Moving to SF this summer from Philadelphia (San Francisco, Daly City: 2014, rentals)

[aac725]

Hello everybody I need some serious help here!

I am moving to SF this summer (July 2014) for work. I am an occupational therapist working for the school districts around the SF Bay area. My boyfriend works in the IT field.

We are from Philadelphia so we understand city living. aka some areas are worse than others, it's a city we get that. We are looking for a safe/ "affordable" places to live for $3000-$3500/month looking for 2 bedrooms 1 bath with some utilities included.

We were out to visit SF back in October 2013, we stayed in Russian Hill with some folks off of Airbnb. They said their apt which was 2 bedrooms 1 bath went for $3200/month.

Since I will be working in several schools pre-k- high school, is it feasible to have car or can I utilize public transportation to get from school to school lets say if its for the school district of San Francisco.

Thank you for the help, any feedback or comments will be a huge help for this 3000 mile transition!

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by aac725

Since I will be working in several schools pre-k- high school, is it feasible to have car or can I utilize public transportation to get from school to school lets say if its for the school district of San Francisco.

This depends on your territory and which schools you will be covering. SF Muni buses are ridiculously slow compared to driving. Example:try going from Lincoln High to Washington High without a car. A 10 minute car trip will turn into an hour bus trip with a lot of walking and waiting. If you are assigned to the central city area east of Van Ness and north of Market it may be better to take transit because of the parking situation.

[California Vagabond]

In your shoes, I'd look at renting a two bedroom house in one of San Francisco's south side neighborhoods: the Crocker Amazon, Portola, Excelsior, Outer Mission, parts of Visitacion Valley distant from the Sunnydale projects, and perhaps Merced Heights and Ingleside. You also might find a place in the Outer Richmond or Outer Sunset (and might prefer those areas to S.F.'s south side). Daly City is an option, too. These places are sleepier and less exciting than central S.F., but perfectly liveable.

A rented house should come with a garage, and street parking will be less challenging (although not trouble free).

I just checked 'rentals' in zillow.com, and found some in your price range (although Craigslist might be a better source).

As for transit access: it depends on how quickly you're expected to zip from work site to work site, and where the work sites are located. You can take a look at the SFMTA system map here: https://www.sfmta.com/maps/muni-system-map , and do some sample trip planning here: Transit.511.org . If you'll have time to travel between sites, you can live here without a car, and consider more transit-centric San Francisco neighborhoods.

[jade408]

If I had to travel to all parts of SF, I'd recommend getting a car. There are many neighborhoods that aren't especially well connected to others. For example, getting to the Marina from downtown SF is about 30 minutes. From the outer neighborhoods it is more like an hour.

[metalforever]

Haha, at least you're being realistic with your budget (Source: Someone from Pittsburgh, PA). I found that San Francisco was exactly opposite of what you might experience in Pennsylvania.

[pch1013]

Originally Posted by California Vagabond

In your shoes, I'd look at renting a two bedroom house in one of San Francisco's south side neighborhoods: the Crocker Amazon, Portola, Excelsior, Outer Mission, parts of Visitacion Valley distant from the Sunnydale projects, and perhaps Merced Heights and Ingleside.

I would absolutely not recommend living in any of those areas without a car, with the possible exception of the Outer Mission.

I live in a central, transit-rich neighborhood but still rely on my own vehicle (a motorcycle) to get around town. I'm not necessarily suggesting you should get one, since riding around SF requires -- shall we say -- a certain tolerance for risk, but it's definitely an efficient and occasionally fun to navigate city traffic. And you'd never have parking problems. Ever.

There's a reason there's such a proliferation of scooters and motorcycles here, compared to just about anyplace else in the US.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by jade408

If I had to travel to all parts of SF, I'd recommend getting a car. There are many neighborhoods that aren't especially well connected to others. For example, getting to the Marina from downtown SF is about 30 minutes. From the outer neighborhoods it is more like an hour.

Unlike you take the Geary express line [20 minutes from far outer richmond to financial district], but that's a pretty limited route as far as having schools along the way [might be an option though].

I do agree that outer richmond and outer sunset are good areas to consider. Typically in these areas, free street parking is available in addition to garage options in some of the units [beside SFH option mentioned]. It doesn't get too crazy out there for parking, in my experience. Plus, although some people like to say that it is 'way' out there, Outer Richmond has several great restaurants, cafe, the historic Balboa theater [yes, it shows movies!] and inner Richmond, several blocks away, is considered SFO's 'other Chinatown'-and also is home to some great Burmese, Vietnamese and California bistro type cuisine. Also, outer Richmond/Sunset are close/walking distance to GG Park, the Presidio and the ocean, assuming that is a boon for the OP. And, let's not forget the famous Tommy's Mexican with its renowned tequila bar [I lived walking distance before it was written about nationally, however...so maybe it's even more crowded now.] They were pioneers of sorts, convincing clueless people to not drink the cheap tequila and think that all tequila gives you a headache. (: http://tommysmexican.com/

Seacliff neighborhood, adjacent to outer Richmond, is pretty exclusive but you can possibly find a great flat in your budget. I personally loved living in the outer richmond and had a friend who grew up in Seacliff. I find them removed just enough from the urban fray and more congested areas, but close enough to still feel that you are living in San Francisco, for sure. I also liked that outer richmond provides quick access to the GG Bridge for trips to Marin/hiking/Sonoma wine country etc. It's easy and there are sort of back roads/side streets you can take to GG bridge or the Marina district, etc.
Edit: I just checked and there are many places, pretty spacious and some with great views, in your budget in outer richmond. There's even a yelp review page for the area [and I assume for other areas of the city-that looks like a great thing to check out-I don't think I can link to it through CD, though.]

If the IT job ends up being on the peninsula or SV, and you want to look somewhere between the two, Pacifica is a cute little town (with a bit of a working class vibe plus families and a few professionals) on the ocean, in your price range, lots of nature trails and a few restaurants and cafes-but it's only 20 minutes from the city and an easy-to-okay commute to many parts of the peninsula. Though, outer Richmond and Sunset will also give decent proximity to the Peninsula-with the coast highway option.

Otherwise, if you like Russian Hill and stayed with people who rented in your budget, then you know it's possible)! Your budget gives you some choice. Noe Valley is nice (though not sure about your budget there these days-but worth checking it out. It's also considered one of the 'sunnier' hoods in the city. It can be foggy elsewhere and sunny in Noe Valley. Crazy microclimates in the bay area!) People enjoy living in the Marina district, too. Depends on the atmosphere you want. I recommend going through some online neighborhood guides, while googling images of said areas and rental listings at the same time. I usually check out restaurants, grocery store and entertainment options via google map, too, which gives me an idea of whether or not the area is a good match for me.

I agree with others that driving from school to school within the city would be best with a car. It's really not that bad if you are driving from neighborhood to neighborhood, b/c you figure out the side streets, lights and which are the steepest, etc. Soon you'll be an old pro-it's not that large of a city, geographically speaking and population wise is about 800k [vs. 1.5 million in PHL]. Though, yes, some commute into the city for work, but people commute all over the bay area for work, not just SFO as the main hub.

PHL population density is: 11,379.6/sq mi/ land area: 134.1 sq mi
San Francisco: 17,620/sq mi /land area: 46.87 sq mi
San Francisco is very densely populated, making it feel larger than it is in both population and size, in my experience. Also, b/c it is such a famous place and considered 'world class', people often don't realize how small it actually is, since it's often spoken in the same breath as LA, NYC, Paris, London.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by pch1013

I would absolutely not recommend living in any of those areas without a car, with the possible exception of the Outer Mission.

I live in a central, transit-rich neighborhood but still rely on my own vehicle (a motorcycle) to get around town. I'm not necessarily suggesting you should get one, since riding around SF requires -- shall we say -- a certain tolerance for risk, but it's definitely an efficient and occasionally fun to navigate city traffic. And you'd never have parking problems. Ever.

There's a reason there's such a proliferation of scooters and motorcycles here, compared to just about anyplace else in the US.

Yea, or get an old, huge volvo wagon-which is what we had. Turned out, everyone moved out of OUR way. Except for muni, of course.

[pch1013]

Originally Posted by lrmsd

Yea, or get an old, huge volvo wagon-which is what we had. Turned out, everyone moved out of OUR way. Except for muni, of course.

But then street parking becomes an issue in most parts of SF.

A minicar might be a better choice. Fiat 500, Scion, Smart etc. This is because there are lots of parking spaces between driveways that will accommodate a tiny car but not a normal-sized one.

However, lately I've been seeing some not-quite-big-enough-for-a-minicar spaces -- particularly in the Mission -- getting striped for motorcycle-only parking, which suits me fine but underscores the problem a lot of people have with cars, even little ones, parking in spaces where they don't quite fit and encroaching on driveways.

[aac725]

Thank You all for the input!

It has been very eye opening and will take everything into consideration. It is HUGE move from the east coast to the west coast. But I think its worth the move to experience something new!

Would any of you know on average how much utilities are? water, gas, heat, internet? We don't watch very much TV so we don't have cable but that's what the bars are for to watch sports and Netflix!

Once again thank you all for your help!