★ One Year in San Francisco: Geography, Price, City-Life

Geography, Price, City-Life

Most of the people I’ve spoken to that are dead set on moving to SF are between the ages of 17 and 26 and they have an interest in technology. In my opinion, they’re already half way on being qualified to live in SF, but a great number of these people also come from small towns, just like me, and coping with the changes between rural living and city living can be scary.

Night one in SF, we flew in late and our apartment wasn’t available until the following day so we stayed at the Adelaide Hostel. I’ve been staying in this hostel since 2005 on a yearly basis and it’s the most affordable and clean hostel I’ve ever experienced. Single beds are $30 a night which is about 10% of what most hotels cost in the city and they have free wi-fi and breakfast. I came to SF mid-May to scout out an apartment and see what our options are but that trip turned out to be a waste. Apartment hunting on Craigslist is easy (sometimes) and you can reserve an apartment over the web since most landlords are tech savvy and emailing a PDF of an agreement is very common.

If you have the cash and a guaranteed job, move now. When I came to SF, it was at the very peak of a web 2.0 bubble. Vacant housing in SF was under 2% and it wasn’t normal to see someone with a great resume not have a job. Most companies were hiring and things were booming. As we all know, Fall of 2008 was a collapse on a global scale and finding a job in SF this summer is nearly impossible but if you land a job, I’m happy to say that housing is dirt cheap and there are plenty of choices available. I’m saying “dirt cheap” from a San Franciscan point of view but it’s still twice as much as you’re paying back in rural America. As an example, I lived in a middle-of-the-road beach town back in Florida. It wasn’t the hustle that I’ve seen in SF but there are enough tourists and enough sunny days to make beach front houses cost upwards of 10 million. However, our rent on a 2 bedroom, multi-level town home built in 2007 was only $750 a month. In comparison, we are now paying $1600 a month for a 250 square foot studio apartment in downtown SF. Better deals can be had but don’t expect to pay less than $700 a month for a room in a house full of people. I chose to have my own space with privacy and I paid extra for that.

Living downtown has had advantages but there are downsides as well. Most startups are in SOMA or the Financial District so being near the action is great. I can walk or bike to work without taking the bus or subway, where most that live in The Mission, Potrero Hill, Hayes Valley or Haight have to find a way into town or walk for half an hour twice a day. If you are starting your own company or working freelance, there’s a huge value in being in the center of what’s happening but that’s the only advantage of living downtown.

In my opinion, live outside of downtown and deal with the 15 minute bus ride twice a day because you’ll save money and live a more fulfilling life outside of work. Not a week goes by that I don’t see someone publicly using the restroom and I never know if water on the sidewalk is from light rain or someone’s urine. I’ve stepped in human excrement as well and that’s never fun. I can’t unload groceries without being asked by a homeless person if they can have some food and even finding a parking spot to unload my groceries is nearly impossible and usually results in double parking and throwing bags of groceries to Laura as she props open the gate that enters into our apartment. There are two dance clubs near our house so drunk club goers stumble around when we go food shopping Friday and Saturday nights.

Other disadvantages include noise, traffic, crime, poverty and never having a moment alone. If you like to have 20 feet of personal space, downtown living isn’t for you and it took about 3 months for me to adjust to having no space. All of this is outweighed by the convenience of living 4 blocks from Twitter and 6 blocks from Myspace’s SF office. Google is 0.9 miles away and Friendster operates at the apartment above mine. Living downtown sounds great but it’s still equally as bad as it is good.

My advice: Get a one-month short-term rental downtown and try it out while you search for apartments that aren’t downtown. This will give you a chance to get the Web 2.0 fanboy-ness out of your system, soak up the city life and learn the bus routes. After two weeks of noisy streets and sleepless nights, you’ll be happy to have some peace and quiet in the west side of town.

Geographically, SF is great! I’d like to point out a few things you might find interesting.

Half an hour drive from wine tasting
15 minute drive to SFO
One hour from Apple, Google, Microsoft, HP, Cisco, NVIDIA and thousands of other companies that shape our lives
2 hours from skiing in Lake Tahoe
3 hours from gambling in Reno
3-5 hours from Yosemite National Park
1.5 hours from Santa Cruz
A solid 6-10 hour drive from Portland and Seattle

You can wine taste, surf at Maverick’s and ski the slopes all in the same day. That’s why SF has been a ton of fun. I love having the ability to hop on a bike and ride 30 miles up to Marin for epic views of the city and amazing parks. If I ride 65 miles, I find myself near wineries and I can always take a 40 minute ferry ride back to SF if I’m too tired to bike home.

An underground subway called BART connects me from SF to SFO and “East Bay.” I’m 10 minutes from having coffee in Berkley and 25 minutes on BART from being at the airport and the fare is only $5.50. BART is the easiest way to get around to many of the places that you need to go. If you’re from the country, “public transit” or “mass transit” isn’t something you hear everyday, but in big cities it makes getting around very easy. BART connects most of the “East Bay” to a small portion of “South Bay” and SF is right in the middle. A BART train ride is a mix of above ground and underground and a ride from SFO all the way to Walnut Creek is cheaper (after paying tolls), and usually faster, than driving—especially during business hours. BART wins in my book.

CalTrain is another form of mass transit and an option for people who need to travel a little further, but it’s also limited. CalTrain starts in SF and all of the way down to San Jose, which can take over an hour, by train or car. CalTain fares are based on the number of zones that are traveled. An average one-way ticket is around $6 or $12-$15 for a day pass, but when you consider traffic and the cost of parking, gas and maintaining a car, it’s actually a great deal. CalTrain travels alongside the interstate and even has a top level that elevates you about 15 feet from the ground. It’s slightly pricier than BART, but goes further south and is a little faster and more convenient.

Honestly, BART and CalTrain are evenly matched and are excellent forms of mass transit.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), a.k.a. “MUNI,” is most commonly heard in SF because it’s how most locals get around within city limits. MUNI consists of busses, streetcars, underground and aboveground rail cars and the world famous cable car system. All MUNI fares are $1.50, except cable cars, which are $5 for a single ride (it’s a tourist thing). You can buy a monthly pass for $45-$65, giving you unlimited rides for the month. The system is 24/7, but after 2AM, service is very limited. No public transit is perfect, however, MUNI has a ton of problems with scheduling, speed, cleanliness and overall quality of service.

When I moved to the city, I attempted to use cabs, which was a complete fail. Taxis Cab fares start at $3.20 as soon as your butt hits the seat, and a 2 mile ride can easily cost $12, so unless you’re late to a meeting, don’t bother. On the other hand, that same 2 miles on MUNI can take 45 minutes, depending on what part of the city you’re in, so and walking to your destination is can be faster (and free). A lot of people don’t like walking, but when paying $12 or taking an hour to get somewhere are your only options, a brisk walk is a hell of a lot more appealing.

I always strive for getting the most bang for my buck so I bought a bicycle and started riding everywhere. It was challenging at first, with the amount of steep hills, but soon my body adapted and it’s been a terrific way to begin and end the day. I get exercise and arrive at my location right after a taxi cab would have arrived. It’s a hell of a lot faster than MUNI and I’m not spending any money. I’d recommend a bicycle to anyone. If you can be safe and obey traffic laws, it’s a perfect way to get around.

My investment in a bike will pay off in under 2 years. It isn’t immediate, but the health benefits of owning a bike and the time saved are huge returns. My bike is the best purchase I’ve made since moving to SF. MUNI is fine, but invest in a bike, if possible.