do you live in San Fransisco?

Question

I'm thinking I might want to live there, how do ya like it?..what are the pros and cons? thanks.

Answer 1

You can't beat the weather. There are some wonderful day trips like Sausalito, Napa/Sonoma, Half Moon Bay, Monterey, etc. You can drive up to Tahoe or down to Central CA in a weekend. I don't agree that traffic is a problem. Parking is a problem. The restaurants here are amazing and great wine, too. I find that the city shuts down early, it isn't like NYC where you can order smokes and a hammer at 3a or where you can party till sunrise (probably only a few exceptions). Shopping here completely rocks and people love to come visit you from out of state so we have houseguests galore which can be a lot of fun.

If your out of town guests need a hotel expect it to be around $150 as the floor in price per night and then, if they have a rental car, the hotel will charge $20-$40 daily to park it. In this instance I recommend checking craigslist for furnished sublets or short term rentals. The architecture in SF is so unique and the public transport serves the entire city pretty well so this is a more charming option than a standard hotel. SFO is an international airport and SJC is a tiny one but you can find good fares at both for all sorts of places. You can go to Hawaii or Mexico, but Europe is a killer flight because it is so long.

Renting and buying are both very expensive. We paid $2200 for a small 1 bedroom with hardwoods, dishwasher, laundry, and a garage. You could pay less obviously but studios start at $1000 and you pay more for quirkiness (which is valued here). In general, people in California are flakes (it can be true that at work they show up at 10 leave at 4 kind of thing). When you are at a party and you ask someone what they do they will tell you, "travel, snowboarding, I like to eat at great restaurants." In other parts of the country people will tell you where they work when asked this question. It is great that people are so laid back here.

I have a lot of acquaintances but real friends are hard to find. People in San Francisco proper tend to have a very small 'sphere' - ie they don't know there is a world outside the 10 bocks they live in. This is related to the fact that a bunch of narcissists and deviants live here. There was a South Park episode about this and, not only was it funny, it was spot on. Essentially, in the episode everyone drove a Prius and thought their own farts smelled great. Either way, I have made some remarkable friendships - you just have to filter through the ******* (this is easy because they all live in specific neighborhoods).

Anyway, these are all generalizations and you'll want to form your own impressions. I believe that if you are going to live in the Bay Area you should live in SF proper or what is the point of pissing away all that money? (at leat have a good adventure!) My thoughts are that, if you have children, move to Middle America or the East Coast where they will actually get a good education. If you are a hard core conservative and hate social programs and homelessness, you may have a difficult time here at times. This city makes a lot of sense for people who are between 25-35 yo. Hope all of that helps. I know I focused on the negatives in this post but I do love the city - in fact, I juts bought a house here but it is probably only a fit for me for the next 10 years. In the meantime, it has been amazing for my career. Email me if you have other specific questions.

Answer 2

pros- amazing weather, gorgeous city and surrounding areas, lots to do, museums, tons of career opportunities, fun different neighborhoods, diverse, animal friendly, amazing fabulous shopping, great restaurants, fun to just walk around and explore, fun street fairs like the union street festival and fillmore jazz festival (both in the summer), farmers market near market street, fleet week is fun (blue angels), ferry rides, steps of rome in north beach has fabulous vodka farfalle pasta, its amusing to watch tourists, people watching, its just fabulous

cons- traffic is not horrible but it sucks, parking is expensive when you cant find street parking, cost of living in general is expensive, there are some snobby people, there are some rude people, parking tickets, learn how to paralell park on a very steep hill

Answer 3

I used to work there, as a motor courier. It is a great city I moved to Sacramento 27 years ago and still try to visit at least once a month.

Answer 4

it rocks. there is life, city sounds, sparkles, lights and it is a great place to live, catch a break, or have a career.

Answer 5

cons-traffic, traffic, traffic

pros-shopping, jobs, baseball games