Moving to San Francisco (help please!)

[renny]

Hey CP,

I was recently offered a position at a company in SF. I would like to move down there but being that I've lived in Canada my whole life I'd love some advice.

I believe my new company will take care of visas etc., so that's not a big deal.

I'm looking for recommendations on what areas to live. I want to be able to play hockey (I did find a couple leagues, one in San Jose). Are commute times bad? Am I better off living closer to work (Palo Alto), or should I commute?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Kavvy]

EDIT: nm, I read your OP wrong

[troutman]

I would live in the Marina District, but that is probably not ideal for getting to work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_..._San_Francisco

http://www.mtc.ca.gov/library/state_...eliability.pdf

http://www.trulia.com/voices/Traffic...Alto_wor-16064

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...palo-alto.html

[renny]

Originally Posted by troutman

I would live in the Marina District, but that is probably not ideal for getting to work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_..._San_Francisco

http://www.mtc.ca.gov/library/state_...eliability.pdf

http://www.trulia.com/voices/Traffic...Alto_wor-16064

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...palo-alto.html

Awesome thanks troutman, I was actually looking at the Marina, Mission, North Beach or Soma. Those are great links thanks again for the info!

[agubuan]

I live in the Mission. The commute is doable if you have a car. Good luck with finding a place to live in the city, you will need it.

[qiang]

city of eastern culture...good place

[Muta]

Originally Posted by qiang

city of Asian...good place

sum ting wong?

[qiang]

Originally Posted by Muta

sum ting wong?

i updated my post..otherwise you guys would relate to something called racXXXX

[AMG_G]

Super jealous...now that's a world class city. I would suggest Daly City since it's like a 10 minute drive to downtown SF and only about 30 minutes on the 101 to Palo Alto. Traffic looks bad but it moves fast. I was never stuck in gridlock type traffic at any time during the week I was down there. Get a motorbike it is legal to lane split in California.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by renny

Hey CP,

I was recently offered a position at a company in SF. I would like to move down there but being that I've lived in Canada my whole life I'd love some advice.

I believe my new company will take care of visas etc., so that's not a big deal.

I'm looking for recommendations on what areas to live. I want to be able to play hockey (I did find a couple leagues, one in San Jose). Are commute times bad? Am I better off living closer to work (Palo Alto), or should I commute?

Any help would be appreciated.

Yeah man... I'm super jealous as well. I was once supposed to go do my masters in the bay area.

Sniff...

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by renny

Hey CP,

I was recently offered a position at a company in SF. I would like to move down there but being that I've lived in Canada my whole life I'd love some advice.

I believe my new company will take care of visas etc., so that's not a big deal.

I'm looking for recommendations on what areas to live. I want to be able to play hockey (I did find a couple leagues, one in San Jose). Are commute times bad? Am I better off living closer to work (Palo Alto), or should I commute?

Any help would be appreciated.

PM Phanuthier - he did the move down there a number of years ago and probably has a lot of good advice.

[troutman]

My friends in SF refer to San Ramon as San Remote.

[Table 5]

Man, SF is the new place to be. Ive had no less than a dozen friends move there (mostly from NYC) in the last 2-3 years. The place is hopping.

The one thing I did notice there is that the silicon valley suburbs there are further away than you think. Even if you go against traffic, it would take quite a while to do the SF > Palo Alto commute. But then, you might not be able to afford Palo Alto anyway....the prices there are beyond ridiculous.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Further to what Table 5 said, yes, you will simply not be able to afford to live in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Not saying that there aren't perfectly nice spots nearby, but those are for the elite of an already wealthy area. San Rafael/Marin County is also likely out of the question.

I would suggest you stay away from anything in the East Bay that isn't Berkeley, and only live there if you want to be a hipster or flat out hippie.

Just about everything on the Peninsula is nice, but the commute will likely involve the 101 which can be problematic at the best of times. We live in Foster City and very much enjoy it. It's quiet, safe, and has nice places to live, but it is still kinda expensive.

San Mateo is ok, but all of Redwood City, Belmont, and Burlingame are wonderful little communities.

In the city itself; there are plenty of characters and dirtier areas, but most of the city is really nice. Noe Valley and Sunset are nice, Richmond is nice but bordering on pricey, and The Mission is cool if you want a livelier scene. Russian Hill is another good choice. Sea Cliff, Pacific Heights, and Marina are gorgeous but similar to Palo Alto in terms of price. The Castro is the gay area if you are of that persuasion. Stay away from the Tenderloin at all costs. SOMA (South of Market) is good if you are single and are ok with a smaller apartment. Really you can't go wrong but pricing is high all over the city and the culture is pretty good all over. Really fun city if you can afford it, but parking and traffic are almost a constant headache. Make sure your place has a parking spot or a garage. You'll thank me later.

San Jose has some nice spots, but there is also some violence problems there too, so make sure you're in a good community if you decide on that as an option. I'm not familiar enough to say what is good or bad there.

Best of luck to you, and welcome to one of the best places to live in the world!*










*If you can afford it.

[qiang]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Further to what Table 5 said, yes, you will simply not be able to afford to live in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Not saying that there aren't perfectly nice spots nearby, but those are for the elite of an already wealthy area. San Rafael/Marin County is also likely out of the question.

I would suggest you stay away from anything in the East Bay that isn't Berkeley, and only live there if you want to be a hipster or flat out hippie.

Just about everything on the Peninsula is nice, but the commute will likely involve the 101 which can be problematic at the best of times. We live in Foster City and very much enjoy it. It's quiet, safe, and has nice places to live, but it is still kinda expensive.

San Mateo is ok, but all of Redwood City, Belmont, and Burlingame are wonderful little communities.

In the city itself; there are plenty of characters and dirtier areas, but most of the city is really nice. Noe Valley and Sunset are nice, Richmond is nice but bordering on pricey, and The Mission is cool if you want a livelier scene. Russian Hill is another good choice. Sea Cliff, Pacific Heights, and Marina are gorgeous but similar to Palo Alto in terms of price. The Castro is the gay area if you are of that persuasion. Stay away from the Tenderloin at all costs. SOMA (South of Market) is good if you are single and are ok with a smaller apartment. Really you can't go wrong but pricing is high all over the city and the culture is pretty good all over. Really fun city if you can afford it, but parking and traffic are almost a constant headache. Make sure your place has a parking spot or a garage. You'll thank me later.

San Jose has some nice spots, but there is also some violence problems there too, so make sure you're in a good community if you decide on that as an option. I'm not familiar enough to say what is good or bad there.

Best of luck to you, and welcome to one of the best places to live in the world!*










*If you can afford it.

lmao@if u can afford IT
money is a big issue

[renny]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

PM Phanuthier - he did the move down there a number of years ago and probably has a lot of good advice.

Yea, he's been super helpful in PM. I definitely owe him a beer or three when I make the move.

Originally Posted by Table 5

Man, SF is the new place to be. Ive had no less than a dozen friends move there (mostly from NYC) in the last 2-3 years. The place is hopping.

The one thing I did notice there is that the silicon valley suburbs there are further away than you think. Even if you go against traffic, it would take quite a while to do the SF > Palo Alto commute. But then, you might not be able to afford Palo Alto anyway....the prices there are beyond ridiculous.

I was originally looking in Palo Alto, but was advised against it since I'm relatively young. My new colleagues have been telling me to live in the city itself rather than in the burbs.

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Further to what Table 5 said, yes, you will simply not be able to afford to live in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Not saying that there aren't perfectly nice spots nearby, but those are for the elite of an already wealthy area. San Rafael/Marin County is also likely out of the question.

I would suggest you stay away from anything in the East Bay that isn't Berkeley, and only live there if you want to be a hipster or flat out hippie.

Just about everything on the Peninsula is nice, but the commute will likely involve the 101 which can be problematic at the best of times. We live in Foster City and very much enjoy it. It's quiet, safe, and has nice places to live, but it is still kinda expensive.

San Mateo is ok, but all of Redwood City, Belmont, and Burlingame are wonderful little communities.

In the city itself; there are plenty of characters and dirtier areas, but most of the city is really nice. Noe Valley and Sunset are nice, Richmond is nice but bordering on pricey, and The Mission is cool if you want a livelier scene. Russian Hill is another good choice. Sea Cliff, Pacific Heights, and Marina are gorgeous but similar to Palo Alto in terms of price. The Castro is the gay area if you are of that persuasion. Stay away from the Tenderloin at all costs. SOMA (South of Market) is good if you are single and are ok with a smaller apartment. Really you can't go wrong but pricing is high all over the city and the culture is pretty good all over. Really fun city if you can afford it, but parking and traffic are almost a constant headache. Make sure your place has a parking spot or a garage. You'll thank me later.

San Jose has some nice spots, but there is also some violence problems there too, so make sure you're in a good community if you decide on that as an option. I'm not familiar enough to say what is good or bad there.

Best of luck to you, and welcome to one of the best places to live in the world!*

*If you can afford it.

Thanks for all the advice, this is super helpful, I never even thought of parking. All the rentals I've seen say parking isn't a problem. So thank you for the advice, sounds like parking is a bigger problem than some landlords make it out to be.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by qiang

lmao@if u can afford IT
money is a big issue

Are you suggesting the original poster can't? What do you know about his situation that he doesn't? Or are you going to provide us with more irrelevant 'I'm from China' insight again?

[qiang]

Originally Posted by Muta

Are you suggesting the original poster can't? What do you know about his situation that he doesn't? Or are you going to provide us with more irrelevant 'I'm from China' insight again?

i am from China .your from new Zealand
big country and small.country
lol

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by qiang

i am from China .your from new Zealand
big country and small.country
lol

I am from Canada .your from China
big country and small.country
lol

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by qiang

i am from China .your from new Zealand
big country and small.country
lol

I am from Canada, subjectively my country it bigger.