Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 27 posts

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#11

Post by martian »

yrashk wrote: post #5
ojbyrne wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that's old news (at least the real estate part of it). All that marginal space has been turned into paying real estate. Not only in SF but in just about every slightly expensive city in North America. There was an article last week in the NYT about garages and what they add to the value of a property in Manhattan. Its in the millions. Chances are, if you pay a million extra for a garage, at the very least, you…

Thanks! I am currently in a hotel in SOMA, but think to move a little bit southwest I guess — I don't want to spend more than $500/wk for rent, and housing is really a bit crazy in SF ;)

You can definitely find a place cheaper than $500/wk in SF. I live in the city, and pay way less than that.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#12

Post by rms »

yrashk wrote: post #5
ojbyrne wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that's old news (at least the real estate part of it). All that marginal space has been turned into paying real estate. Not only in SF but in just about every slightly expensive city in North America. There was an article last week in the NYT about garages and what they add to the value of a property in Manhattan. Its in the millions. Chances are, if you pay a million extra for a garage, at the very least, you…

Thanks! I am currently in a hotel in SOMA, but think to move a little bit southwest I guess — I don't want to spend more than $500/wk for rent, and housing is really a bit crazy in SF ;)

I would recommend roommates. 3/4 bedrooms are a lot cheaper per person than 1 bedrooms and you get a porch.

If you post that you're looking for roommates here I expect you will find some. Or http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/roo/

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#13

Post by DabAsteroid »

breck wrote: post #8
mriley wrote: post #6

The Mission has a pretty high concentration of young people, and a lot of the startup people I know live around there. Rent in the area may be more reasonable than elsewhere but not by much, given its popularity. If you aren't here permanently you might try the Sublets/Temporary Housing section of Craigslist - I had good luck there, and you should be able to find something for less than $500/wk.

500 per week?? so less than 2k per month? that seems pretty pricey...about to move into the mission and paying 800/mo.

500 per week??

The high rents in SF are caused by rent control.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-274.html

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#14

Post by iamelgringo »

If you're looking for places to live, I really like San Jose. Sure, it's not, The City(tm), but down town does have a lovely little, urban lite feel to it. There are plenty of working class people and plenty of hackers in the area. It's not the sexy place to live, but heck, for what people are paying for a one bedroom apartment up in SF, I'm getting a 4 bed/2 bath house with a yard and an office big enough for 3 people. And, if I want to go up to Yoshi's and hear some really great jazz, it's only 80 minutes away.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#15

Post by rms »

DabAsteroid wrote: post #13
breck wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

500 per week?? so less than 2k per month? that seems pretty pricey...about to move into the mission and paying 800/mo.

500 per week?? The high rents in SF are caused by rent control. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-274.html

Supply and demand also may be a factor.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#16

Post by tlrobinson »

Either San Francisco proper (especially SOMA), or around Palo Alto / Mountain View would be my suggestions.

Most of the meetup type events I've been to have been in SF. Lots of startups are based in SF too (of the winter 2008 YC companies I think only a handfull are still in the valley, the rest are in SF or elsewhere).

Startups seem to congregate in or near SOMA in particular. The three SF JS meetups I've been to have been in SOMA: Hi5, SlideShare, and Serious Business. Also: Twitter (and their old office's new residents, Get Satisfaction), Engine Yard, and numerous YC companies like Disqus, SnapTalent, Xobni, Justin.TV. And lots of others I would probably know about if I actually lived up there.

But the valley is great too. Of course there's lots of startups there as well. Palo Alto and Mountain View are both quite nice. But be careful because there are lots of boring suburban and strip mall type areas in Silicon Valley.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#17

Post by mriley »

breck wrote: post #8
mriley wrote: post #6

The Mission has a pretty high concentration of young people, and a lot of the startup people I know live around there. Rent in the area may be more reasonable than elsewhere but not by much, given its popularity. If you aren't here permanently you might try the Sublets/Temporary Housing section of Craigslist - I had good luck there, and you should be able to find something for less than $500/wk.

500 per week?? so less than 2k per month? that seems pretty pricey...about to move into the mission and paying 800/mo.

I was referring to the price he stated in his original post (he said he didn't want to pay more than $500/wk). I'm living in the mission now and paying much less than $500/wk (but I have 4 roommates).

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#18

Post by dmpayton »

iamelgringo wrote: post #14

If you're looking for places to live, I really like San Jose. Sure, it's not, The City(tm), but down town does have a lovely little, urban lite feel to it. There are plenty of working class people and plenty of hackers in the area. It's not the sexy place to live, but heck, for what people are paying for a one bedroom apartment up in SF, I'm getting a 4 bed/2 bath house with a yard and an office big enough for 3 peop…

+1 on this.

I recently took a job at a startup in Campbell, and the San Jose area is really nice. It's not as expensive at SF, but it's still "bay area".

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#19

Post by ojbyrne »

martian wrote: post #11
yrashk wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! I am currently in a hotel in SOMA, but think to move a little bit southwest I guess — I don't want to spend more than $500/wk for rent, and housing is really a bit crazy in SF ;)

You can definitely find a place cheaper than $500/wk in SF. I live in the city, and pay way less than that.

Yep. I lived (alone) in a studio in Potrero Hill, $1050 a month.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#20

Post by yrashk »

Frocer wrote: post #9

We just moved our startup to the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago :) My partner and I found a temporary place in Mountain View for the next few weeks while we look for a more permanent place -- but everyone has recommended us to either live in SF or Palo Alto. We should meet up some time once you are settled!

I hope I'll be settled by Monday ;)
Post reply on HN