Visited San Fran and thinking of moving. Not impressed though. (San Francisco: lofts, crime)

[jman07]

I was thinking of moving to San Fran and visited, but only saw some of the city. But what I saw, I wasn't crazy about. I basically walked through the NE part, I saw North Beach, China Town, Financial District, South of Market and Mission District. From what I heard, South of Market and Mission District were supposed to be nice, but I didn't see much. I didn't know if I might have missed the good parts of those two because I wasn't sure where exactly to go in those parts. I was basically around 5th to 8th street, above 80. I just saw homeless people everywhere. In Mission District, I think I was between 16th and 20th st, around Folsom.

What I was really wanting was a residential trendy younger neighborhood. For example, like Hollywood or Santa Monica in LA, or Lakeview or Lincoln Park in Chicago. Where are those equivalents in San Fran? I'm on the fence now, so hopefully some of these responses will get me off of that fence.

[Ruth4Truth]

Who told you SoMa and the Mission were nice?! That's strange. You were misinformed. Pacific Heights, Noe Valley and Russian Hill are nice. Noe Valley's trendy, I guess. A younger crowd wouldn't be able to afford it, unless it was a successful younger crowd, though. Maybe the Castro district? What SoMa and the Mission are, is relatively more affordable. That's because they're not "nice". One is a former industrial/warehouse district that's being gentrified and has been turned into lofts (still a work in progress), and the Mission is the Latin barrio (especially the part you saw), which was "discovered" because of its low rents. Those values have shot up ever since it was "discovered", though. And it's still a higher-crime area.

[peninsular]

You did for some reason were around the worst of SoMa and Mission. SoMa is not particularly picturesque, but where you were, the area is known as mid-Market, is one of the worst parts of it. Mission is also a very mixed bag. While all of it has undeniable character, what you were looking for is around Dolores Park and along Valencia/Guerrero.
Another place to check out for you would be Lower Haight/Haight-Ashbury (Haight St). If you are looking for Hollywood/Santa Monica vibe, check out Marina/Cow Hollow - (Chestnut St and Union St).

[ccm123]

Check out the Marina District and Nob Hill.

[CirclingLogan]

Of the "core" young, yuppie/hipster residential neighborhoods, there are two general regions: Northern San Francisco and Southern San Francisco. They're separated by a weird, fairly scary middle area of the city made up of Western Addition (projects) and the Tenderloin (SROs, crackheads, stabbings).

Southern San Francisco is made up of the contiguous neighborhoods of Alamo Square/ Haight/ Castro/ Noe Valley/ Hayes Valley/ Mission/ SoMa/ Protrero Hill/ Dogpatch. It's the "new" part of the city, and is currently going through some intense gentrification. It has the best restaurants and bars, and is dominated by a hipster and tech crowd, with a healthy gay presence.

Northern San Francisco is made up of Marina/ Cow Hollow/ Pacific Heights/ Nob Hill/ Russian Hill/ Telegraph Hill/ North Beach. It's more established, and while beautiful, has lost some of its luster. Restaurants and bars are not as good. People are generally not as interesting. A lot of business dudes in town at conferences. Tends to be preppier, frattier with a big finance/ attornney crowd.

I like both areas, although I split my time 75-25 favoring Southern San Francisco. I would spend a sunny afternoon on the Marina Green and Dolores Park. Whichever you feel more comfortable in, choose that side of the city.

I love Chicago, but San Francisco is infinitely more interesting. No neighborhood is quite as white, yuppified and polished as Lincoln Park, but I think that's a good thing. Also, most of the city is safe, unlike 2/3 of Chicago. Not sure about LA as I haven't spent much time there.

[jman07]

Your posts have been helpful. I am thinking Northern Fran is better for me. I'm your typical midwest guy. I like sports bars and watching football on Sundays. I was thinking Marina, Cow Hollow, or Pacific Heights? I want to street map it. What are the intersections for the main strips of bars/restaurants in these areas?

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by jman07

Your posts have been helpful. I am thinking Northern Fran is better for me. I'm your typical midwest guy. I like sports bars and watching football on Sundays. I was thinking Marina, Cow Hollow, or Pacific Heights? I want to street map it. What are the intersections for the main strips of bars/restaurants in these areas?

"Northern Fran" sounds like a name for a prostitute. You may want to use terms like "The City" or "SF".

[countofmc]

Don't move here then. San Francisco is like fine jewelry. If you don't absolutely love it in the store, then you aren't going to like it once you take it home.

[jaypee]

Originally Posted by jman07

Your posts have been helpful. I am thinking Northern Fran is better for me. I'm your typical midwest guy. I like sports bars and watching football on Sundays. I was thinking Marina, Cow Hollow, or Pacific Heights? I want to street map it. What are the intersections for the main strips of bars/restaurants in these areas?

Try Chestnut St for the Marina.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by jaypee

Try Chestnut St for the Marina.

Chestnut St. is just 4 tiny blocks of average restaurants and boring shops between Divisadero and Fillmore. Its worth a visit about once every two years if one lives in the city.