My fiance' and I are considering moving to San Francisco, CA and need some info.?

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by FollowYourDreams

Well, all of this is discouraging news How much better is the pay in CA? Is it enough to compensate for such a drastic raise in rent/cost of living in general?

In general, the pay is better than what you will find in most other cities, but given that many other things will also be more expensive, you can expect that you will need to lower your expectations on the quality (size, condition, amenities, location, etc.) of housing you will be able to afford.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by FollowYourDreams

Well, all of this is discouraging news How much better is the pay in CA? Is it enough to compensate for such a drastic raise in rent/cost of living in general?

What, you'd never heard that the Bay Area is expensive? Hmm.

Well it's doable if you don't make a lot of money. If you and your fiance were both making about $15 an hour at a basic entry level office job you could afford getting a 1 bedroom for $1400 and be paying $700 each, you can get 1br's for about that in SF, they'll be basic and small though. Or you can get a 1br for $900-1100 in the nice parts of Oakland, your choice. You're not going to be able to buy a house unless you're making a lot of money. Like other expensive urban areas like LA or the NYC area, most younger people live in apartments or have roommates.

Now the question is what kinds of jobs you could get. If you had a basic college degree you could probably make around $14-16 an hour (about $30-34,000 a year) in an entry-level job but that is if you can find a job, the economy sucks here. If you have an in-demand degree like engineering or tech, you can make more like $60,000 a year but those jobs are competitive too. People with more experience can make even more than that.

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by FollowYourDreams

Well, all of this is discouraging news How much better is the pay in CA? Is it enough to compensate for such a drastic raise in rent/cost of living in general?

Keep in mind that:

1) As high as rent is, it is only going to get more expensive the longer you wait. It has already risen 5-10% compared to last year.

2) You don't have to live in SF to play in SF. Oakland's rent is much cheaper and has some very nice and trendy areas that rivals that of SF, plus it's a short BART ride away from SF. Check out the Temescal District in Oakland.

3) If you have to live and study in SF, the only university that suits you both in location (close to downtown) and in study (undergrad) is U of SF. It's located in Lone Mountain. The surrounding neighborhood is Nopa, Lower Pacific Heights, Inner Richmond, Haight and Ashbury, and Laurel Heights. They're all very safe and nice areas. SF's other undergrad school is SFSU and it's out in the boonies (but close to the ocean).

4) Night life in SF is bit too vague, different neighborhood has different feel. Try Marina District's upscale bars and restaurants to mingle with trust fund babies and yuppies, Mission District for tech workers and hipsters, Haight for hippie throwbacks and the artistic types, Castro for the alternative lifestyle, Nopa or SOMA for yuppies who are too laid-back to hangout in the Marina. Do check out tourist area like Fisherman's Wharf and you must drop by Ghiradelli Square for their chocolate, they open til midnight on weekends.

5) If you want close to the ocean, check out UC Santa Cruz, it's about 2 hrs from SF and it's a great college and surf town. Beaches in SC is not cold and windy (unlike SF). Or San Jose, which is about 30 mins from Santa Cruz and about 90 mins from SF and is smack in the heart of Silicon Valley.

[turbored]

Originally Posted by beb0p

Keep in mind that:

3) If you have to live and study in SF, the only university that suits you both in location (close to downtown) and in study (undergrad) is U of SF.

5) If you want close to the ocean, check out UC Santa Cruz, it's about 2 hrs from SF and it's a great college and surf town. Beaches in SC is not cold and windy (unlike SF). Or San Jose, which is about 30 mins from Santa Cruz and about 90 mins from SF and is smack in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Corrections:

Golden Gate University also is an undergrad university, closer to downtown, as is Academy of Art University.

San Jose doesn't have beaches, and it's more like 90 mins from SF and 45 to SC.

And NorCal beaches aren't anywhere like the stereotypical SoCal beaches. They're not warm, fun in the sun, Katy Perry style.

And really, anything in SF is "close to downtown" it's only 7 miles squared. The Sunset or the Richmond would both be cheap(er) safe areas. But yes, it is more foggy than the rest of the City. Cheap, Safe, Weather, pick two.