the SoCal transplants (the people who wear peacoats whenever it drops below 75

 )

 

[tecca nena]

I would get a bart map and try to find a place walking distance from all the trains... That wont make you transfer when you go to work... It may be a longer ride but you can sleep the whole way every morning...

Berkeley and oakland are pretty good.. A lot of things to do and its just across the bridge from sf.. The only hilly parts are upper cassy residential if u wanna bike places..

 

[Fong$tarr]

^^^^So true. One time it was practically raining and my coworker comes in with a light jacket while others have like ski jackets.

Originally Posted by ricky409

Originally Posted by Luong1209

Originally Posted by ricky409

Seems like SF >> la with them prices ...



Why is it so high there?

It's a pretty condensed city. Plus, there's a lot to offer - Food, scenery, diversity, friendly folks and etc.


Best bet would be in South SF or Daly City if you'd like to rent. There are some cheap basements you could look for on Craigslist or newspapers.

so cut and dry... which is better... San Fran or Los Angeles

Apples and oranges. There is no clear cut winner but more so what you want in a living environment. So many factors come in from weather, cost, traffic, transportation, women, attitudes, etc. I grew up in the East Bay and no one I know would live in SF and mostly due to parking and not using a car. Having a car was who you are in the East Bay. To use public transportation was like being set back in life. Sounds dumb but some people are superficial like that. If you learn to live sowewhat frugal, enjoy the other things in life like just going out to eat in SF and getting drunk and stumbling back into your 300-500 square foot apartment well over a $1000, then SF is for you.

 

[Fong$tarr]

Originally Posted by tecca nena

I would get a bart map and try to find a place walking distance from all the trains... That wont make you transfer when you go to work... It may be a longer ride but you can sleep the whole way every morning...

Berkeley and oakland are pretty good.. A lot of things to do and its just across the bridge from sf.. The only hilly parts are upper cassy residential if u wanna bike places..

Berkeley is expensive. You just might get more for its worth but that is still a city of high value. Oakland near Lake Merrit is good. You can get a full one bedroom or huge studio that is 600-700 square foot for like $800-900.

Also depending on what you make, you can qualify for some sort of low income or assisted living. My friend did that and she pays a little over a $1000 but has a decent size one bedroom. It would normally cost I think $1300.

 

[flaming hot cheetos]

I live in Archstone SSF and if you apply for the rental program your rate for a 1bd 1 bth, washer/dryer etc will be under 1800 

   We got a starbucks downstairs, Costco and Trader Joes next door, a dry cleaning spot etc

-edit-

BART is right out my window

 

[sfc415]

Yup, I never use my car. I put less than 2.5K miles on my car in the past 12 months, and most of those miles came from visiting friends in Stockton/Santa Barbara. When my family moved out to San Jose, we were putting at least 10-11 K miles a year on our cars

 

[runningfishy]

so no car expenses in the bay?

1800 for rent is really high, but maybe ur job will compensate for that.

 

[sfc415]

Originally Posted by RunningFishy

so no car expenses in the bay?

1800 for rent is really high, but maybe ur job will compensate for that.

Depends where in SF you live. I live near a BART station, so I don't use my car unless I'm in a rush to get somewhere.