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What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

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Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#41

Post by robbyking »

thisisdallas wrote: post #21

The list: It gets cold at 4pm Neighborhoods define you Rent is insane Cost of living overall is sky high There are crazy and cool things always going on Costumes are a way of life Lots of homeless, beggars and crackheads PBR is the official beverage of San Francisco An extremely pro-dog city The Divisadero is the fog line Palo Alto and Mountain View are farther away than you think The 3 things you need to know about…

> Cost of living overall is sky high.

It is, but so are salaries, even in non tech fields. I have a friend in town from Atlanta and I was explaining the benefit of this to her last night: a lot of big-purchase items have retail prices set at a national level, so things like bicycles, television, musical instruments, etc., feel a lot less expensive here than they do in other places.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#42

Post by wpietri »

bluetidepro wrote: post #8

OP, did you honestly not know how expensive it was, as well as a few of these other points in the article? I would be shocked if that's the case. Most of the items in the post are pretty well-known things about the San Fran area. More or less, the title is a bit of link bait, and I doubt most of you don't already know these things about San Fran (or the bay area, for that matter).

It has been getting more expensive quickly, so no, most people don't know how expensive it is. In particular, the rental situation is now back to 1999 levels of crazy.

As to many of the rest, they were exactly the things that I was surprised by when I moved here, and they are things I hear about from noobs all the time.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#43

Post by fishtoaster »

bluetidepro wrote: post #8

OP, did you honestly not know how expensive it was, as well as a few of these other points in the article? I would be shocked if that's the case. Most of the items in the post are pretty well-known things about the San Fran area. More or less, the title is a bit of link bait, and I doubt most of you don't already know these things about San Fran (or the bay area, for that matter).

I've been out here a year and a half- when I moved, I knew things would be pricier, but not this bad. Going straight from college in upstate NY (where I paid $300/mo for my share of a huge suburban house with some friends) to here (where I paid $1500/mo for half of a smallish Soma 2-bedroom), I definitely experienced a bit of sticker-shock.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#44

Post by JabavuAdams »

I'm living in Toronto, Canada, and the SF crack-head thing is always a shock.

If I'm in SF, it's for conferences and it's always strange that literally one block away from our expensive hotel, there are zombies shambling about -- and this is totally normal!

For those who know Toronto: it's like you're in Yorkdale, you walk one block and you're in the worst part of Parkdale.

The other odd thing is that I seem to pay about the same in taxes, given the author's figures.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#45

Post by clauretano »

DanBC2 wrote: post #13

>The most crushing aspect I saved for last though. Taxes here are significantly higher than I’ve experienced anywhere. This means you’re squeezed both on your take home pay and your expenses. ...and some weirdness means they don't spend that money on roads, so the road surfaces are lousy . Maybe I've been spoiled by our great road surfaces in UK.

In the northeastern US, they have to fix the roads every spring from damage caused by plows and frost heaving. In SF and other mild cities, there's now much seasonal component to road maintenance so roads tend to go much long between repaves.

Similar stories play out in cities like Seattle.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#46

Post by clauretano »

sharkweek wrote: post #39
mdanger wrote: post #31

I haven't been here for very long, but I can't say it's a "common sight" to see flip phones at coffee shops. :) On a more serious note, I have to agree with the bit about being a "pro-dog" city. I am constantly amazed at the number of dogs on the Muni, dogs in parks, dogs tied up outside of stores/restaurants, etc.

Seattle is the same way -- there are more dogs in the city than children -- http://www.seattlemag.com/article/seattles-dog-obsession

and unlike Portland, dogs are allowed on buses in Seattle -- http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/bus/how-to-ride/animals.htm...

(not on Sound Transit express buses or Link light rail though)

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#48

Post by asveikau »

sharkweek wrote: post #39
mdanger wrote: post #31

I haven't been here for very long, but I can't say it's a "common sight" to see flip phones at coffee shops. :) On a more serious note, I have to agree with the bit about being a "pro-dog" city. I am constantly amazed at the number of dogs on the Muni, dogs in parks, dogs tied up outside of stores/restaurants, etc.

Seattle is the same way -- there are more dogs in the city than children -- http://www.seattlemag.com/article/seattles-dog-obsession

I've lived in both places. Back in college I also lived with someone who was allergic. That changes my reaction a bit, I think. It makes the people who bring their dogs on transit, to the bar or to the supermarket look like jerks.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#49

Post by pmikesell »

I moved from Seattle to SF and one big difference I noticed is that people are waaay friendlier here in SF than they were in Seattle. It's so much easier to get to know new people here. I think part of the reason for that is that almost nobody in SF is actually from SF. Everybody you meet grew up somewhere else, so people seem much more open to getting to know new folks. This is particularly true as a guy trying to meet girls. "Seattle Freeze" is a real thing.
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