What is living in the Fillmore like these days? (San Jose: rental, condos)

[sonarrat]

I'm a longtime SF bay resident who has spent the last 10 years being disgusted with the housing market and opting to rent instead. I'm now in a position to possibly buy my first home, and surprisingly, one of the most realistic options I have to land something is in San Francisco. There are several BMR units available through a city program near the corner of Fillmore and Fulton. I did a quick drive through today and it looked like a nice, clean area without any of the obvious red flags. It's on the edge of the Fillmore bordering Alamo Square and Hayes Valley, close to Fell/Oak for access to 101. (I have job sites in the East Bay and Peninsula which are not accessible by public transit.)

There are resale restrictions, but with how much cheaper it is to buy these condos than to rent or pay market prices, I'm willing to give up the prospect of high appreciation and invest the rest of my money in other ways. I mean, there's a 1 bedroom condo a few blocks away going for literally 3 times the price, and the typical rental there is $3K+ which is double what I pay in San Jose, but I would still be looking at a lower outlay than I'm paying now. And I'd be in an area where once I get home, I can walk around to do errands and get food instead of driving miles to get anywhere. That's pretty attractive no matter how you slice it.

The other reason why the Fillmore stands out to me is because of the cultural aspect. I'm a classically trained pianist and experiencing different kinds of music and art is actually kind of important to me; I have friends in the city who live in bland places like SoMa and Twin Peaks, and that doesn't really appeal to me. Has the culture of the Fillmore gotten completely neutered out of the area through gentrification (idiots blasting teeny-bop hip-hop who think they're cool), or is there still some flavor?

And what is it like on the ground? I get the impression this isn't the rough part of the Fillmore.