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Moving to San Francisco
Fraz
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For a few years, I have desperately wanted to move to San Francisco from Miami, FL.
The contract with my current employer will be up in December and I think it's about time for me to make the move, even though I don't have a prospect lined up yet (I've sent dozens of resumes)
What neighborhoods should I look into? I understand the city is not very car friendly so I'll want good access to public transportation. I just don't want to move to an area that is really sketchy.
I'll probably have to live with a roommate, which is another first for me. Any advice from shared chateau vets?
Finally, I'll be taking my cat with me. I think I'll try to get settled and then bring her in the cabin of a direct flight (about six hours).
Is that even allowed?
Thanks in advance!
The contract with my current employer will be up in December and I think it's about time for me to make the move, even though I don't have a prospect lined up yet (I've sent dozens of resumes)
What neighborhoods should I look into? I understand the city is not very car friendly so I'll want good access to public transportation. I just don't want to move to an area that is really sketchy.
I'll probably have to live with a roommate, which is another first for me. Any advice from shared chateau vets?
Finally, I'll be taking my cat with me. I think I'll try to get settled and then bring her in the cabin of a direct flight (about six hours).
Is that even allowed?
Thanks in advance!
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Fair enough.
I'd like to spend less than $800. The cheaper, the better.
I know that will probably mean living with someone else or outside of the city. I don't mind if there's convenient access to public transportation.
I'm thinking a very barebones single-person apartment within 30 minutes of downtown would be $1000 a month, on the low end.
You'd be very lucky to get a deal like that. My 1 bedroom is 1400, and that's cheapish for the peninsula. If you're willing to go over to the east bay you might get a bit better.
I was ging to fly my cat with me but the airlines availiable weren't cooperative at the time. Some only allow them in the cabin, but check on what's an appropriate sized carryon as well as make; some will only allow hard carriers and they need to fit under the seat as well as giving the cat room to stand and turn, for the most part. This is pretty hard to do if these requirements come up and your cat isn't on the small side.
Some will let you take them as luggage and they go in the hold but there are temperature and seasonal requirements. With... Delta, I think, the temps on the lfight could't go above or below a certain temp at any point of the animal couldn't be taken that way. The easier way to figure all this out is talk to a customer service rep.
There's also the option of having her shipped as cargo and many airlines will do this for you but it's dependepnt on the season/temps/routes and you need to be sure you are by a cargo pickup area to get her. I was flying into SF when I moved to Monterey and I know Delta (unless I'm so confused it was AA) has a cargo spot where the cat will be driven and held for you but it's not at the airport. I'm not sure about other airlines.
That pretty much settles the cat question.
I guess $800 a month is not reasonable?
What do you guys know about Oakland?
Oakland isn't someplace I would want to move. I work there, and it's sort of gone to absolute filth and shit over the last 8 years or so. I'm not trying to ruin your dream, but the Bay Area is expensive, all of it. Even way out in Concord you're going to be paying an uncomfortably high amount of money in rent.
If you want someplace with access to SF / Berkeley / Oakland I would go HERE -> Schedules -> Overview and just look at stations/stops starting with the closest to where you want to be, and moving away. I'd skip Oakland, Richmond and Orinda right off the bat. Oakland and Richmond are terrible places, and Orinda is in "The Hills" where you can't afford a cardboard box unless you make 140k/yr.
I do work with a couple of people who live in SF and pay around $1200/mo for studio layout apartments in pretty old buildings with their own issues/quirks (like 12 flights of stairs and no elevator). They seem happy though because in both cases they picked the apartments for proximity to BART which is our light-rail transit system. You can get to SF from Concord in about 45 minutes on BART and it runs until 1am. Driving/Parking in the city is fucking insane, so even people who have cars and live closer don't drive. Every bridge is a toll and parking lot fees can run the cost of a dinner... and I'm not talkin Taco Bell.
You wont have air-conditioning anywhere west of the tunnel (... basically Rockridge station to SF) though you wont need it in the city proper, the east bay does get warm. East of Rockridge/Fruitvale has 3-4 months a year of high 90's.
Edit:
I've lived in : Richmond, Concord, Oakland, Walnut Creek and San Mateo. Walnut Creek has a lot of housing near their BART stations, but it's all gone up in price rather heavily recently (1300$/mo for a 2 bedroom 4 years ago is now $1650/mo) we currently pay $1495/mo (2bed/2bath) in Concord with washer/dryer in unit and our pet-fee for having cats. When we moved in 5 years ago it was $1195/mo but we had no pets.
Edit2:
Added where to click on the link.
You should rent a room month to month at first I think, come out here and see if you like it. If you go month to month at an apartment complex out here, your rent jumps 50%. If you cancel a lease you end out paying 3 months rent as a penalty, which is a huge fucking penalty to fork out all at once.
that might get you a room in an apartment, but not your own place. if thats your budget i would troll craigslist for room for rent, and just see what you can find.
luckily SF has good public transport, BART is good and relatively cheap and spreads out of SF
Another option, find a place on the peninsula and take BART into the city. I'm in San Bruno with a roommate and I pay 850.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
hah! I live in walnut creek.
I'm paying $1,260 a month here for a one bed/bath. This area is expensive, but out in daly city you can get a one bedroom in a somewhat safe area for 1,200.
Archstone is buying up a lot of property in Walnut Creek, and they love raising rent and trying to market their shit as luxury housing. Out at jack london we paid $1930/mo for a 1 bedroom that had fucking ants, thankfully it was being paid partially by the company my girlfriend works for as temporary housing, otherwise we'd have basically starved. Out on Cherry Ln off Treat there used to be some good housing, and it was all super-close to best buy and resteraunts and stuff and like 1/5th a mile from Pleasant Hill BART.
At the airport you'll need to take the cat out of the carrier and walk it through the metal detector at security. This is one big reason you want it tranquilized. The last thing you want is to have to chase a scared cat around the airport.
Like I said in the first sentence, I flew United with my cats and they were fine all the way from San Jose to Denver to Colorado Springs. And one was sedated (the other reacted poorly to the tranq).
yes, this. I'm not sure what your situation is, but SF (and the SF bay area) is a pretty tough city to move to with no job unless you can throw a whole lot of money at the problem. I've been blessed with rent that hovers around $750, sharing a house (quad-plex, actually) with three other people in the Presidio, which is basically as far away from central SF as you can get while still being in SF proper. Our rent is this cheap because we got in to our place before the leasing agency decided to rennovate all the units they could and jack the rents up considerably - it is getting more and more expensive to live in the bay area every year. I don't know anybody who lives in SF who pays less than $600 a month, period.
check out Berkeley and Oakland - there are deals to be had out in areas like that. I'm assuming that Miami has its share of sketchy neighborhoods and I'm assuming that you can deal ungentrified areas (or areas on the brink of gentrification) because that's what you're shooting for on that budget.
I live in Oakland, and have my entire life. Right now I'm actually getting set to move out of my 1 bedroom into a 2 bedroom (gf and I need the space) The 1 bedroom I'm in at the moment was $995 and is in a good part of town. (Look up Adam's Point) Rent just recently went up by $25. The two bedroom I'm moving to is in a nicer part of town (near Piedmont) and is going to be $1450.
In Oakland I would look at the Adams Point area, Rockridge (can be pricey but you can also find some good deals) Lake Merrit/Grand area (not always the Adams Point area but close to it.) There can also be small artists communities (couple of blocks of well kept houses) in West Oakland as well as around the Friutvale area. Stay away from most of the southern parts of Oakland (towards San Leandro).
Richmond can have some nice areas. Also check out Berkeley. Berkeley can have deals if you spend a decent time looking, there are a crap ton of rentals, but mostly they're looking to rent/gouge the University students. There can, however, be landlords there who want long term residents and may cut you a deal since you won't be a student.
The reason I'm asking about Oakland is because I've been wanting to move back to an area that has a hip hop culture.
As for the OP's mentioning of $800/mo for an apartment, it's possible from what I hear but you'll probably need to find multiple roommates. Start checking Craigslist with your price range for the next month or two (if you have time) to see what neighborhoods come up. Personally I'd love to live in the Presidio but it's not rent controlled, very expensive, and can be a ways from public transportation.
Reason I was against Oakland is proximity to the BART stations.
If you live out on 21st you're living next to a lot of abandoned warehouses and prices are insane. If you live next to McArthur you're going to get fucking mugged. I work with a guy who lives 2 blocks from Summit Hospital, he's been mugged three times walking in to work.
If you dig around Berkeley you can probably find someone renting out a converted garage or guest house pretty cheap. Housing in the area tends to be privately owned though, so you may have to check craigslist and make a lot of phone-calls, as they don't list on rent.com. Maybe when you get out here and familiar with the areas, Oakland or Richmond will be fine. Learn where not to go first, though.
Edit: What the hell is a hip-hop culture?
Wait wait wait, you only have to pay three months there for canceling a lease? In Ohio you have to pay the entire lease.
Actually, they can only charge you while they make a "reasonable effort" at re-leasing the apartment that's a federal law from what I understand. Out here though, there's some bullshit where 3 months is considered a reasonable turn-over time and large apartment complexes exploit that.
I was thinking City Center or 19th street - I walk there at night frequently, and haven't had problems, as have unescorted woman friends of mine. It's possible it will get worse as the economy sours.
Hip hop tends to be more than just rap music and includes art, style of dress, slang, etc. but I'm going to take the easier route out and just link this.
I've heard that Oakland tends to have more gangs than Detroit but this is coming from Seattle locals who haven't really had to deal with rampant crime and urban blight along the line of what some other cities have.
S'why I said come out here first and look around. Oakland goes from "This is a pretty nice area" to "Holy fuck I'm getting the shit kicked out of me for being white" pretty quickly. Yes, this happens, and yes, has happened to people I know. I have a friend who came out from the city to go to a Raiders game and got off near Rockridge to walk to his girlfriends work after the game. There are very active areas when it comes to racism, especially in the low income sections of Oakland and until you know where those are, I wouldn't walk around too much. For fun, go hang out near Highland hospital for a day*
*do not actually do this.
Edit: Never been to Detroit but my understanding is it's entire districts that have the problems there, in Oakland it can be just a 3 block section in the middle of an otherwise dandy area. Or it can be a nice area that's functionally and island in the middle of shit, this is especially true near the waterfront at Jack London and going up the coast.
Interesting, Detroit has the same problems with racism. I've gotten into fights for being white in Detroit (just around the corner from where I lived - which was pretty fucked up because my friend at the time was with me and he was friends with the guys who gave us shit and didn't do jack to intervene) and had shotguns put in my face for bringing black friends into an otherwise white neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Detroit.
Yeah, you *usually* have an idea that you're heading into a bad area in Detroit (as there are so many of them) but it's possible to cross a street and have it go from good to bad pretty quick. Growing up we had a neighborhood called Brightmoore that was a couple blocks from where I lived (our neighborhood was pretty nice until the late eighties and the crack epidemic moved in) and Brightmoore got pretty sketchy over there. Same goes once you crossed Southfield Fwy. We tended to try to stay to the Rosedale Park area as this was mostly before I had my drivers license and had to walk everywhere. There are several spots where you just don't fucking stop your car whatsoever. Stop sign; run that shit. Guy laying in the street; swerve around him. Roadblock; turn the fuck around and get the hell out of there as fast as you can! What's kind of fucked up is that there are some areas that bear very close resemblances to Escape from New York.
So if one were to visit Oakland, do you know of any resources to help from getting shot as I'm not familiar with the neighborhoods?
Ehh, if you know what to look for you should be totally fine. Most of the places you'd want to actually go are in dandy areas, it's getting there on foot that's the bad idea, with Telegraph, University and Broadway going pretty much everywhere there's no reason you couldn't explore a little. The problem is the sprawl... most housing isn't anywhere near commercial stuff for the most part.
If you see Marcus Garvey Park or Highland Hospital, turn the fuck around.
edit: Actually, heh... I have news.yahoo.com setup with my local news as oakland, ca for work and if you watch it for any length of time you find out the same neighborhoods come up a lot. Also, even in "nice" areas, the crime rate is a little above average... nurses have been raped in our parking structure. This is a hospital, with security and vallet parking.
Eh, ya know I had a rant all ready to go...but I'm gonna let it go. However I do have to say (as far as from what I've heard) Comparing Oakland to Detroit is fucking stupid.
I put together this google map of what I think of some of the neighborhoods in Oakland. I didn't go over all of Oakland. Parts that were skipped were either because I haven't been in the area recently enough to remember what anything looks like, or they are areas to avoid like the plague (South of Seminary Ave. For example).
FF's Oakland Google Map
Panda: If you do come out to the area, let me know and I'll show you where the good and bad spots are.
1. That is awesome
2. Could you do that for San Francisco?
P.S. Making that map was way too much fun.