Moving From Baltimore, MD (San Francisco: apartment, neighborhood, school)

[BmorePM]

Hello,

A good friend of mine and I are looking into moving to the San Francisco area this summer. She got into grad school out there, and I'm just looking for a change of pace. I've been handling the apartment search while she gets everything ready with her school so I was hoping to get some good advice on areas of town to look into?

I'm a 24 year old guy, she's a 23 year old girl, both college grads, Baltimore born and raised looking for an apartment in the $1500 price range, probably on the Easy Bay but flexible enough to any other locations, just close enough that she can catch an easy BART ride into the Mission district of San Fran for classes.

Everything seems pretty split right down the middle when it comes to what i've read about the bad areas of town, either it's a scary terrible place to be, or it's not all that bad. Coming from Baltimore, I was just wondering how "scary" it can be? And what areas would be advisable to live in? I wouldn't mind a good city feel to it but I don't want to end up on a block between two drug corners at the same time!

Thanks a lot!

Patrick

[uptown_urbanist]

Is there a reason you want East Bay and not San Francisco itself? If not, I'd suggest you look for a place in the Mission itself; there are places there for your price range (assuming you're looking for a 1-BR or possibly a studio). She'd save commuting time and money, and you'd be conveniently located for whatever job you end up getting. Plus, it's an interesting, vibrant neighborhood, and you'll probably end up having lots of friends who live there, anyway.

[uptown_urbanist]

Oh, I see you said "friends," and not "girlfriend," so maybe you're thinking 2-BR so that you each have your own space. That would up the price, of course, but check out the Mission craigslist ads to see if there's something that would work, just in case.

[E14]

start hitting that to save money by only needing 1 bedroom