Questions for trip next week (San Francisco, Stockton: how much, hotel, houses)

[ffknight918]

I live in Milwaukee, WI and will by flying out to San Francisco on Tuesday. I'll only be there until Thursday morning. I'm just making the trip to hand in an application to San Francisco Fire Department. Milwaukee is nice, but the SFFD is an amazing fire department.

I'm staying at the Baldwin Hotel at 321 Grant Ave. It's located in Union Square I think. It's very close to the BART and Muni. So I'm guessing I shouldn't have too much of a problem getting around.

Since I'm only going to have about a day and a half, what do I NEED to see in that short amount of time? Is it easy to get to everything by public transportation? There doesn't seem to be much that can take you out to Fisherman's Wharf. Unless maybe street cars or something that I didn't see?

I also keep hearing to stay away from Tenderloin. However, that seems to be right near Union Square. Isn't that one of the biggest shopping areas in the country? So how close is it really? Just want to make sure I know where to avoid since I seem to wander a lot. haha I'm a 21-year-old male and I'd say a have pretty good street smarts. I've wandered around plenty of large cities alone including the NW side of Milwaukee, NE DC, and a few bad parts of LA. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to know where I'd see more trouble.

Thanks in advance. I can't wait to come. SF seems like an amazing city with plenty to see. Then again, any city that doesn't have 15 degree weather and a foot of snow on the ground is better than where I am now. haha

[humboldtrat]

You can use the #30 bus which runs on Stockton St, one block west of Grant. The bus goes through Chinatown and out to Fishermans Wharf.

www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/documents/30.pdf

You can also walk down to Market Street and ride on old historic busses/streetcars on the "F" line. They go down Market St to the Ferry Building and turn north along the waterfront (the Embarcadero) to Fishermans Wharf. www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/documents/F.pdf

Or you can take a cable car from Powell St north to Fishermans Wharf.

You can also get a daily pass which is cheaper than paying for each ride

[capoeira]

San Francisco is easy to get around by public transit. You can also walk to many places since it is a very compact city. From your Union Square location you can walk up Grant or Stockton to see Chinatown. Continue on Columbus to visit the North Beach neighborhood. Continue walking to get to Fisherman's Wharf and PIER 39.

The Golden Gate Bridge is great to visit. To get there by public transit you can take the previously mentioned 30 bus to the Marina area. Transfer to the 28 bus by walking 1 block north to Lombard. The 28 bus will take you to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and you can walk out on the bridge.

If you are into museums and want to visit Golden Gate Park you can take the new 74X Culture Bus.

CultureBus: Route & Destinations (http://www.sfculturebus.org/route.htm - broken link)

Alternate ways to visit Golden Gate Park are taking the number 5 bus to 10th avenue or taking the N Muni train to 9th and Irving and walking north towards the park.

The number 20 bus is also a useful route. It is less crowded than the 30.

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/documents/20.pdf (broken link)

The 15 bus also runs very close to Pier 39. It is confusing for tourists since it goes north on Kearny and comes back south on Sansome.

Here is a map of the whole SF Muni system:

http://www.familydocs.org/files/MUNI%20System%20Map.pdf

Here is a downtown only Muni map:

http://www.familydocs.org/files/MUNI...town%20Map.pdf

Here is a Google map with San Francisco attractions added:

Map of San Francisco's Top Attractions

You might find this interesting:

San Francisco Fire Department Museum Vintage Firehouses Page (http://www.sffiremuseum.org/firehouses.html - broken link)

The Tenderloin is a seedy area but not nearly as dangerous as the bad parts of LA. It begins south of Post and west of Mason or Taylor. This area has some pretty good Indian and Vietnamese restaurants.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

[bellalunatic]

My good friend,that we just had over for dinner tonight is a firefighter SFFD. He told me that next week is the "one week only" for applications.
He works at the number 1 house in SOMA. We have a lot of friends and neighbors that are SFFD.
Hope you get the gig! It's been pretty dry here so far this Winter, so barely any rain, hopefully it'll stay that way for your visit. Don't miss the GG Bridge, and if you can get up to views the city from Twin Peaks that's a GREAT view of downtown...and of course there's Alamo Square where the 'painted ladies' are on Steiner...great view from the park .

[capoeira]

Please ignore the previously posted comments on the number 15 bus. The 15 line was cancelled in April 2007.

[DMenscha]

Good luck with your application. I have a friend who is a BC in the SFFD.

Get a daily pass and just ride the lines. the N Judah goes from the ballpark all the way out to the sunset district and gives you a good feel for the city. The Powell st. cable car also takes you through some cool places.

[ffknight918]

Wow, quite a few great replies. Thanks a lot.

Do a lot of people use the buses? Over here the bus system is pretty bad. They are dirty, run down, and full of crime. Seems like it might be a little different in SF.

[Caramelboo]

Hi ffknight918,

I was in SF a few weeks ago, and I took the buses to get to certain places I was visiting, including the GG bridge. The buses did not seem run down or dirty at all. I did not feel unsafe riding on them and I am a female. Just use your street smarts, which I am sure you have.

Have fun in SF! You will love it, I'm sure. Just be sure to be in good shape for walking those hills if you do come across some. That was my cardio workout for the week!

[NorCalBound]

Just wanted to say good luck with the process!! FF gigs in CA are wonderful if you can land one. I don't know why other areas of the country pay their ff's so little in comparison. My husband is a firefighter, in backgrounds with the city of Newark, so I understand how much time and work is involved in the process. He's a bilingual medic and it's still taken him years to get a job. Are you a medic? You might want to consider making the move to CA, get a job on a private ambulance company if you're at least an EMT, and apply, apply, apply everywhere. It's such an insane industry! Anyway, good luck, I hope it works out for you.

[fsufezzik]

I've spent lots of time taking public transit here in San Francisco, and I think it's a good system. BART is obviously fantastic, but it only goes along one line through the city. Next in line of goodness are the muni streetcars (not the cable cards). These are the N-Judah, the J-Church, etc. They're pretty reliable and clean and quick. The cable cars are mainly a tourist attraction rather than a serious transportation system, though they are fun and they will get you efficiently between the Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf areas.

Finally, the buses. They're not bad, but not great, either. They'll get you where you want to go, but not very reliably (you can't time them at all). If you have to change buses, it's going to take a long time to get to your destination. The cleanliness and safe-feeling-ness of the buses varies considerably with the line you're on; those that go through seedy neighborhoods often feel seedier to me. That being said, none of San Francisco's neighborhoods are all that bad, so the buses are okay for the most part.

I second the suggestions about getting a pass for the time you're here rather than paying per ride. The easiest place to get the pass is at Powell and Market - there's a stand that sells them next to the cable car turnaround, and down the stairs there is the Tourist Information Center where you can get passes, maps, brochures, etc. Since your hotel isn't far from there, you might want to check it out.