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Move to SF and hate it?

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Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#151

Post by Psyonic »

tptacek wrote: post #18
geuis wrote: post #12

Moved here in May of '07. Never leaving. Love the people and the city. I've been to New York (born there, too) and hate it. Too big, noisy, and dirty. And the people are unfriendly as hell.

I've never really talked to anyone not from the east coast whose first impression of NYC wasn't horror. If you haven't been, it really is unlike anything you could imagine; even the nicest parts of the city seriously feel like a neglected warehouse of city parts haphazardly strewn about. But NYC makes up for that by being the most vibrant city in possibly the world. It can be very hard to take, but you're always awar…

I'm from the west and I liked NYC at first sight, although I think it'd probably be a bit much for me long term. Boston, though, was fantastic. Now I'm in the bay (still in temp housing, deciding where to live), so we'll see how it goes.

On the subject of horrific first impressions, though, Bangkok definitely fit the bill for me. Perhaps not as big as NYC, but dirtier, crazier, far less organized, everything in Thai (a problem for me, not for them), dogs everywhere, not just bums but homeless starving mothers with a little baby kneeling in the gutter, bugs... jesus, that was an experience.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#152

Post by _delirium »

The pro and related con to the Bay Area for me are that there are a lot of different cultures and lifestyles, and they're spread out over a fairly large geographical area. I live in Santa Cruz, which is way on the southern edge, probably not officially in the Bay Area at all, and I love it. I don't like the Valley or SF much. I don't know much about the East Bay, but I know people who love Berkeley. I think really there isn't all that much in common between San Francisco, Santa Clara, Berkeley, Oakland, Fremont, Santa Cruz, and Palo Alto, so there are relatively few generalizations you can make about the entire Bay Area. And within an hour drive to the north you've also got Marin County. Sure, there is some cultural overlap, but unlike many metropolitan areas, which have a city and suburbs, the Bay Area is pretty multipolar, and so you have to find the part of it that you like (if any).

Perhaps not a very helpful answer, sorry. =] But I think it really is hard to like or dislike the Bay Area as a whole for the same reasons.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#153

Post by [deleted] »

Psyonic wrote: post #149
lotusleaf1987 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm living on the border of Sunnyvale and Mtn. View at 23 years old, and it is depressing as hell. Absolutely nothing within walking distance that's worthwhile, no one remotely my age, nothing going on other than the farmer's market (forgive me for not being excited about it). There are some positives, but I had no clue how BORING this place was before I moved here. I'm moving to San Mateo or farther north ASAP, but…

Do you think downtown MV (Castro St, etc) is any better? I actually just moved to the area myself, but haven't found my own apartment yet, so this is quite pertinent for me.

[deleted]

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#154

Post by lotusleaf1987 »

Psyonic wrote: post #149
lotusleaf1987 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm living on the border of Sunnyvale and Mtn. View at 23 years old, and it is depressing as hell. Absolutely nothing within walking distance that's worthwhile, no one remotely my age, nothing going on other than the farmer's market (forgive me for not being excited about it). There are some positives, but I had no clue how BORING this place was before I moved here. I'm moving to San Mateo or farther north ASAP, but…

Do you think downtown MV (Castro St, etc) is any better? I actually just moved to the area myself, but haven't found my own apartment yet, so this is quite pertinent for me.

How old are you? It depends... maybe if you're 27 or older, but for me no way. I think San Mateo or further north is much better. The South Bay doesn't have nearly anyone my age it seems and there's nothing to do unless you want to go to a mall or BestBuy.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#155

Post by ancornwell »

_corbett wrote: post #89
percept wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything more you can share about Zurich? I know it ranked in the top three with Geneva in the last Mercer survey . . .

Sure-advantages include a great mixture of being near to much of Europe, a short train ride from the alps (I do lots of hiking in the summer, skiing in the winter), very high salaries, no poverty, great universities, intense work ethic, etc. I don't by any means need a car, and if I did there's Mobility (the Swiss analog to Zipcar). Disadvantages include having an older population, being small compared to New York, h…

Aren't swiss people allowed to buy fully automatic rifles?

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#156

Post by malyk »

seltzered wrote: post #140

I'm in austin, and I'm used to having fairly cheap living and no income taxes. I'm considering SF/bay area for hopefully better opportunities, more outdoors stuff (surf and snowboarding), and less driving. Here's what I noticed spending the last week working in SF, staying in outer richmond.: * Transit - Compared to Austin, any transit system that is used by more than just students or poor people is good. My one comp…

First off, the Outer Richmond is a pretty boring place to live. There is some stuff to do (it's better than the outer sunset...gah!), but not nearly as nice as living closer in.

As for mexican food...you tried two chain restaurants. People here (generally) don't eat at chains. I don't know where you were when you tried them, but if it's the outer richmond then you aren't likely finding good mexican. The mission is (oddly enough) packed full of very yummy taquerias. It's where the latino population lives and all.

Cost of living. It depends on what you want I guess. I had a place in the inner richmond that was $1675 for a 700ish sq foot place. It was perfect for a single guy. It was cramped for me, my girlfriend, and 3 cats. It was in a great location too. Now I pay $2200 to live in a huge loft in SoMA with a parking spot in the garage. Love the location. Check craigslist to see how housing prices are in the city (and surrounding area actually).

Coming from DC, food is the thing that I notice as being more expensive. Not necessarily at safeway...it's about the same, but restaurants are more expensive. Lunch out for me in the DC burbs was $6.50 or so (Potbelly, Baja Fresh, etc.). Here it's $10, but there aren't any chains around. Similar pricing happens for dinner. In DC (again at chains in the burbs mostly) I'd spend around $20 a meal. Here the average is probably $30. Not huge, but noticeable.

On the plus side, my gas and electric bill is super cheap. We pay $35-$45 a month for electricity and gas. Part of that is having huge west facing windows so we don't ever have to turn on the heat even in the winter. The other part is obviously not having A/C. My condo in virginia averages $161 a month for the year...I save a ton on electricity/gas here.

Cable cost the same. Renter's insurance is about the same. Car insurance is higher, but not unbelievably so (at least for me), gas is in the $3.15ish range right now per gallon.

If you have specific questions let us know and I'm sure someone will chime in.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#157

Post by michaelhalligan »

evgen wrote: post #104
michaelhalligan wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By diversity, do you mean "lots of people of different races and ethnic heritages live here in harmony" or do you mean "lots of ethnic food to eat"? Because I would call hijinx on the former, this city is pretty white, at least all of SOMA/FiDi, North Beach, NOPA, The Sunset, most of the Mission, most of the excelsior, and at least 70% of every other neighborhood is white. Having been here a decade I feel this city i…

Most of the Mission is white?!? I think you have been sampling a few of SF's other popular wares if you are this delusional.

I stand by this statement. There is one pocket of the Mission around 16th & Mission that's really diverse, and then say between Potrero and Bryant is mostly hisanic between 14th & Cesar Chavez

The rest of the Mission is pretty freaking white, especially since Bernal tends to be grouped into the same "Mission" umbrella.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#158

Post by michaelhalligan »

mtviewdave wrote: post #144
uuilly wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an SF resident I concur w/ most of what you're saying. For me it's not a deal breaker, but I can see how it could be. Almost every one of your bullet points can be explained by the phrase, "Liberalism gone nuclear." [Expensive] -> Rent control and Private property restrictions. Housing supply is limited w/ endless permits and restrictions on building additions or subdividing space. And rent controls not only creat…

>Rent control and Private property restrictions. San Francisco isn't expensive because of rent control. San Francisco is expensive because the entire SF Bay Area is expensive. Rent control doesn't help, but there are plenty of places in the Bay Area that have never had rent control, and yet are expensive (and indeed were expensive long before San Francisco was).

If rent control went away along with the Ellis act, in 5 years the average rent in San Francisco would be 15% lower than what it is today. Rent control very severely distorts both the rental and the real estate market in many direct and indirect ways.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#159

Post by michaelhalligan »

tptacek wrote: post #21
cageface wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with S.F. is that it's too much of a compromise. It's not big enough compete with New York or small enough to be as livable as Portland.

I've spent semi-serious time in Portland and have to say that it really seems to live up to the hype. I really like Portland.

Portland has most of the benefits of San Francisco with all of the drawbacks of Seattle. As gray as SF is, I don't understand how anybody lives in Seattle or Portland without committing suicide from the lack of sun.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#160

Post by geebee »

michaelhalligan wrote: post #157
evgen wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the Mission is white?!? I think you have been sampling a few of SF's other popular wares if you are this delusional.

I stand by this statement. There is one pocket of the Mission around 16th & Mission that's really diverse, and then say between Potrero and Bryant is mostly hisanic between 14th & Cesar Chavez The rest of the Mission is pretty freaking white, especially since Bernal tends to be grouped into the same "Mission" umbrella.

I don't want to come off as someone who is obsessed with noting the ethnic background of people in different parts of the city, but what you've said just doesn't square with my observations. I live near the outer mission (near the excelsior), and it is definitely not mainly white (nor is the excelsior). Then you're on mission as you pass the YMCA toward St Mary's park? Nope. Then as you go past Bernal... well, maybe a bit more, but not mainly. Cortland, sure, but not Mission. And then you go from Cesar Chavez through around 16th street, and no way. 16th street maybe a bit, but that's really more from Valencia through Church, not mission and south. And then beyond that, you go past the armory, right? And then becomes south of market...

Well, guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

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