And looking again…yes, I would say that the main factor in the doubled estimates would be buying a house. To give you some perspective, if we were still living in St. Louis, we could be buying a house right now. However, in the Bay Area, it is completely out of the question for us, without using some risky financing scheme (like Negative Am). But there’s always buying a condo…those are cheaper.
Thanks for sharing, GIRetchen–any chance you’ll be a full-fledged member here soon?
As someone who wasn’t expecting on owning a house in the Bay Area anytime soon, our purchase 14 months ago came as quite a surprise. Hang in there–you never know what might turn up when you’re least expecting it! 
Thanks for the encouragement, ArchiveGuy. I must confess that I am very curious as to what kind of good fortune would lead to a “surprise” home purchase.
As for the full-fledged membership, I’ll let you know in 30 days. 
One more cost-of-living thing that a St. Louisian might not expect … bridge tolls. If you go into SF from the East Bay or Marin County, it’s $3 or $5, respectively, to cross the bridges. Can you imagine what kinds of riots there would be if they tried that on the Blanchet Bridge? (Interestingly enough, it costs about $3 to go into the city from the East Bay on the BART…hmm…coincidence?).
I’ve never eaten at a Fridays, but dinner for two for me is usually in the forty dollar range, although that usually doesn’t include drinks.
I guess part of the difference is that when my wife and I go out it’s a date night for us, so we pull out all the stops, we don’t get to do it often. I do remember taking the boys with us to Chilli’s a couple of weeks ago and spending just about the same amount, maybe 10 or so more, and that was a party of five, no drinks.
Friday’s is a chain so you’ll not find me there, anyway. The only time I eat at chains is if I go to lunch with co-workers.
Thanks, GIRetchen, for putting it in terms I can relate. I live in Maplewood and work in Clayton so I’m used to a 15 minute commute if I get caught by too many red lights. I consider anything past 170 the boonies. Based on where the company HQ is, on Post St. near Montgomery (not that that means anything to me), where would be an eqivalent location? Just from looking at maps, I’d guess The Mission or Castro. Taking into consideration my fabulous gayness, then both of those seem like good options.
The idea of mass transit appeals so very much. I hate driving and only do it because I must. I’d love to be able to sell my car and get around solely with bikes, buses, trains and perhaps a Vespa.
I’m not a SFer IRL, but I do play one several times a year for long periods of time (up to a month at a time.) First I must say Homebrew that your inner queerness will love SF and soon you’ll wonder how you ever lived in STL all those years.
Selling your car and living off mass transit can be done (a know a few that do it) but trips to South Bay (San Jose) and those area in the East Bay inland from the bay will be a little difficult. However, living in the City without a car is easy and actually better IMHO.
I’ll let other locals answer this, but living in the East Bay with a car and crossing the Bay Bridge is becoming a nightmare??? For the next few years they’ll be building a new east span and they are retro-fitting all the approaches on the city side for earthquakes.
The Castro and The Mission are good areas to look into, but I’d also suggest looking in to Diamond Heights and Noe (that’s pronounced KNOWEE) Valley.
We’ll once again be out there the last week in Oct. and first week of Nov. Today I’m psyched because I found out I’ll be there for the Jamiroquai concert at The Filmore. Anyone else going to this?
Post and Montgomery is almost precisely downtown, roughly a block from Bart and Muni.
Oh, Homebrew, you gave me a great laugh this morning! Just thinking of Clayton and the Castro as roughly equivalent gives me the giggles!
Now, I know you meant in terms of distance, so I’ll stop the gaufaws. I can just tell you are going to love SF, and not just because of your “fabulous gayness”, although I imagine that being fabulously gay here will be a whole lot more fun than it would be in St. Louis. Your distain for chain resturants and your willingness to drive a Vespa will mean you will fit right in!
Yes, it does sound like the Castro (or the Mission) would be a good choice for you, and although I don’t live in the City proper myself, I think it would be about a 15 minute communte. (And the only way I can tell where one of those neighborhoods ends and another begins are the rainbow street flags.) It wouldn’t be walkable, and I’m not sure it would be bikable, but I believe there’s a Muni line that goes that way. Post and Montegomery is as downtown as you can get. We’re talking a major hub point, stop on the BART and Muni lines, shopping and working paradise. In other words, it’s where most of the tall buildings (and fancy stores) are located.
One thing to remember though…SF is a lot more city than St. Louis is. Even in St. Louis proper, there’s a lot more breathing room. Here, it’s just packed. But, if you’re the type to consider West County the boonies, then you’ll probably like that.
Back to the subject, the cost of living… what makes it a lot more affordable here to some people is their quality of living. There are quite a few people who are happy to pay the increased price to get the increased opportunities. So just keep that in mind while you’re looking at $900 studio apartments…Heck, the opportunity to see the hottie mayor on the news every night might even be worth that…
I moved here from small-town Texas. In my world so far Saint Louis is a gay paradise. If I lived someone more accepting I might burst in flames from being too giddy.
I don’t mean a win in the lottery or some unexpected windfall. But sometimes, when you’re least expecting it, you find the perfect place, and it’s often surprising how many of the reasons/excuses you harbor about purchasing fade away when you know you’ve found your “home”. Sure, there are economic realities you can’t ignore, but sometimes, where there’s a will, there’s also a way.
Here’s hoping you find yours…
When I moved to San Jose from central Illinois a few years back, I noticed a fairly significant increase in the cost of most everything out here. Aside from the obvious (housing), I found that things like groceries and restaurants are easily 10-20% more than they were in the Midwest. (Trader Joe’s is a notable exception.) Housing prices are simply out of control, though rents have stayed fairly flat at least down here in South bay. You’ll still be shocked at some of the fleabag apartments being rented for $1500/month, though. Finding a good apartment may take some work.
It’s entirely possible to enjoy life here without owning a car. On that once-a-year desire to go somewhere like Monterey or Tahoe, or even a mega-shopping trip to Costco, you can rent a car from traditional car rental shops or City CarShare. One nifty bit with CarShare is that the rate of $4/hour and 44 cents/mile includes gas and insurance.
As for the bridge, ye gads, yes! The building of a parallel new eastern span isn’t affecting traffic one bit yet, but at the San Francisco end, they’re madly re-arranging lanes, removing and rebuilding ramps and generally making things messy. And these projects are measured in years. They’re not doing work during commute times, but not even two weeks ago, they were about 15 minutes late in re-opening a lane at 6 AM or so, and traffic was balled up for hours and didn’t recover until about 9 AM.
In this climate, a fire extinguisher’s good to have anyway.
A good place to check out housing : www.craigslist.org
Just remember that because you’re posting from San Francisco, your membership will cost you 30% more.