Young fun safe neighborhoods (Oakland, Richmond: college, places to live, restaurants)

[randocalrissian]

I've mostly (exclusively) been looking for places to live in the north beach/marina/russian hill/pac heights/nob hill areas. I've been told they tend to be nicer/safer and have a young crowd. I've also heard that the mission is where most young people are. What are the nicer/less shady parts of the mission? What are some other areas around there where young people live that are still nice?

I've heard Noe Valley, Lower Haight, Potrero, western part of the Mission

[mayorhaggar]

The Mission is basically split in half down Mission Street. On or east of Mission is really grubby and kind of ghetto-ish. Lots of junkies and dealers and winos especially on Mission between 16th and 18th. There is some gentrification, and some trendy places to wine and dine like around 24th, but for the most part it's pretty similar to the Tenderloin especially on Mission, further east it's not as scary but it's still pretty grubby and there's a lot of gang members who like shooting one another.

West of Mission is totally different and I don't really get why people in SF don't make more of a distinction between east and west of Mission. Valencia is one block west of Mission and it's a little scruffy but nothing like Mission, and it has a ton of cool restaurants and bars but they tend to get packed especially after around 7pm. Otherwise there's quite a few other bars and restaurants and shops especially on 18th and 16th, and the rest of the area if funky but a lot safer and cleaner than east of Mission, it's probably my favorite part of the city. Dolores Park is great and is fun on a warm day.

Other than that the neighborhoods you listed are ok though honestly the "young" areas of SF are mostly populated by people in their late 20's and 30's, SF is an aging city because it's so expensive while not providing good entry-level jobs to people just out of college. But Russian Hill and Pacific Heights are basically millionaire havens, lots of old rich people. Nob Hill is pretty young and so is the Marina. I'd add in Bernal Heights, Hayes Valley, the Inner Sunset and Inner Richmond. There's quite a few college students in the SW corner of the city near SFSU.

[randocalrissian]

So basically as long as I stay west of Mission Street I should be good? By the way, I'm 22

[04kL4nD]

You can still get robbed west of Mission, but it probably won't be in broad daylight like it would on Mission Street itself.

The Mission is really patchy and it's probably one of the only neighborhoods I've been to that I feel like I have to constantly watch my back. And I live in West Oakland...

[Davachka]

Personally, I am a big fan of NOPA, the neighborhood, but the restaurant is good too.
The area north of the panhandle seems vibrant and full of young people and of all ages.