Soon to be master's student (San Diego, San Jose: insurance, low crime, neighborhoods)

[Yippee]

Hello all. I am from the midwest, a small, but great city of about 200,000. Here are the things I like:

Excellent public education (2nd best in the nation)
In particular, I was able to go to a public high school as tough and varied as a world-class university.

Excellent medical care. Some of the lowest insurance fraud/poor behavior in nation. World class hospitals and clinics. Ambulances come very quick.

Very safe. A few small areas of crime but safe.

Very educated populace.

Here are the things I don't like:

Weather is horrible. November through April very little sun. November through March, cloudy always and snow.

Not that much activities to do. Most activities are associated with the university which are great, but by age 16, I had done them all. Downtown same thing.

People are reticent. While they can be loyal once you get to know them, it takes like 3-5 years before a neighbor invites you over for a cup of coffee. You can't just strike up a conversation with someone at a park, on the street etc. People are not spontaneous at all. Your best chance to meet someone this way is in the summer, when people are actually out on the street. One downside to this, a lot of students and grad students leave my city in the summer to go home. So, most of the fall, winter, and spring, not many people are outside at all.

It is hard to form a social network. I had one when I went to University here before I left to complete my undergrad in Florida, and start my Masters. It has been quite difficult since I came back. There are some young people here but a lot of them move to a bigger city like Chicago when they graduate.

I realize that I am very affected by the lack of sun and am buying a sun lamp. I get irritable and sad without sun.

I am considering moving to the West Coast, somewhere. My choices so far are San Diego, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, San Francisco, or Seattle.

San Diego seems perfect weather wise, but I am not that happy with its conservative leaning, and the fact that it is on the border with Mexico (guns, military etc.) , and Bush's Blackwater is moving there.

Santa Cruz seems great, although I am not happy with the low population (only 55,000). Maybe I will be bored.

Berkeley seems cool but perhaps too expensive and not uniformly safe. Concerned about proximity to Oakland (see below)

San Francisco seems awesome but I am very concerned about its proximity to Oakland. Friends have lived in the area and said they would never go to Oakland. Lots of gangs, one of the top homicide rates in the world. Also, the cost concerns me. Finally, are there a lot of single, heterosexual males in San Francisco looking for a long term-relationship.....I eventually want to get married, but no rush

Also considering Seattle. Seattle seems to be the big city I want, with low crime, lots to do. The only downside (but huge, is the weather (no sun).

I would like to meet friends in their mid 20s to mid 30s.

It would be great if some of you could provide some insight.

Thanks

[ImRandy]

San Francisco has a bay between it and Oakland. However, San Francisco has its own bad and less than desirable neighborhoods. It's worth mentioning that Oakland isn't all bad either and does have some very desirable neighborhoods.

Plenty of single, heterosexual men in San Francisco who will want to eventually get married if you're the right woman. Plenty of single straight women in the city as well.

Both San Francisco and Berkeley are expensive. Pretty much any area in the Bay Area is expensive. Especially if it is close to San Francisco.

One of the good things about San Francisco is the amount of fog it gets. It keeps the temperatures civilized. It also means you'll typically get some sun in the summer during the morning then much of the city gets covered in fog for most of the day. The Spring and Winter have more sun but are cooler.

Berkeley is sunnier and both warmer and colder.

Santa Cruz can be a little boring but it does have the usual activities. I wouldn't worry really about getting bored though because if Santa Cruz doesn't have it San Jose will. People in the greater Bay Area tend to be a mobile group.

[sonarrat]

Oakland does have a high crime rate, especially the far west and far east in the flatlands, but don't let that scare you. There are wonderful things to be seen in both Oakland and San Francisco. If you only stay on one side of the water and never visit the other end, you're missing out on a lot. And either way, the crime from there doesn't spill out into San Francisco very often, if at all.

[LexusNexus]

Sounds like you want San Francisco, Berkeley, maybe even San Jose. Plenty of places to consider here. It's a shame that Oakland is only known for its worse parts. Most people who live here are happy to do so and just stay away from the bad parts like any city. Milwaukee for instance has some bad parts on the north side and people live in Milwaukee and never go through that section. Same here.

[Tony from Europe]

I think you must go to the San Francisco.
With fog,no problem.Only in the morning(I think).
To me weather in S.F. is very nice and mild.
Average temperature in January is 50-55 F,in July 65 F.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Yippee

Hello all. I am from the midwest, a small, but great city of about 200,000. Here are the things I like:

Excellent public education (2nd best in the nation)
In particular, I was able to go to a public high school as tough and varied as a world-class university.

Excellent medical care. Some of the lowest insurance fraud/poor behavior in nation. World class hospitals and clinics. Ambulances come very quick.

Very safe. A few small areas of crime but safe.

Very educated populace.

Sounds like Madison,Wisconsin. Overall it is a much friendlier place than either San Francisco or San Diego.

[Don Vito]

Sf's proximity to oakland? are you nutts? oakland is on the other side of the bay. please just move to sf im sure youll fit *right* in.....

[DowNout]

Hiya,
SF is probably one of the more cosmo cities around, which basically means you get a good dose of everything, depending on the moon, sun, stars, cars, and dirty boulevards. ;o) The city is very energetic, with many young people bouncing off the bars and wandering the hillocks. Definately more beautiful in my book than Seatle due to the sun factor. I tend to think that SF lends itself to what you make of it. People can be either friendly or fiesty, and that really depends on your mood when interacting with them. Of course you have your crazy's, which you can spot/smell a mile off and are easy to avoid. However, Seatle definately has a little more "hominess" feeling with the general populace, but I am no expert there. My family that lives there really loves it, and my wife wants to check it out as a future place for us to move, but the consistent thing I hear about Seatle is the rain. If you like the rain, then it is the place for you.

Both have educated citizens, as well as your underachievers. I can vouch for SF being tuned in qutie well to Globalization, whether that is good or bad is for you to decide.

About the proximity to Oaktown. I have worked there before, and quite frankly really don't enjoy the downtown scene, nor its subsiquent residential districts anywhere near as much as those of SF. You can find just about every type of ethnicity in SF, which Oakland lacks, as well as a larger variety of cultural hangouts/clubs/events.

My suggestion, find a shwaggy place in SF's Northbeach district, grab the local cappucino, and prepare to watch the hot women, ahem, or men, sway on by while talking to your barrista (who is probably from Italy) about the in's and out's of the up's and down's.

Chao~

[kindafedup]

Originally Posted by DowNout

My suggestion, find a shwaggy place in SF's Northbeach district, grab the local cappucino, and prepare to watch the hot women, ahem, or men, sway on by while talking to your barrista (who is probably from Italy) about the in's and out's of the up's and down's.

Hmmm, I keep reading good stuff about NorthBeach. I don't know about you Yippee, but I think I'm going to be looking into that.



[edited]
on second thought... :

Watch your back in North Beach | San Francisco | Yelp


granted this was all over a year ago, but still... hopefully it's changed??