I have finally decided, I'm moving to SF, but... (San Diego: apartment, rental market)

[scottykick]

...what area's should I look into for my likes,needs & budget. I would be able to pay around $1000-$1500 initially for rent for a studio or better yet a 1BR (if possible) I would want to be in an area close to BART access, and a fairly safe area (crime exists everywhere, so I'm not looking for something impossible, just a standard area where if you have enough common sense & street smarts, you should have a good chance of not getting into to much trouble...lol)

Nearby daily needs nearby like food, laundry (if the apt I find does not have it) and the like. I would prefer not to need a car, as living in NYC I have grown use to not having one and being just fine. I'll be working from home so work commutes are a non issue.

I'll be looking at a possible move around Jan-March, once I have everything squared away here. I'll be selling most of my stuff and buying all new once I get out there, so to save the hassle of shipping a million things.

Over the past year I have considered a ton of places (San Diego,Pittsburgh,Seattle, L.A. and Miami) and San Fran seems to offer a little bit of everything I will be looking for.

Also, I'm a big sports fan so being able to get to venues fairly easy is a plus for me (I take two trains in NY to get to either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field and it takes about 1 hour give or take 15 minutes) and I am fine with that, because I have easy & quick access to transit and it's quick transfers.

I'm also a big pro wrestling & MMA fan, are there any small indy feds that run out there? and what arena does the WWE use often in the Bay Area?

Thanks in advance for any information.

[mayorhaggar]

a) it ain't San Fran, nobody here calls it that and I don't get why people who don't live here learned to call it that. :P

b) Do you want to live only in SF or are some suburbs ok? Without a car only a few suburbs are really doable without a car. Rockridge and some other parts of Oakland are nice and you can live there without a car though public transit isn't as good in SF. Downtown Berkeley also works though the apartment rental market is flooded with students.

c) prices in SF are pretty much the same no matter where you are. Things are a little cheaper if you go to outer parts of the city like the Outer Sunset or Outer Richmond but not by a lot, and often you just end up paying the same amount for a larger place in the Outer Sunset that you would pay for a smaller place in Nob Hill. Living with roommates is about $600-800 a month in SF, studios are around $1000 to $1200 a month, and 1 bedrooms are around $1400-1500 at least. At your budget you could get a studio pretty much anywhere in the city. The suburbs are cheaper though, in Rockridge you can get a 1 bedroom for around $1000-1100.

To start with you can check out these areas which are all pretty urban and walkable. There is only one BART line within SF so its usefulness is kind of limited but it's definitely faster and more reliable than the Muni buses and light rail, also it lets you get out to the suburbs or the airport.

Nob Hill/Russian Hill
North Beach
Hayes Valley
Lower Pacific Heights
the Marina
Inner Sunset/Cole Valley
Inner Richmond
Duboce Triangle
Noe Valley (BART is to the west at 24th Street and Mission)
Glen Park (has BART station)
the Mission (stay west of Mission St. to avoid crime though) (BART stations at 16th and 24th street on Mission)

[scottykick]

Thank you for your input, it has been a great help.

[Hwy phantom]

Originally Posted by scottykick

...what area's should I look into for my likes,needs & budget. I would be able to pay around $1000-$1500 initially for rent for a studio or better yet a 1BR (if possible) I would want to be in an area close to BART access, and a fairly safe area (crime exists everywhere, so I'm not looking for something impossible, just a standard area where if you have enough common sense & street smarts, you should have a good chance of not getting into to much trouble...lol)

Nearby daily needs nearby like food, laundry (if the apt I find does not have it) and the like. I would prefer not to need a car, as living in NYC I have grown use to not having one and being just fine. I'll be working from home so work commutes are a non issue.

I'll be looking at a possible move around Jan-March, once I have everything squared away here. I'll be selling most of my stuff and buying all new once I get out there, so to save the hassle of shipping a million things.

Over the past year I have considered a ton of places (San Diego,Pittsburgh,Seattle, L.A. and Miami) and San Fran seems to offer a little bit of everything I will be looking for.

Also, I'm a big sports fan so being able to get to venues fairly easy is a plus for me (I take two trains in NY to get to either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field and it takes about 1 hour give or take 15 minutes) and I am fine with that, because I have easy & quick access to transit and it's quick transfers.

I'm also a big pro wrestling & MMA fan, are there any small indy feds that run out there? and what arena does the WWE use often in the Bay Area?

Thanks in advance for any information.

WWE..LOL..I think they use the Cow Palace but I could be wrong, there was recently a UFC card in Oakland, and Strikeforce often uses the HP Pavillion in San Jose. Cain Velasquez, Josh Koshcheck, and Jon Fitch train in San Jose.