Area around SFSU (San Francisco, Richmond, Merced: apartments, how much, house) - San Francisco - Oakland - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

xGrendelx · 03-05-2009, 05:47 PM

Can anyone tell me what the area around the school is like? I already know a bit about the school, so I'm not looking for info or reviews of the school, but I don't really know what the area's like. The closest I got to the school was Outer Sunset, so I don't really know much about that area of the city. Is the area safe, nice, expensive, sketchy, etc? I've seen pictures of Stonestown Apartments near the campus which kinda look like student housing or possibly some lower-income housing. Any help at all is much appreciated.

cicerone · 03-06-2009, 01:41 AM

I went to SFSU. The area around the college is totally safe. It's far from downtown and one of the most "suburban" feeling in the entire city. There's some nice homes in the area, plus a golf course, a lake to jog around, and some impressive coastal bluffs at Fort Funston. As far as safety, you'd have to go way down to the end of Ocean Avenue (near Balboa Park BART station) to find anything mildly sketchy and even then it's not anything that common sense can't handle.

I've lived in Stonestown apartments. They're older buildings, but totally clean and safe and are almost exclusively populated by students. The "M" streetcar takes you downtown and beyond, although it doesn't come as often as the downtown trains. There's also the Stonestown shopping mall next door, which now has a grocery store. The only odd complaint is that there are a lot of mosquitos from nearby Lake Merced in the summer.

In general, it's a nice but rather bland place to live. Of course, if you didn't know, anywhere in San Francisco is just incredibly expensive. I've paid $1100 for a stinky, filthy, one-bedroom apartment and my friends complimented me on my "steal". Prepare yourself and choose your roommates wisely.

The only other warning is that San Francisco has odd weather. Summers are foggy and windy and strangely, fall can be much warmer than summer itself. This is because of the cold Pacific Ocean current (don't even think about getting in). The area around SFSU is right near the ocean and one of the foggiest. Temps rarely get break the low 60's. On the bright side, winter temps rarely dip below the 50's and are often clear and brilliant when the rest of the country is in the muck.

xGrendelx · 03-06-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cicerone

I went to SFSU. The area around the college is totally safe. It's far from downtown and one of the most "suburban" feeling in the entire city. There's some nice homes in the area, plus a golf course, a lake to jog around, and some impressive coastal bluffs at Fort Funston. As far as safety, you'd have to go way down to the end of Ocean Avenue (near Balboa Park BART station) to find anything mildly sketchy and even then it's not anything that common sense can't handle.

I've lived in Stonestown apartments. They're older buildings, but totally clean and safe and are almost exclusively populated by students. The "M" streetcar takes you downtown and beyond, although it doesn't come as often as the downtown trains. There's also the Stonestown shopping mall next door, which now has a grocery store. The only odd complaint is that there are a lot of mosquitos from nearby Lake Merced in the summer.

In general, it's a nice but rather bland place to live. Of course, if you didn't know, anywhere in San Francisco is just incredibly expensive. I've paid $1100 for a stinky, filthy, one-bedroom apartment and my friends complimented me on my "steal". Prepare yourself and choose your roommates wisely.

The only other warning is that San Francisco has odd weather. Summers are foggy and windy and strangely, fall can be much warmer than summer itself. This is because of the cold Pacific Ocean current (don't even think about getting in). The area around SFSU is right near the ocean and one of the foggiest. Temps rarely get break the low 60's. On the bright side, winter temps rarely dip below the 50's and are often clear and brilliant when the rest of the country is in the muck.

Thanks for the help! I was in SF a week ago but I didn't get a chance to head down that way. I was by City College though, and it did seem like it could be kinda shady at times, so I figured I'd ask about SFSU since they seem rather close together.

I really enjoyed the weather! I think it was in the 60's just about everyday while I was there. Not like here in Virginia Beach - as soon as I got back I got caught in that winter storm that took up the whole East coast, so I came home to 20 and 30 degree weather with snow, and the summers usually average around 85 here. That gets to you after awhile. But I'm used to wacky weather. On Wednesday it was in the 30's here, and today it's in the 70's. Gotta love the Mid-Atlantic!

Thanks again for the help, though. I'm coming out there again in May, so I should probably just make a trip to the campus and see for myself.

sonarrat · 03-06-2009, 11:54 AM

In that area, I wouldn't exactly characterize the weather as 'wacky.' Monotonous would be the way I would put it. It is a good area, in part because nearby Lowell High School is one of the top 10 public schools in the country.

ImRandy · 03-06-2009, 05:23 PM

Monotonous in a good way. Even in heat waves where other parts of the Bay Area are sweltering in 100° weather it's still quite pleasant in that part of the city. It doesn't get as cold as other areas either. Since you don't need an air conditioner and you only need to turn on the heat for a month out of the year you end up saving a lot of money in utilities which, for a student, is very nice. You should also consider the Parkmerced Apartments and the Westlake Village Apartments (though I would consider the other two before Westlake).

jman650 · 03-07-2009, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cicerone

As far as safety, you'd have to go way down to the end of Ocean Avenue (near Balboa Park BART station) to find anything mildly sketchy and even then it's not anything that common sense can't handle.

The only thing I'd add to this otherwise 100% correct assessment is Lakeview, which you probably would never go to but should be aware of in case you look into housing there. It's not even 10% as bad as it used to be, but it can still be a bit dangerous at times. I wouldn't recommend moving into anything in Lakeview/Oceanview neighborhood, and double-check anything listed as being in the Ingleside neighborhood b/c that could very well mean this neighborhood. Avoid Randolph St. & surrounding area, Broad St. & surrounding area, and for the most part Plymouth St. I would google map any address listing you're considering and make sure it is not within a half-mile radius of these first 2 streets I mentioned. Not to scare you or exaggerate, b/c its not really THAT bad now, but it has a very bad history and can get wild at times. Just FYI.

jman650 · 03-07-2009, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImRandy

Monotonous in a good way. Even in heat waves where other parts of the Bay Area are sweltering in 100° weather it's still quite pleasant in that part of the city. It doesn't get as cold as other areas either. Since you don't need an air conditioner and you only need to turn on the heat for a month out of the year you end up saving a lot of money in utilities which, for a student, is very nice. You should also consider the Parkmerced Apartments and the Westlake Village Apartments (though I would consider the other two before Westlake).

Agree 100% on the weather thing, man it is nice being in the most moderate weather in the region when heatwaves kick in. Westlake Village is in a great area and can be really cool to live in, but that depends on your immediate neighbors. They have paper-thin walls and although they look pretty nice at first, there are a lot of ghetto people living there who like to bump bass at all hours of the day & night, and litter and leave shopping carts all over the neighborhood since its right next to a shopping center. There's also a bunch of homeless/bums/scum who like to dig through the trash bins in the alleyways and don't care about how much noise they make, or that when they tear open garbage bags flys start to come around and into your apartment if you need to open your window (which will have no screen).

Westlake's a bit over-priced too, but it is in an extremely convenient location, and has just about anything you'd need in your neighborhood within walking distance. I'd avoid Westlake Village Apartments, but if you have roommates and can afford a house in the neighborhood you'll probably love it. Otherwise, personally, I'd choose Parkmerced/The Villas over it.

naomisday · 03-07-2009, 09:08 AM

The area around SFSU is fine, actually the area around CCSF is okay as well.....or at least it
used to be...just follow the directions of jman650

Make sure when you visit again to see the area at night as well as the day..

naomisday · 03-07-2009, 09:12 AM

I have always wanted to visit the Hampton Roads area....I plan to one
day.....

I have a cousin in Suffolk,VA...and I have a close friend who graduated from Hampton University about
20 years ago...she came back to California for Grad School.....

Good luck with your plans!!!!!!!!!

xGrendelx · 03-07-2009, 01:55 PM

Thanks everyone! So far, the most appealing places to me, as far as living, are in the Richmond district. I got to drive through there and liked the feel of it, although I didn't spend too much time there. I enjoyed Russian Hill and Telegraph Hill too, but a bit expensive for me, haha.

Naomisday-

Please do come to Hampton Roads! It's WAAY different than SF is, but sometimes a change of scenery can be very beneficial. We do have some urban settings in Norfolk, and Virginia Beach (where I live) has the highest population of any city in VA plus it's got awesome beaches, but Suffolk is almost polar opposites to SF - very rural, slow paced, LARGE geographically but not very many people.