marina/cow hollow, pac heights, russian hill without a car (Lafayette: rent, neighborhoods)

[chixor]

hey guys,

for those of you who live in and around the above neighborhoods, how is the MUNI bus service? my family will have one car but I would like to avoid using it for the most part if and when we move here.

without getting into specifics, which area generally has the most efficient / most pleasant bus service to other areas of the city? which area has the cleanest bus lines and the least crazies? if you had to depend on public transportation to get around, which neighborhood would you choose?

I know some of the responses to this will be "well, it depends on where you're going" but I'm talking about more in general. if you live in any of these neighborhoods, do you find the buses to be more of a pleasantry or a hassle?

and please do not suggest other neighborhoods as we have narrowed it down to these three. I'm aware these aren't near the trains. thanks.

thanks!

[jade408]

Having a car in SF is a huge pain, general walking or muni is the best option. I think the Marina is the worst of the 3 in terms of transit options, it is in an isolated corner of the city and there are no muni metro options nearby.

[mayorhaggar]

The best thing to do is avoid the buses and ride BART or the Metro instead, the buses are slow and stop on every goddamn block, lurch around all the time, they're full all the time, and the vast majority of lines don't run enough, etc etc. But if you can't do that, there are a few bus lines that are really reliable like the 38, 49/47, and the 14, they run very frequently at all times except late at night.

I **think** the 45/41 and the 30 are pretty frequent so Union or Chestnut could be good streets to be near, but I've never really had to depend on them. Seems like there's one going by every couple minutes in Chinatown anyway.

Bus lines in the areas you listed should be fine, once you get past a certain point people wouldn't be going to and from crappy areas, the Pacific Heights/Russian Hill/Marina areas are pretty empty of junkies and crazy people. Once the 30/45 get near Chinatown it gets crowded with people, some of them crazy. The 49/47 can be a bit crazy but is a lot better than the 14 mission bus, but they will get crazy once you get south of Market. I know the 1 is supposed to really suck in terms of frequency. The 22 is kind of frequent but doesn't run often enough, and it can fill up with crazies once you get near the projects south of Geary.

I think Nob Hill would be better than Russian Hill just so you get a few more bus lines and plus you can ride the California Street cable car for free with a Muni pass.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by chixor

if you had to depend on public transportation to get around, which neighborhood would you choose?

Choice 1: near Duboce Park/Church St Station since it is near the intersection of 5 train lines and you can go many places fast.

Choice 2: (since choice 1 has already been eliminated) Somehwere along the number 1 bus route. This is a good line since most of the places it goes are worth going. Examples:Clement street between 2nd and 12th,Trader Joes,Fillmore St shops,Whole Foods on California,Polk St.,Cala Foods,Chinatown,Financial district and connect to Bart near Embacadero. These places are all a couple of blocks away from the number 1 route.

I would avoid the 30 because of overpacked cattle car conditions on that route.

[chixor]

thanks for the responses so far everyone! capoeria - would you agree with mayorhaggar in that the 1 sucks frequency-wise?

[mayorhaggar]

Looks like according to the sfmta.com schedule for the 1, it runs about every 8 minutes on the weekend. The buses don't really run on a schedule but 8 minutes on average isn't awful for a weekend. A prediction of every 5 minutes is better but I'd take 8 over 10 or 15. I don't think it's a heavily used line compared to the 38 or 22 or whatever so 8 minutes should be ok, any longer and it would probably get more crowded because there'd be less buses. You'll still probably end up randomly waiting long periods for buses to come but that is kind of par for the course for riding Muni.

I think maybe they increased frequency on it, maybe after cutting some of the bus lines when they reorganized the system a year or so ago. I remember seeing an old Asmussen comic strip where he poked fun of the 1 for being a mythical bus that nobody had ever seen.

[bmw335xi]

If you found an apt around California St in Lower Pac Heights that'd be good. One of family members used to have an apt on California St near Lafayette Park and loved it. MUNI 1 is right there and so is Whole Foods. You could also look into Nob Hill, there you could walk pretty much everywhere or take rail, bus, cable car, subway etc. Rent is high though, but so is Marina, Russian Hill and Pac Heights.

[dmod]

I think 1 is pretty frequent. Check out nextmuni.com for real time updates on Muni lines. I used to depend on that quite a bit. Also, 1 runs express routes during rush hour - the 1AX and 1BX. I agree with the observations above, anywhere on the California street in Pac Heights will be very desirable.