Moving PDX to San Fran (San Francisco, Oakland: for rent, transfer, neighborhoods)

[curlygirlpdx]

Hi Everyone--

I am planning a move from PDX to San Francisco. I'm lucky enough to have a good job lined up and will be working near Battery Park/Levi Stauss Plaza.

I'll be in town checking out the area next weekend and am wondering what neighborhoods to check out--looking to feel out a place to live. I'll probably be moving my car. Ideal location would have parking (I know that's not easy to come by), close to parks. I realize public transportation is the way to go for daily work commute. Budgeting around $1800 for rent. Safety is my top concern. I've read good things about the Richmond neighborhood--any other suggestions?

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by curlygirlpdx

Hi Everyone--

I am planning a move from PDX to San Francisco. I'm lucky enough to have a good job lined up and will be working near Battery Park/Levi Stauss Plaza.

I'll be in town checking out the area next weekend and am wondering what neighborhoods to check out--looking to feel out a place to live. I'll probably be moving my car. Ideal location would have parking (I know that's not easy to come by), close to parks. I realize public transportation is the way to go for daily work commute. Budgeting around $1800 for rent. Safety is my top concern. I've read good things about the Richmond neighborhood--any other suggestions?

The Richmond District is the safest place in the Bay Area but it is largely made up uof elderly Chinese or Russians. I hope you can find something in your budget there, my last rent was $2,500 five years ago, but that was a large flat 2,000 sq ft. Once you get used to living in the 1950's with Produce Store's, Butcher Shops and hardly any chain stores you may get addicted like me.

[mayorhaggar]

Here's something I posted in another topic:

Mainly avoid the Tenderloin and pretty much the entire SE corner of the city--Visitacion Valley, Bayview/Hunter's Point, etc. In the Mission District it's best to avoid anything on or east of Mission Street. Other than that there's pockets of crappy public housing in places like the Fillmore/Western Addition, Potrero Hill, etc.

For areas that aren't too much of a hassle to get to downtown, I'd look at the area around Dolores Park and anything in the north central or northeastern sectors of the city. Noe Valley, the Western part of the Mission District, Duboce Park, Lower Pacific Heights, Nob Hill, the Marina, North Beach, Hayes Valley, Glen Park. I'd focus mainly on these areas. Add in anything near Balboa Park for its BART access but it's a really boring area. North Beach can be expensive but you could walk to work if you had a job downtown.

If on-street parking is important to you, then the Sunset District and the Richmond District are some of the easiest parts of SF to park in. But it can take 45 to 60 minutes to get to downtown SF (where most jobs are) on public transit, which is a drag, and the transit lines like the 38 and N and L get super packed to the point where you can't even board a bus or train and have to wait for the next one which could be in 5 minutes and could be in 45 minutes, Muni is lame like that. Also it's foggy and chilly most of the year and there aren't as many shops and restaurants as in other parts of SF.

If on-street parking is important to you and you don't want to pay extra for an off-street parking space, I would consider the East Bay, maybe the nice parts of Oakland which are very easy to park in compared with SF.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by curlygirlpdx

Hi Everyone--

I am planning a move from PDX to San Francisco. I'm lucky enough to have a good job lined up and will be working near Battery Park/Levi Stauss Plaza.

I'll be in town checking out the area next weekend and am wondering what neighborhoods to check out--looking to feel out a place to live. I'll probably be moving my car. Ideal location would have parking (I know that's not easy to come by), close to parks. I realize public transportation is the way to go for daily work commute. Budgeting around $1800 for rent. Safety is my top concern. I've read good things about the Richmond neighborhood--any other suggestions?

You'll want to be close to BART or the downtown SF Muni stations. Not a lot of buses go over to that spot off Embarcadero, it is pretty far up. You can take the F car, but that can be pretty crowded, so being near Market St is a good plan. There might be a commuter shuttle to the plaza, but the F line is good option because it runs frequently and late at night.

That would be a crappy commute from the Sunset. Probably ~80 minutes total factoring in wait time. You'd need to make a couple of transfers.

If you were in the Richmond, and lived close to the 1 California line, you would have about 50-60 minute bus ride and a 10 minute walk.

From where I live in North Oakland, it would take a little less than an hour via transit and either walking from downtown transit drop-offs or taking the F. (BART is very crowded in the AM from North Oakland or Downtown Oakland, but the buses have seats and aren't as crowded)

[mayorhaggar]

Ditch the car, live in North Beach and you could walk to work.