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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

#241

Post by gdubs »

wpietri wrote: post #12
kaolinite wrote: post #2

Palo Alto and Mountain View are farther away than you think Hm, when I visited it felt like a pretty quick journey - no more than 30 minutes via Caltrain. Perhaps it was just excitement though!

Depends a lot on when you go and where you're coming from. From my house in the Mission, right now Palo Alto is 30-minute drive that traffic has bumped up to 61 minutes. The next train takes 25 minutes on BART to get to Millbrae plus another 34 minutes on Caltrain with a 19-minute wait in between. That's on a limited; a local train would take even longer. Mountain View is another 10-15 minutes away. Having lived here…

Any thoughts on commuting the other direction? I.e., living towards Palo Alto and commuting by train to SOMA?

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

#243

Post by vtbassmatt »

prodigal_erik wrote: post #182
scott_s wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think everyone who lives near a major city calls that city "The City" in everyday conversation. I live near NYC, and I do it in reference to Manhattan. (Less so the other parts of NYC, such as Queens and the Bronx.)

I've only heard it happens around SF and NYC. Certainly nobody in Redmond was calling Seattle "the city" when I was there.

Other commenters have pointed out that almost every major metro area gets called "the city" by its suburbanites, and that matches my observations of at least Seattle, DC, and Nashville. I've lived outside Seattle for 5.5 years and routinely hear it called "the city" by both locals and transplants.

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

#244

Post by Roybatty »

_pius wrote: post #206
driverdan wrote: post #83

I considered moving to SF but chose Austin instead. I refuse to live in a state with such a dysfunctional government and ridiculously high taxes. Some of the same reasons I left NY. You can do tech anywhere. You do not need to live in the bay area. If you really like the city pick a place (like Austin) with inexpensive direct flights and go a few times a month. You'll still save money.

I considered moving to SF but chose Austin instead. I refuse to live in a state with such a dysfunctional government ... You do realize you live in Texas, right?

You do realize that there are people outside of your little world that aren't leftists/socialists/fascists, right?

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

#245

Post by nwenzel »

As for the high cost of living, try looking at it from a different angle. Instead of thinking about how much more you can get for your money elsewhere, ask why are all those other places worth so much less.

I'm not saying the math adds up to you needing to move to SF, NY, Boston, or other city. But this post helps explain why SF is valued so highly by the many people who choose to live in here.

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

#247

Post by justin »

DigitalJack wrote: post #242

I saw PBR in wholefoods the other day here in Portland, OR. I was kind of shocked. I always considered PBR to be on par with Milwaukee's Best... In other words, nasty cheap beer that people only drink to get drunk. So I'm wrong?

I thought most of the article was pretty spot on, except for the PBR being the drink of SF.

PBR is all over hipster bars in the Mission, but there are plenty of places where you can't get it (most bars in the rest of the city). The true drink of SF in my opinion is Fernet, which is heavily consumed by long time San Franciscans. Fernet has a long history in the Bay Area (SF is even listed in the Wikipedia page on Fernet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernet), and surprisingly it is stocked in almost every bar. I've personally had it in everywhere from the Kabuki movie theatre to bars in North Beach to the Mission.

TLDR: Fernet is the drink of SF.

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

#248

Post by darkandbrooding »

bherms wrote: post #196
guyzero wrote: post #84

On it getting cold at 4 PM, I quote the estimable "30 Rock": "Can’t hack it in the big city? Gonna move to the Bay Area now, pretend that was your dream the whole time? Have fun always carrying a light sweater."

I hate that everyone calls the weather here amazing. Being cold all but maybe 30-40 days a year is not incredible weather, especially factoring in fog.

I grew up in the South West. I don't miss hundred-plus degree summers, burning my hands on steering wheels and the backs of my legs on car seats. I don't miss the asphalt being tacky because of the heat, or the sandy, sticky, salt-encrusted feeling after spending a day running errands, alternating between air conditioned interiors and sun-baked exteriors.

I certainly understand why other people might not enjoy the perpetual cold, damp, and fog of San Francsico. But every time I need to add another blanket at night, or put on a jacket during the day, or close the window against a chilly July evening, I give a happy, contented, slightly chilly sigh.

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

#249

Post by umangjaipuria »

Hope I'm not repeating something already mentioned in this large discussion, but here's another thing to add to that list:

Once you live in San Francisco for a few years, it will become difficult to move elsewhere. You get used to all the cons mentioned. You will start loving running in the 6pm chill, the cultural diversity and the intellectual similarity, the feeling of living in slightly in the future compared to the rest of the world...

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

#250

Post by dguaraglia »

softbuilder wrote: post #76
run4yourlives wrote: post #72

This seems more of a "West Coast vs. East Coast" article than it is a "San Fran" article. For the most part, the author is highlighting the differences that anybody living on the East Coast will experience in moving to one of the western coastal cities, save perhaps LA, which as everyone already knows is its own little planet. Most of these "hints" hold true for San Diego, San Fran, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. T…

You lost credibility with me by repeated use of the vulgar "San Fran". It's THE CITY. :)

Hah, I thought exactly the same. Even out here in Sacramento people call it "The City" (fair enough, Sacramento is just a big-ass, boring suburban sprawl)
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