Where to live? Commuting all over bay but living in SF (San Francisco: apartments, city hall)

[trevor2211]

I will be moving to San Francisco soon and would like to live in the city, however my work requires me to commute (drive, unfortunately) throughout the Bay Area. I'm looking for neighborhoods located close to highways that can get me out of town with the least amount of traffic.
I'm 25, single and would cap my rent at $1500 for a room in a shared place.
Any ideas?

[mayorhaggar]

Somewhere near the highways. If you need to park on the street, then I would suggest Glen Park and Bernal Heights which are pretty close to 280 and 101 for traveling south or for going over the Bay Bridge. Noe Valley would work but parking can be tough. If you think it would be better to be close to 101 North and the Golden Gate Bridge, then the Richmond District would work. Might be good to pick a place between both areas like Lower Pacific Heights, Hayes Valley or the Western Addition, though parking is almost impossible in Hayes Valley because it's right by City Hall and the opera house.

Should be able to find some 1br's for around $1500 in decent parts of SF, definitely a studio below that. $1500 is a lot to pay to live with roommates, could live with roomies for more like $900 to 1200 or so and probably get a nice room in a nice apartment, or spend less than $900 and get a smaller room in a place that's probably a bit dumpier but still in a nice neighborhood.

Maybe pay like $1000-1200 to live with roomies and pay around $200 extra to rent an off-site space (not very many apartments in SF have parking included in the rent)...

[sonarrat]

If you're going to the East Bay a lot, then live as close to the bridge as you can. Being close to the Harrison or Bryant onramps will save you a good bit of time. If you're going south a lot, try the Mission, Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill so you can access 280 easily.

No matter what you do, parking will be a challenge. But you hopefully already knew that. Set aside ~$300-400 of that $1500 to make sure you can get garage parking if you want to minimize the headaches.