Moving to SF from suburban Detroit: What will be different? (Los Angeles: appointed, best city)

[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

[roadwarrior101]

My take on your requirements:

- Warm weather year long (I hate living in the cold) - SF doesn't really have much "warm" weather at all. You can count the number of warm days per year on one hand, typically. Now, it has mild weather year-round and will feel very warm as compared to your Michigan winters. However, you also don't get those nice warm summers. You have to go inland for that. Compared to the Midwest, you'll probably think the climate is great (mild in the winter with some rain but no snow, no rain or humidity in the summer). However, if you want the typical California warm beach weather, SF isn't the place.
- I'm looking for excellent shopping malls (Novi has the 2nd best mall in Michigan). - SF and the greater Bay Area area really not known for amazing shopping malls. Now, SF has amazing shopping in the Union Square area with the trendy stores you'll find in NYC. In terms of malls, the ones in SF are nothing special. There are a few nice malls outside the city, but having lived in both SoCal and Arizona, I can tell you that the Bay Area's malls suck in comparison.
- A BETTER quality of life - Really depends upon how you define better. Do you love outdoor activities, being around the center of innovation and in a large, more urban environment? If yes, then you'll love SF. If you define it as being able to afford a large place and living comfortably, around friendly people, you'll probably be disappointed. In my opinion, SF is a great place to live in your 20s when you're single (I did that), but not so great when you're ready to settle down and raise a family.
- Good social atmosphere - Lots of bars, restaurants nightclubs and tons of options. If you're into the preppy scene, you can find that in the Marina, Pac Heights, Russian Hill. If you want something more edgy, you'll have that in SOMA or the Mission. The one thing is that SF is much more fast paced and you have to really work harder to develop a large social network, but there is certainly no shortage of options in the city.
- Awesome night clubs - In my view, the Bay Area (including SF) is better for bars than nightclubs. I can tell you that when I lived in Arizona, Scottsdale had much better nightclubs than SF. SF has its share, but I think they tend to be a bit on the ghetto side. I think it has a lot of great neighborhood bars though. And, it has amazing restaurants.

[Mike0910]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

My take on your requirements:

- Warm weather year long (I hate living in the cold) - SF doesn't really have much "warm" weather at all. You can count the number of warm days per year on one hand, typically. Now, it has mild weather year-round and will feel very warm as compared to your Michigan winters. However, you also don't get those nice warm summers. You have to go inland for that. Compared to the Midwest, you'll probably think the climate is great (mild in the winter with some rain but no snow, no rain or humidity in the summer). However, if you want the typical California warm beach weather, SF isn't the place.
- I'm looking for excellent shopping malls (Novi has the 2nd best mall in Michigan). - SF and the greater Bay Area area really not known for amazing shopping malls. Now, SF has amazing shopping in the Union Square area with the trendy stores you'll find in NYC. In terms of malls, the ones in SF are nothing special. There are a few nice malls outside the city, but having lived in both SoCal and Arizona, I can tell you that the Bay Area's malls suck in comparison.
- A BETTER quality of life - Really depends upon how you define better. Do you love outdoor activities, being around the center of innovation and in a large, more urban environment? If yes, then you'll love SF. If you define it as being able to afford a large place and living comfortably, around friendly people, you'll probably be disappointed. In my opinion, SF is a great place to live in your 20s when you're single (I did that), but not so great when you're ready to settle down and raise a family.
- Good social atmosphere - Lots of bars, restaurants nightclubs and tons of options. If you're into the preppy scene, you can find that in the Marina, Pac Heights, Russian Hill. If you want something more edgy, you'll have that in SOMA or the Mission. The one thing is that SF is much more fast paced and you have to really work harder to develop a large social network, but there is certainly no shortage of options in the city.
- Awesome night clubs - In my view, the Bay Area (including SF) is better for bars than nightclubs. I can tell you that when I lived in Arizona, Scottsdale had much better nightclubs than SF. SF has its share, but I think they tend to be a bit on the ghetto side. I think it has a lot of great neighborhood bars though. And, it has amazing restaurants.

What other cities would you recommend to me?

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by Mike0910

What other cities would you recommend to me?

To be honest, SF would be the best city in the Bay Area from a social standpoint at your age. I don't think the others are even close. Some people would say Oakland, but honestly, it is only marginally warmer than SF and while there are things to do there, its not as good as SF. Most people would do that for cost of living reasons, which doesn't sound like its an issue for you.

I know some young people that live in either Palo Alto or Walnut Creek. Both are upscale suburbs with nice downtowns and warmer weather than SF. There are bars to go to at both, but neither are going to give you anywhere near the type of nightlife you'll find in SF.

[sonarrat]

You can say that money is of no concern to you, but the average house value in Novi is about $215,000. In the high-end parts of SF like Russian Hill or Pacific Heights, if you come with $1 million you will still be priced out of the market.

The weather in most of SF has two seasons: rain and fog, with the latter being much more prevalent. The Bay Area has microclimates though, so if you prefer rain, you can go north of the GG; if you prefer sun, you can go east of the Bay Bridge and the further you go, the warmer it will get, with the tradeoff that it also gets colder during the winter. Don't expect a strong beach culture unless you're fond of surfing in freezing water in a wetsuit.

If you're looking for a good night-club scene, that would probably be the Mission district.

Mega-malls are not really a big thing here due to the high cost of real estate. It has been decades since we saw a lot of investment in this sector.

[bmw335xi]

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

Weather: San Francisco is cool most of the year, think mid 50s to mid 60s. It's definetly not beach weather and most of the year requires a jacket of some sort. Our summer season is September to October, which reaches an average high around 70. It rarely rains here, but fog comes around often and it is moist. Many people here love the weather because they can't stand heat. However, if you like heat, this is definitely not your city (weather-wise).

Shopping: San Francisco offers plenty of shopping that rivals most cities in the US. It has shopping malls, but also lots of street shopping, which is 100x more enjoyable. We have all the major retail brands and most of their selection is larger than other cities. We also have a lot of independent stores too. It's a great city for shoppers.

Quality of Life: It really depends on what you enjoy. If someone defines quality of life by living in a big home with a yard and a private pool, San Francisco will fail even if you make $300k/year. If you define it by living in a vibrant community mixed with all types of people, then San Francisco wins. I think the quality of life is great here because you have a very thriving urban city that is surrounded by beautiful outdoors for hiking, sailing, etc.

Social Scene: Most of my friends barely ever cook at home. Everyone goes out to eat and drink, which gives San Francisco a nice social scene. Many people here are from other cities around the world, so people are eager to meet new people.

Night Clubs: I think it is decent, but falls behind NYC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami etc. Most weekdays are dead and the selection of clubs is just okay considering this is a "world" city. If you enjoy bars, pubs, and lounges, I would say the nightlife scene is good though.

Favorite Neighborhoods: I really like Marina, Telegraph Hill and North Beach.

About me... I've lived in cities throughout Alaska, Washington, Florida, and Australia.

[DMenscha]

What will be different? EVERYTHING!

[OrangeSunset]

If I were you I would look into Oakland or Berkeley. It is just a BART ride away to San Francisco and you will be out of the fog and warmER climate. A lot of young people live there so you will have lots to do and see. It is not going to be much warmer than San Francisco but better for sure, at least the sun breaks-in the afternoon. There aren't any places around the bay with seasons. For that you need to be in higher elevation like the Sierras or Lake Tahoe which are about 2 to 3 hours east of the SF bay area.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Mike0910

- 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

Sounds like Los Angeles, not SF!

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by capoeira

Sounds like Los Angeles, not SF!

Right.