Moving to SF from suburban Detroit: What will be different?

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by Republic of Michigan

Anyway, if you actually come up here for a visit, try your hardest to downplay your Houston accent when speaking. Otherwise, people in Michigan may chuckle at you.

Now that is a very naïve statement. Most people from Houston do not have a Texas accent. I lived there all of my life and I have zero accent. No one has ever guessed that I am from Texas when they hear me speak. Most are stunned by it because they also assumed that everyone from Houston, TX has a Texas accent. Never assume that everyone from Houston has a Texas or Southern accent.

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by Mike0910

I was born and raised in a relatively wealthy town in suburban Detroit (Novi). I'm moving to downtown SF. What will be different? What is the weather like for each season? In Michigan, we have all four seasons and very cold winters. I'm in my twenties. Money is of no concern to me. Is there anything I should know? What part of the city would be right for me? I'm looking for:

- Warm weather year long (I hate living in the cold)
- I'm looking for excellent shopping malls (Novi has the 2nd best mall in Michigan).
- A BETTER quality of life
- Good social atmosphere
- Awesome night clubs

Why do you want to move? And why here?

The only thing I can say is compared to were I am from SF is mostly cold. To you it may feel mild.

A better quality of life is purely subjective to each individual. You have not given enough info for anyone to guesstimate this for you.

If awesome night clubs and excellent shopping malls are your meter for a better quality of life...I think you can find those things in most large cities.

The social atmosphere is OK but it is far cry from good ole Southern Hospitality I have not encountered any problems socializing with people here...but again it could be because of my outward friendly demeanor.

[rah]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

The weather in most of SF has two seasons: rain and fog

This really isn't true, and it always confuses me how many people repeat it or some variation of it. Stereotypes die hard, I guess.

First off, it usually only rains in the winter. The rest of the year is typically completely rain-free. SF and Oakland are about tied for the rainiest big cities in CA, but that's not saying much, and they actually get less rain than pretty much anywhere in the US that's not in SoCal, the central valley, or the southwest. As for fog, does SF get it? Hell yeah. Does SF get more than any other big city? Yes, by far. Does SF get it every day? No. When SF does get fog, does it cover the entire city? Sometimes it does, but more often it doesn't. Fog is most prevalent in the summer, and mostly in the mornings and afternoons, and the western half of the city gets a lot more than elsewhere. SF city-proper is full of micro climates too, and you can go from foggy and windy 55 degree weather at the beach to nice and sunny 70 degree weather in the Mission, just a few miles away.

SF actually gets a lot of sunshine too, more than pretty much anywhere in the US that's not in SoCal, the central valley, or the southwest, which may be surprising to a lot of people. I live in the outer sunset, which is known as a hellscape of constant fog...yet I honestly see the sun more often than I see fog. Seriously, I have cactuses in my back yard.

SF does usually have a relatively warm and relatively fog-free summer too (with plenty of 70-80 degree weather, sometimes getting as high as 100), only it comes around September-November (the "Indian summer") rather than the typical summer months. And it comes in spurts. There'll be a few warm days followed by a few cool days, followed by a few more warm days, then a few foggy days, etc. And SF is also a place where it's possible to have a 90-100 degree heatwave in the dead of winter (and it almost never freezes in SF, with pseudo-snow coming maybe once or twice every decade). So i take issue with people claiming that SF is a cold city.

[04kL4nD]

Cold, no. Cool and often chilly, yes. And I think the Avenues and Oakland have SIGNIFICANTLY different weather, so lumping Oakland into the conversation isn't really accurate.

[rah]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Cold, no. Cool and often chilly, yes. And I think the Avenues and Oakland have SIGNIFICANTLY different weather, so lumping Oakland into the conversation isn't really accurate.

Of course the avenues and Oakland have different weather, i never said they were same. The avenues get a lot more wind and fog. The only thing I mentioned in regards to Oakland was rain, because it gets almost exactly the same number of inches of rain every year as SF does. Both are about tied as the rainiest big cities in CA, but they still don't get that much rain when compared to the northwest, south, east coast, and most of the midwest. And because they have a Mediterranean climate, the rain almost always comes in the winter, but not at other times.

I agree though that SF is often cool and chilly. But i think it gets warm often enough too. It rarely gets hot though, and even more rarely gets truly cold, IMO. Temperatures are almost always in the 50-75 degree range, aside from the Indian summer (which usually comes, but not always), and aside from random heatwaves that can reach up to 100, or cold spells (which almost never drop below freezing).

[04kL4nD]

Ah, I guess I misread your post or conflated it with other posts I've seen that say Oakland and SF have the same weather (they definitely DON'T). Personally, I don't think the eastern half of SF has bad weather at all, but if you live in a place SoCal and you wind up living in the Avenues expecting sunny/warm weather, you'll be in for a big surprise.