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

Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

internproject.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 119 posts

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#41

Post by chunsaker »

nextstep wrote: post #16
AlexeyMK wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[author of said advice] Sounds like you've got some experience with this - are there any particular places you'd recommend? When I was an intern in SF (2011), I lived in Glen Park, which was a half/hour bike ride/couple of BART stops away from work, and I ended up paying slightly over $1,100. I had friends that went and found more distant housing, but we didn't see them all that much/they didn't get nearly as much ou…

The price of housing in SF has changed since 2011.

...Dramatically.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#42

Post by chunsaker »

tsunamifury wrote: post #7

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

Redwood City FTW? We've had two of our interns find good housing there, near the Caltrain.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#43

Post by drbaskin »

cpeterso wrote: post #35
jbkring wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oakland is like any other city. There are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. Some of the safer ones are: Temescal, Adam's Point, Grand Lake/Cleveland Heights, Piedmont & Rockridge (not technically Oakland).

Rockridge is definitely part of Oakland, but Piedmont is a separate city. Piedmont seceded from Oakland in 1907 and is completely surrounded by Oakland. I've never heard of any other city engulfed within another.

This property of Piedmont is not even unique within the Bay Area! Fremont (the fourth-largest city in the Bay Area) has an enclave of its own, Newark, which is its own city yet completely surrounded by Fremont.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#44

Post by kemiller »

AlexeyMK wrote: post #12
tsunamifury wrote: post #7

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

[author of said advice] Sounds like you've got some experience with this - are there any particular places you'd recommend? When I was an intern in SF (2011), I lived in Glen Park, which was a half/hour bike ride/couple of BART stops away from work, and I ended up paying slightly over $1,100. I had friends that went and found more distant housing, but we didn't see them all that much/they didn't get nearly as much ou…

Two good bets for a young person in the East Bay:

Temescal. Macarthur BART has lots of trains to the city and assuming you're going somewhere near a station (like Twitter or Google SF) it's ~ 20 minutes. Strong hipster vibe, and an explosion of restaurants, bike shops, funky secondhand stores, etc. in the last 10 years. Neighborhood is still rough in patches, but rapidly improving. Stay to the North and East of Macarthur BART and you're fine.

Downtown Berkeley. Safe Neighborhood. Lots of young people about, plenty of restaurants. Things tend to close up earlier than in the city. Commute is slightly longer than to Temescal, but the Richmond trains tend to be emptier and so you almost always get a seat.

If you work at Google SF or anywhere downtown, look into the AC Transit Transbay Buses. They are slightly more expensive than BART ($4.20 a ride, last I checked) but you get free Wifi, great views, clean, comfortable coach seats, and nonstop service. That opens up a LOT more territory, albeit mostly away from the concentrations of culture.

But all that said, you're right, SF is the place to be if you can afford it. Don't try to save money as an intern. What you earn during that time is a drop in the bucket, ultimately, and you're only young once. But if you have a crew of people you want to live with, the Easy Bay can be a great bet, and you can spend what you save on trips out of town.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#45

Post by [deleted] »

cpeterso wrote: post #35
jbkring wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oakland is like any other city. There are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. Some of the safer ones are: Temescal, Adam's Point, Grand Lake/Cleveland Heights, Piedmont & Rockridge (not technically Oakland).

Rockridge is definitely part of Oakland, but Piedmont is a separate city. Piedmont seceded from Oakland in 1907 and is completely surrounded by Oakland. I've never heard of any other city engulfed within another.

[deleted]

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#46

Post by kemiller »

rdouble wrote: post #38
kemiller wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nowhere in Oakland is an order of magnitude worse. Worse, yes, but few places are that bad. Parts of the Mission, and certainly the Tenderloin (both in the sweet spot on this guy's map) are worse than anywhere BART-accessible in Oakland except West Oakland and maybe Lake Merritt/Fruitvale. If you're working in the South Bay, yeah, don't live there. But Temescal, for example, is a great option if you're working in the…

You are right, an order of magnitude was an exaggeration. But Oakland's citywide crime stats in most categories are double/triple that of San Francisco. That said, I don't think crime is the main reason to not live in the East Bay when you are doing an internship. Minimizing transport time to work and/or recreation is why you don't want to live out there. If you are working in SF, live in SF. If work is in the south…

And the point is, depending on where you work, the East Bay is often "closer" in terms of time spent than some parts of the City, because BART is so much faster than Muni or cycling.

The most important thing is to live near other interns. If everyone's in the city, live in the city. If you want to get a house with a few people, or just prefer a more laid-back vibe, the East Bay is a great option.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#47

Post by thrownaway2424 »

kemiller wrote: post #46
rdouble wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right, an order of magnitude was an exaggeration. But Oakland's citywide crime stats in most categories are double/triple that of San Francisco. That said, I don't think crime is the main reason to not live in the East Bay when you are doing an internship. Minimizing transport time to work and/or recreation is why you don't want to live out there. If you are working in SF, live in SF. If work is in the south…

And the point is, depending on where you work, the East Bay is often "closer" in terms of time spent than some parts of the City, because BART is so much faster than Muni or cycling. The most important thing is to live near other interns. If everyone's in the city, live in the city. If you want to get a house with a few people, or just prefer a more laid-back vibe, the East Bay is a great option.

Yeah, I moved to Oakland because I was tired of my business partner, who lived in West Oakland, getting to my office in SoMA in ten minutes while I endured typically 35-45 minute Muni bus rides from only two miles away in SF, with an astonishing variance of arrival time.

As for the crime in Oakland, some guy got shot in front of his own house in the Mission this morning. People arriving for their internships, not being familiar with SF neighborhoods, shouldn't get the impression that the Mission is some kind of picnic.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#48

Post by xxpor »

mmanfrin wrote: post #40
rdouble wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oakland's crime problems are partially structural. It is much more car oriented and spread out, with a lot of dead zones where nobody is around. Thus it's much easier for a group of people to drive up behind you and rob you and then drive away. Personally, I would not suggest West Oakland unless you are broke. I felt safe, too, until I got jacked.

West Oakland's crime rates a pretty comparable to SFs. I've been robbed more in SF than in Oakland.

How many times have you been robbed??

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#49

Post by hack_edu »

Most the rents quoted are several hundred lower than reality, though the bedroom in a shared place price is pretty close. It also fails to underline the competition for cheap, or any, housing. Landing a spot within the first weeks, or even month, will be very hard for anyone new to the town.

If you want an apartment in this city you must bid several hundred over the listed price. It is also extremely common to offer 3-6 month's rent down and be ready to cut that check at the open house.

Re: Interns: Everything you need to know about a summer in the Bay Area in one place

#50

Post by [deleted] »

chunsaker wrote: post #42
tsunamifury wrote: post #7

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

Redwood City FTW? We've had two of our interns find good housing there, near the Caltrain.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN