Move from Boston to SF -- good idea or bad idea? (San Diego: transplants, apartment)

[jenfromboston1]

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I are considering moving to SF in a few months, but I want to make sure we're making the right decision before moving across the country. So I was hoping to get your advice!

We're 25, we'll both be keeping our jobs and working from home in SF, so finding a job is not a problem. We already came to visit and loved the city (I kept saying that it feels "like Boston, only better"), but I'm concerned about whether we could afford a nice enough apartment there--because we'll both be working from home, we'd need at least a 2 bdrm place.

Concerns:
- I have SAD and keep reading on here about how foggy and gloomy SF is, even though it's in California. Will I be depressed all year round because the sun never comes out? Or should we move to a place like Oakland or somewhere along the east bay to see more sun? (And if we did that, would it be sunny enough, or still depressing? Hoping to hear from others with SAD on here.) I'm thinking it can't possibly be worse than winter in Boston, but...?

- Will we realistically be able to afford anything in a nice area? We have a car, so we don't need to be right near a train, if that helps. We tried looking on Craigslist, but it was pretty slim pickings and discouraging.

- If we can only afford something that is far outside of the city, should we not bother moving there? I read some posts that were saying that, unless we're moving right into the city, we'd be missing out on the "real" SF experience anyway, so don't bother. Thoughts?

Your opinions would be much appreciated, and hopefully I've provided enough information to give you a basis for responding. We're looking to move from Boston either way, just to try something new (since we can work from home, why not try some place new?), and I've sort of had SF in the back of my head for years. But it's sounding from a lot of posts on here that maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be?

Thank you so much for your help!

[gone down south]

Depends what you consider "affordable".
Would $3k/month rent make you blink?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

When people say SF is "foggy" they are referring to the coastal stratus which occurs during the Dry Season (~ May - Oct or Nov). Unless you are right at the beach and the Marine Layer is compressed, it is not "fog" in the sense of pea soup, it is a relatively thin layer of stratus up ~ 1000 or 1500'. Some people refer to it as "high fog."

Here's a bit of a primer. This would also apply to most of the other coastal communities in this state.

CLIMATE OF SAN FRANCISCO NARRATIVE

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by jenfromboston1

Hi everyone,
- Will we realistically be able to afford anything in a nice area?

How would we know without your budget?

If you want to avoid the gloomy fog, avoid anywhere near the coast--western SF (basically anything west of Twin Peaks), Daly City, Pacifica, etc. In spring and summer the fog reaches inland to Oakland in the morning, then burns off over Oakland and eastern SF but usually stays stuck over western SF. You see this sort of early morning gloom pretty much anywhere in coastal California, even in the OC or down here in Long Beach.

If you want a lot of sun and warm late spring and summer weather though, check out somewhere like Walnut Creek or down on the Peninsula like Mountain View. Those areas are suburban though.

If gloomy weather makes you sad though, you'd probably hate Bay Area winters (though they're definitely better than somewhere like Boston). It rains a lot and gets very dark and gray for several days in a row, and getting rained on when it's 45 degrees gets old quick. This goes for anywhere in the Bay Area, winter weather is more uniform than in summer when each zip code has its own totally different microclimate. It's still better than somewhere like Boston or Chicago where just leaving the house is a pain in the ass in winter, so you feel pent up and tired all the time.

[humboldtrat]

Not knowing what you consider affordable, I say live out in the suburbs within 30 - 40 min of SF and somewhere near the Caltrain commuter train station or near a BART station. The burbs are much more sunny and warmer than most of San Francisco. The rents are a bit lower in the suburbs than in SF.

System Map
BART - Station List

Since you have a car, parking in SF is almost impossible and/or expensive. You would probably have to park on the street (if you can find a space) or pay extra for garage space.

[jenfromboston1]

Originally Posted by gone down south

Depends what you consider "affordable".
Would $3k/month rent make you blink?

Sorry, I should have said: We can't spend more than $2k/month on rent.

[theh]

San Francisco is a little more expensive than Boston, but all in all, the bills should at least come fairly close to evening out. Me, and some other fellow Bostonian friends of mine who have also made the move out to San Francisco and to other parts of the Bay Area seem to have been able to adjust to the high cost of living a lot more quickly than other transplants tend to, because we were already used to it. The rent in San Francisco is a little higher than Boston, true. However, you will pay significantly less for utilities. Car insurance is quite a bit less than Boston, and food is also cheaper, especially if you cook and don't spend much time in the prepared foods section (prepared foods are about the same price). Produce especially is dirt cheap compared to Boston. Parking in San Francisco completely sucks, but if you're used to having a car and parking in Boston, you'll be fine. I've also found it a lot easier here to keep myself occupied without having to spend money, with the abundance of outdoor activities and beautiful weather.

As other posters have stated, the fog is only really a problem on the immediate coast in the summer. You can certainly find sunshine in the city.

Oakland, where I currently live, and the rest of the East Bay get plenty of sunshine. The rent here is actually a little cheaper than most of Boston and is just a stone's throw away from San Francisco. Oakland is a great alternative if you don't feel like dealing with the high rent in San Francisco and the nightmare that is finding an apartment in San Francisco in the first place...and it's way less of a headache to have a car here.

You'll find even the worst winters here to be a piece of cake compared to any season in Massachusetts. The sun also doesn't set at 4 in the winter like it does in Mass. I think you'll definitely have an easier time managing your SAD here than in Boston.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by theh

You'll find even the worst winters here to be a piece of cake compared to any season in Massachusetts. The sun also doesn't set at 4 in the winter like it does in Mass. I think you'll definitely have an easier time managing your SAD here than in Boston.

Good point. Sunset is around 5:30 in the winter here. And it rarely rains more than 3 days in a row. Even more rare for it to rain 24/7 for more than a day or 2. Usually winter works something like: 3 or 4 days of intermittent showers, 3 days of sunny and warmer (and occasionally sunny and cool). 1-2 days a month of super nice weather (70 degrees in the day time) and the pattern continues from November to about April. April and May have fewer showers and by mid May, you can usually put away your umbrella until late October.

I can think of maybe one year where it was horribly gloomy and there were stretches of 5 days of rain. But on the whole rainy days have a break in the clouds where the sun comes out too. One day can encompass 3 seasons here.

[Isebiel]

My husband and I moved here from Chicago last year, after years of researching different cities. We also both work from home, and my husband is very much affected by SAD. It has been a very good choice.

We got a 1 bedroom apartment (currently rents for about $3k/mo...) and do fine with that, but of course it depends on how much stuff you have, and how much equipment you need to work from home. There are a lot of co-working spaces and coffee shops and the like to help get a little separation, too.

If you could go down to 1 BR, pay a little more for rent, and get rid of the car, you might be able to make SF proper work. I think that makes for a nicer experience, personally, but then one of the biggest reasons we settled on SF was that we wanted to get rid of the car.

Otherwise, I think considering other towns in the Bay Area would still be worthwhile. The weather is comparable (sometimes better), the culture is similar, and you can always visit SF. It's like having an awesome vacation spot very, very nearby.

I'd look at Emeryville if I wanted to remain car-based. It's right across the bay, with lots of modern, new buildings. Not sure of the prices, there, but it's cheaper than SF. Walnut Creek seems nice, too.

Alternately, you might want to consider San Diego or Denver. Both were serious contenders in our city search, but weren't walkable enough. Both are very sunny!

[NYCtoSF]

Please don't move here. This city needs more sexy single chicks not another boring couple.