What's life like in San Francisco?

Question

I am thinking about moving to SF in the late summer for work. I currently work for an investment trust in London but need a break and I think the bay area, especially SF may cut it for me career wise as well as quality-of-life wise.

What can you tell me about extracurricular activies in SF, bars/clubs, places to visit, museums etc? I'd rather hear it from people who actually live there or have been than instead of googling it.

Many thanks!

Answer 1

San Francisco is fast-paced and often very crowded. Parking is difficult, if not impossible to find, and the city is very expensive to live in. On the bright side though, public transportation is easily assessable, there are plenty of beautiful museums such as the De Young, MOMA, and Legion of Honor (my favorite!). The beaches are also gorgeous, especially at sunset. If you like shopping, there are hundreds of stores,from bargain shops to high price fashion. There is always plenty to see and do. There are festivals almost every month, especially near holidays. If you're looking for bars, the city has everything from sports bars to Irish pubs and everything in between. Pretty much anything you can dream of or be interested in is in San Francisco. Again be warned though, that it is very very expensive. A studio apartment can be $1,000 a month to rent easily, and a home with a garage is rare. Usually you have to pay for a parking permit that allows you to park on the street, yet you still end up parking blocks away since there are no free spaces. Most people I know work in San Francisco, but live in the outlying cities. The East Bay and parts of the South Bay are very nice and far less congested. They are also far less expensive.

Answer 2

The climate is excellent year round-- you'll have t-shirt weather in December, very often. SF proper can get a bit colder in the summer than you'd think, but if you're used to snow you'll have no problems (snow is a once every couple of decades sky is falling event.)

It is one of the most expensive places to live in the US, but it won't be any more expensive than London. Unless you're taking a pay cut in moving you'll have nothing to worry about.

There is a tremendous amount of parkland and open space in and around the city (there are national parks on both sides of the golden gate bridge, for example). You're never far from gorgeous scenery. Highway 1 (which parallels the coast) is probably the most beautiful drive on earth.

SF is arguably the most progressive, left leaning place in the United States.

SF itself is physically smaller than London (the city itself has only about 750,000 people, the whole metropolitain area about 5,000,000). There's a lot to do in the city, though there may be relatively less than in Londom--we don't have anything that quite measures up to the British Museum, unfortunately, but there are plenty of good art museums, and a very good maritime museum (I used to work there). Not hard to find a bar.

All in all a very pleasant place to live. Hope you enjoy it.

Answer 3

Any were in the USA is expensive but San Fransisco is well worth the money, it never snows it is never over 100 degrees, you can dance til 8 am u can surf, dive, bike ride, hike, take a cable car, sit at 4th and market and people watch, a melting pot so anything you like to do or eat is available at your wish, things are hopping every day, golden gate park stretches for miles.the zoo is fun. Castro st has guys u wouldn't see in shiner Texas, and the are happy. It is open city 2007 not 1967.I say let live, what ever you do.and here we are so close to places like napa, Santa Cruz, the giant sequoia's and redwood forest's,and to watch the sunsets on the beach is to die for some times
I have lived all over and once you get used to the humidly Hawaii is the only other place i would live.but every time i travel i sing the Dean martin song I LEFT MY HEART IS SAN FRANSISCO listen to those words. since it is not a big city you don't have to travel 60 miles to go from one place to another like southern california

Answer 4

HEY!

I LOVE LIVING HERE.

FIRST OFF, WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO TAKE A BREAK FROM LONDON?

IF ITS BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER, HIGH COST OF LIVING, OR FAST PACE...SAN FRANCISCO PROBALLY WOULDN'T BE THE BEST FOR YOU.

WEATHER: WE GET OVER 250 DAYS OF SUNSHINE, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'LL BE WARM. EVEN IN THE SUMMER (HIGH 60'S/LOW70'S).

HIGH COST OF LIVING: SAN FRANCISCO IS THE SECOND MOST EXPENSIVE CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, RIGHT BEFORE NEW YORK CITY.

FAST PACE: IT'S A PRETTY BIG CITY IN A SMALL AREA 7X7 MILES, SO THERE'S LOTS OF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.

------------

IF YOU SAID NO TO THOSE THREE POINTS THEN SAN FRANCISCO WOULD BE A NICE PLACE FOR YOU!

IF YOU SAID YES THEN YOU SHOULD LOOK INTO SAN DIEGO!

THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD RESTAURANTS OF EVERY CUISINE. THE CITY IS BEAUTIFUL, IT'S BUILT OVER 40 HILLS AND VIEWS ARE AROUND EVERY CORNER. SAN FRANCISCO HAS SOME OF THE BEST NIGHTLIFE IN THE USA. THERE ARE MANY PLACES ALL AROUND SAN FRANCISCO FOR HIKING. THE COASTLINE IS BEAUTIFUL. THERE ARE MANY DAY TRIPS YOU CAN TAKE.

IF YOU HAVE MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME!

Answer 5

I had been in San Francisco just in time for Thanksgiving and the Christmas season in 2005.

The cost of living in San Francisco is highest not only in the California area but the whole of the USA at 8.5%. Rental would cost $1.000+++ for a studio type room. However, the advantage here is that you can survive without a car. There Muni bus is everywhere and you can keep your ticket and transfer other bus with different routes for free as long as it is within 2 hours of your ticket. So keep your ticket! The BART ( Bay Area Rapid Transport) is a commuter train from San Francisco bringing passengers to the Contra Costa County ( Oakland, Martinez, Concord, Pittsburgh, Antioch, La Fayette, etc).

Parking is definitely expensive so residents prefer to ride the bus when shopping downtown or either go nearby to Daly City where parking is better. People from the Contra Costa County who works in San Francisco usually leave their cars in the BART stations.

It is the only place in California which is map friendly, meaning you can travel on your own just with the map. Unlike other places such as LA, San Diego which are so widespread.
First ride the cable car in Powell St., it will pause for the postcard view of Alcatraz, this ends in Fisherman's wharf. Ride the BART also at Powell street. I suggest taking a round trip so that you can see the extent of the Contra Costa County.

Take a double decker tour of the city! There are other tours available at the Fisherman's wharf like trip to Sausalito, Monterey, even the Golden Gate Bridge, the wine counties like Sonoma and Napa. Better register before you take your lunch at the Fisherman's wharf. They wait until enough people are registered. Chinatown is the place where you can buy souvenirs like miniature cable cars. You can also buy souvenirs at the Fisherman's Wharf.

Better be sure that you get a job first or take a weekend at this place before deciding whether you want to relocate or not. In 2005, I found out that I love San Francisco but have to choose other places because the cost of living is really really HIGH . I explored California from North to South.

At around 4pm, the streets seems so quiet! Even at the areas where the restaurants are! The areas are quiet even at 11pm. You always seem to be all alone in this world when you are here. I dont hear any buzzling unlike here in the Philippines.

I had studied the 50 US States through Microsoft Encarta for kids, Yahoo travel and even with the help of Yahoo answers.

When you go to Yahoo travel, go to travel guides, then go over and click San Francisco. All places presented usually have to 10 popular attractions at the bottom of the page and a slideshow of the place at the upper part.

Better think it a thousand times! I have a friend whose family is from San Francisco but relocates over at nearby Bay areas when they have their own family. It is really EXPENSIVE!!!