Looking for safe neighborhood in SF with commute to downtown (San Francisco: apartments, rentals)

[gulprust]

I'm looking for a fairly safe neighborhood with a reasonable commute using public transportation to downtown (around 3rd and Market St). I'd prefer to be in the city of San Francisco. I'm going to have 2 roommates and we're looking for 3 bedroom houses to rent. Our budget will be < $4500 a month for rent ($1500 per person). 2 areas I've looked at so far are Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset, and the commute using MUNI seems to take around 30-40 minutes according to Google maps. I'm a little worried that this will be a little unbearable after awhile though. Is biking from these areas to downtown reasonable? Are there good streets to bike on?

Are there any other areas a little closer to downtown that are still fairly safe with good public transportation? A good, easy bike ride would be great too.

[beb0p]

With that budget, I thought for sure that you guys could find something closer, and I'm shocked to see that there really is virtually nothing save for a handful of places.

Well, since you guys are fine with living in the western part of the city, why not look in places around the Daly City BART or Balboa BART (Daly City BART would be my choice)? BART ride is about 20 mins station to downtown station. Personally, I'd prefer to take the BART than Muni.

If you aren't using it already, Padmapper.com is a good place to see the rentals displayed on a map.
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[gulprust]

Originally Posted by beb0p

With that budget, I thought for sure that you guys could find something closer, and I'm shocked to see that there really is virtually nothing save for a handful of places.

Well, since you guys are fine with living in the western part of the city, why not look in places around the Daly City BART or Balboa BART (Daly City BART would be my choice)? BART ride is about 20 mins station to downtown station. Personally, I'd prefer to take the BART than Muni.

If you aren't using it already, Padmapper.com is a good place to see the rentals displayed on a map.
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I thought it would be better to live in the city of San Francisco itself rather than Daly City. I'm going to have a car also so it'd be nice to be a little closer to things within the city (I won't be driving to downtown for work though).

Are there any parts of town besides Richmond and Sunset that you'd recommend?

[skyao]

For that budget you have alot of options. It depends on your priorities.

You could live in Noe Valley,Glen Park, Corona Heights, Duboce Triangle, West Portal, Castro, Cole Valley. You could easily bike from Noe and Duboce triangle to 3rd and market. Other parts may be a slightly more difficult to bike especially as you go up into hilly areas..

I assume you dont want the Mission which would be ideal for biking and public transit, but some people find it sketchy. Also Bart is preferable to Muni as its quicker and more reliable..

Originally Posted by garsh0p

I'm looking for a fairly safe neighborhood with a reasonable commute using public transportation to downtown (around 3rd and Market St). I'd prefer to be in the city of San Francisco. I'm going to have 2 roommates and we're looking for 3 bedroom houses to rent. Our budget will be < $4500 a month for rent ($1500 per person). 2 areas I've looked at so far are Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset, and the commute using MUNI seems to take around 30-40 minutes according to Google maps. I'm a little worried that this will be a little unbearable after awhile though. Is biking from these areas to downtown reasonable? Are there good streets to bike on?

Are there any other areas a little closer to downtown that are still fairly safe with good public transportation? A good, easy bike ride would be great too.

[mayorhaggar]

Well if you insist on a house then yeah the Richmond and Sunset Districts will be just about your only choices. For apartments you'd think you could find stuff closer. I'd check out Glen Park maybe.

[gulprust]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Well if you insist on a house then yeah the Richmond and Sunset Districts will be just about your only choices. For apartments you'd think you could find stuff closer. I'd check out Glen Park maybe.

Oh, I guess my post was a little misleading. I don't mind either a house or an apartment; I've just seen to have had trouble finding 3 bedroom apartments in San Francisco.

I'll check out Glen Park, thanks!

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by garsh0p

I thought it would be better to live in the city of San Francisco itself rather than Daly City. I'm going to have a car also so it'd be nice to be a little closer to things within the city (I won't be driving to downtown for work though).

Are there any parts of town besides Richmond and Sunset that you'd recommend?

Yes, it's definitely better to be in the city of SF in terms of lifestyle, I should have added that the Daly City BART is actually right next to SF, so it's possible to live in SF and walk to Daly City BART. That's just one option though.

Glen Park is nice, but I don't see any 3-bedroom within your price range there, ditto for the other areas mentioned by other posters.

Just a few blocks south of Glen Park is Monterey Heights, there is one 3-bedroom apt, maybe you guys can check it out. Charming 3 bed/1 bath house w/ laundry

On the whole, inventory for 3-bedroom within your price range is low. There are only a few outside of Richmond/Sunset. Competition is fierce this time of year so be prepared to pounce on a listing as soon as it appears on craigslist (don't wait!).

As far as neighborhood goes, it's probably easier to list the ones you should stay away from, there are only a handful: Tenderloin, south of 280, 6th St and Market, and not next to a housing project (housing project map). That's it. All other areas should be fine. Note that there are some nice family neighborhood south of 280 but it doesn't sound like that's what you guys want.

If you want some names, the neighborhoods that I'd suggest are:
Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, Mission District (the nice part), SOMA (the nice part), Lower Nob Hill, Nob Hill, Mission Dolores, Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park, Lone Mountain, Laurel, anywhere north of California St., most places north of Geary St., etc, etc.

[mayorhaggar]

If you're really just priced out of SF (big apartments can definitely be a bit rare in SF) then I'd look into Oakland. Rockridge in Oakland is really nice and is 20 minutes from downtown SF on BART, so it's closer than a lot of areas in the Richmond and the Sunset. Yeah it's not the same as being in SF, but the SF market is pretty ridiculous now.