Only other city I'd recommend on the peninsula is San Carlos.
An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
31–38 of 38 posts
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#32I know the whole deal with hackers and such, but I consider myself a "hacker" FWIW, and that list sounds terribly boring.
Tech is fun and all, but man, all summer? Really? Where are the art gallery recommendations? Culture precints? Good music venues? I know a lot of that is personal taste, but there is far more to life than tech.
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#33I'd also recommend checking out the Bay Area's social dance scene (especially blues and swing and also especially, in my experience, in San Francisco), which not only is active and welcoming, but also has a high concentration of coders and other computer science people.
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#34One really nice thing about VTA light rail is that they have wifi now. It's still really slow, but that has helped tremendously. Also, if you are interning somewhere to the south, such as San Jose, there is now an express light rail line starting at the Santa Teresa station during commute times that is pretty speedy.
Protip: T-mobile has one of the more reasonable data policies. If you're somewhere with no WiFi, you just plug your phone (in my case, a MyTouch 4G) into your laptop and set it to tethering mode. After hitting your cap (200MB, 1GB, or 2GB), your connection slows down but is still quite usable. No overage charges, no kill switch (but alas, slow video). Likewise, when you are somewhere with WiFi but no cell phone signa…
You can do the same with Virgin Mobile (which uses Sprint's network) and probably Sprint also.
VMobile's plan is $25 for 300 minutes, unlimited data/text, throttled after hitting a similar cap.
Depending on where you travel, coverage may be better or worse than TMobile.
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#35Also don't forget: Lake Tahoe area, Berkeley, the East Bay regional parks, Yosemite.
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#36I know the whole deal with hackers and such, but I consider myself a "hacker" FWIW, and that list sounds terribly boring. Tech is fun and all, but man, all summer? Really? Where are the art gallery recommendations? Culture precints? Good music venues? I know a lot of that is personal taste, but there is far more to life than tech.
We have art galleries (see SF MOMA in particular), but the Bay Area is less about indoor venues and more about the incredible variety of natural beauty that is all around it.
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would imagine most interns are under 21 and thus cannot do most of these things. Though I do recommend visiting the Aquarium in Monterey, the Exploratorium and the California Academy of Sciences (During the day if you're under 21)
The Monterey Aquarium is fantastic, but if you can get down there and do only one thing, just keep going south on Hwy 1. Aquariums are everywhere. Big Sur and the CA coast is pretty unique in the US.
Yes, it's pretty awesome. One of the top five in the US, I'd imagine.
Re: An Intern Guide to a Summer in the Bay Area
#38This was a great article in general but I'd disagree with the advice to avoid the Tenderloin or the deep Mission. These areas can be actually affordable for people living on an intern's salary, with rents that are significantly cheaper than a comparable apartment in other districts. They also have some of the best food and dive bars you can find in the city at amazing prices. Go get Mexican anywhere south of 24th, Pakistani on Post, or breakfast at Dottie's on Jones and tell me I'm wrong. The neighborhoods are also close to public transit, the more interesting parts of the city (the TL is right next to Union Square for instance), and the offices of a lot of startups.
I lived in the middle of the Tenderloin (Hyde and Ellis) for 14 months and my startup's office is currently a block from "the most dangerous corner in the city" (Mission and 6th). My girlfriend lived in the deep Mission from age 6-10. I find I'm accosted for change significantly less often in the TL compared to the "richer" areas of the city. The way it seems to me, the homeless and drug addicted that frequent the TL are "at home" when there, when they "go to work" they head to the touristy areas where people have money to ask for.
The time I've spent in the TL has also been a great learning experience with regards to understanding less fortunate people. I've had a lot of really interesting (and quite a few rather weird) interactions with drug addicts, prostitutes, and homeless. They really aren't a group that needs to be feared. They're just people trying to figure out a way to live with the cards they were dealt and a lot really appreciate the chance to talk to someone and tell their story. Its how I learned heroin dealers don't accept coins.
These more gritty areas of the city aren't nearly as dangerous as people make them out to be. Yes, if you walk down a back alley without assessing beforehand you might run into a bad situation, but this is true anywhere in the city. Being street-smart is a necessary skill no matter where you live in SF. The illegal activity that occurs in these areas (drugs/prostitution) doesn't and won't involve you if you don't get involved with it.
I know I'm rambling and waxing philosophical, but I find myself regularly defending these neighborhoods cause people just don't give them a chance. Go get lunch in a "bad area" sometime, you'll be surprised.
Otherwise, great post. Forwarded to a friend who's about to move out after college.