Moving to SF and need advice (Palo Alto, East Palo Alto: apartments, schools, living)

[mayorhaggar]

Spoiler alert: SF is not Manhattan so get that out of your head. There are plenty of majority-white neighborhoods if you want to be a spoiled white kid among his own kind but SF is still a super diverse city and you'll have to deal with minorities pretty frequently, I'm sure Manhattan is similar though way more gentrified. If you think somewhere like Noe Valley or Cole Valley or the Dolores Park area or Lower Pacific Heights are too diverse and ghetto then SF is not for you.

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

Interesting, I never knew that. I made the mistake of using my friends/people I know in SF as a sample size, and only 1 (out of 10) owns a car...then again, I have some bias since my friends are young and live in the most dense/hip areas of town. My mistake.

Yeah, there are roughly 380,000 cars registered in SF, more than 1 car for every three people in the city.

Parking Quiz Answer: SF Cars vs. Parking Spaces. Who Wins? | 7x7

[Cali is not all surfing]

how about a gay neighborhood. THERE ARE A TON OF GAY PEOPLE THERE

[NYCtoSF]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

No, most people in the city don't own a car (however, there are more car owners in SF than in NYC because transit isn't as good in SF and it's easier to drive/park here than in NYC (although, not by much)). Keep in mind, that is a really far distance. Imagine taking a cab from NYC 25-35 miles away! That would easily be over $100.



If you want to be near the transportation that will get you to Palo Alto, you'll want to be near the caltrain station (4th and King). This puts you in the SOMA/South Beach/Mission Bay areas, and probably eliminates living in the Marina as an option for you. This proximity to caltrain is probably the biggest "pro" for that area of town (and is a big reason why the area attracts so many young silican valley workers). Also, the luxury condos are a pro for some people (if you can afford it, and you like that kind of living). However, that area of town has only been recently redeveloped in the last 15 years, or so, and as such doesn't have as much of a neighborhood feel as other areas of town (like the marina).




I work at Stanford and Palo Alto is pretty dull compared to any major city. It's essentially a suburb with a small-ish downtown that has some good restaurants/couple bars. But beyond eating out or going to happy hour after work, there aren't too many other options. You would think it would be a college town and have some life to it, but for the most part the energy of Stanford doesn't really blend into the downtown at all (this initially surprised me when I first moved to the area). And once you get away from the main drag, the town is very car-centric.

Also, it's kind of important to ask: where in Palo Alto will your job be? If it's near downtown Palo Alto, taking public transit from SF will not be bad. However, if it's further away (say, sand hill road near interstate 280), you might have a pretty hell-ish commute consisting of some sort of bike/bus connection. You might want to check if your perspective employer offers some sort of shuttle from the station (or possibly SF).

Thanks, this helps me a lot. The employer does offer a shuttle to and from SF -- I just have to check with them what the exact stops are. My main concern is if I have to work late nights -- I want to be able to catch some kind of public transportation back to the city.

I don't want to give the exact location of my office -- for obvious reasons -- but it isn't close to downtown. I guess I'll have to figure out a way around this.

Originally Posted by mini_cute

Palo Alto is a boring, sleepy town. The closest thing to Manhattan is in SF city and the aforementioned neighborhoods of Marina, Mission Bay, South Beach and parts of Soma are the closest to what you are seeking.

You don't need a car if you live in SF city in the urban parts, but transit is not as good as in NYC so a good percentage of people have cars here. Having a car here will increase your experience of living in the SF Bay area greatly by being able to go to more places in and around the city, but it is not necessary especially since you aren't into doing outdoorsy things.

People don't take taxis here to go to places on the peninsula. They drive, ride their company shuttle or take the Caltrain. It is expensive and also much harder to hail a taxi here than SF.

This is good to know. I guess I could always sign up for ZipCar or a similar service to get around. Not sure I can afford living in SF and car payments off the bat.

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Spoiler alert: SF is not Manhattan so get that out of your head. There are plenty of majority-white neighborhoods if you want to be a spoiled white kid among his own kind but SF is still a super diverse city and you'll have to deal with minorities pretty frequently, I'm sure Manhattan is similar though way more gentrified. If you think somewhere like Noe Valley or Cole Valley or the Dolores Park area or Lower Pacific Heights are too diverse and ghetto then SF is not for you.

I don't know anything about those neighborhoods -- not familiar with Cali in general -- but how do these people behave? I know Oakland is rough but the ones in SF -- are they mostly gang members or normal people?

Originally Posted by Cali is not all surfing

how about a gay neighborhood. THERE ARE A TON OF GAY PEOPLE THERE

I'm straight.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by NYCtoSF

I don't know anything about those neighborhoods -- not familiar with Cali in general -- but how do these people behave? I know Oakland is rough but the ones in SF -- are they mostly gang members or normal people?

Yeah the stroller gangs in Noe Valley are really rough. Are you for real?

[rkwalton]

Originally Posted by mini_cute

One additional piece of advice, the culture here and social norms are pretty different compared to NYC. In NYC it is more acceptable to speak your mind however blunt and un-PC it may be, such as stating you don't want to live near minorities. However, if you speak like that here, you won't win very many friends.

It's not about PC vs. not being PC. It's about right and wrong. We've got a Harvard law educated black president and his Harvard law educated wife. I'm a law grad, have lived and traveled all over and have my own business. My friends are black, Latino, Asian and white lawyers, teachers, corporate types, business owner and doctors.

Being blunt is one thing being a prejudiced moron is another.

Originally Posted by jade408

Because you implied that all people of certain ethnic groups are "ghetto" besides the fact that this is an improper use of the word ghetto.

You could have easily said "I want to live in an upper-class neighborhood." And what you will find in the Bay Area, that things tend to be segregated by class, but you will also find upper income black, latinos, asians etc. *gasp*

You're comment sounds borderline racist and definitely prejudicial.

As pointed out above, he could have always said, "I want to live in an upper-class area or an area with low crime". Saying he wants to not live in an area with blacks and Latinos is bull****. That's the problem, I hope, people had with his comment.

Originally Posted by NYCtoSF

Why? I just have a preference. I'd simply like to be around Whites/Asians/Indians, nothing against other groups.

I'm calling bull**** or maybe you don't seem to understand that there are different classes within racial groups. Not all the blacks and Latinos are struggling in the ghetto. Just like not all white people live in trailer parks.

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Spoiler alert: SF is not Manhattan so get that out of your head. There are plenty of majority-white neighborhoods if you want to be a spoiled white kid among his own kind but SF is still a super diverse city and you'll have to deal with minorities pretty frequently, I'm sure Manhattan is similar though way more gentrified. If you think somewhere like Noe Valley or Cole Valley or the Dolores Park area or Lower Pacific Heights are too diverse and ghetto then SF is not for you.

I agree. There are many neighborhoods that have more whites than not. I'm 100% confident this guy will manage to find them much to the relief of anyone who'd be stuck dealing with him in a more diverse neighborhood.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Yeah the stroller gangs in Noe Valley are really rough. Are you for real?

Oakland is really scary and dangerous. People like you, me, 18Montclair, and Nineties Flavor have a really tough time........

all those rough crowds at Art Murmur, Whole Foods, and the Grand Lake Farmers market make it impossible to get by.....

[NYCtoSF]

Ok, let's just move past that topic. It's a waste of time. Please just answer my questions directly.

[gone down south]

I've officially lived here long enough to get annoyed by East Coasters attitudes

[mayorhaggar]

I'm pretty sure if you went to the NYC forum and said you didn't want to live in a black neighborhood you'd get flak. I call BS on this topic. I can't imagine someone could live somewhere like NYC and assume that other major cities like SF were dangerous and "ghetto," especially neighborhoods like Noe Valley which you could look up in the space of 5 seconds.