I'm Moving to San Francisco! Now I just need an apartment...

In My Humble Opinion
1

Well, as some of you may recall, I recently got a new job which just happens to be in Brisbane, California! This is a whole new experience for me and I was hoping some of fellow Californians can help this port Northwestern-boy out.

I’ve been forewarned that housing isn’t cheap in that area, and from what I can tell, that seems to be correct. The best deal I’ve found was a studio apartment for a thousand, though for just two-hundred more, I can get a 1-bedroom.

Are there any better deals within 15 miles of Brisbane? My maximum price is $1,200 monthly, though anything lower would be ideal, regardless of how little space there may be.

Also, is there anything else about San Francisco I should be made aware of? How’s the traffic? Is the weather as bad as I hear? I’m happy to be enlightened!

2

I should mention the $1,200 monthly apt I found is in San Bruno, is that a decent place to live?

3

[QUOTE=Red Barchetta]
The best deal I’ve found was a studio apartment for a thousand, though for just two-hundred more, I can get a 1-bedroom.

Are there any better deals within 15 miles of Brisbane? My maximum price is $1,200 monthly, though anything lower would be ideal, regardless of how little space there may be.
[/quote]

I’d be very surprised if you did find any better deals.

Oh, and if you eventually think about buying a place, be prepared for even more sticker shock than you got on the rent…

How have you heard that the weather is bad?

It is cool and foggy. But there’s no snow or anything like that. It will only rain in the winter.

The thing that throws off most people who move to the Bay Area from elsewhere is how locally variable the weather is. I’m originally from Maryland, near DC. If you look at weather forecasts most days, DC, New York, and Boston are probably within a few degrees of each other, even though they’re hundreds of miles apart. The Bay Area isn’t like that- there are lots of local microclimates, so the high temperature in San Francisco can be 60 while the high inland of the hills in Walnut Creek (where I live) is 90. Walnut Creek is within commuting distance of SF (well, it’s a long commute, but people do it).

Traffic is bad. Try to get flex-time so you can adjust your schedule to avoid the worst of it, or get into a carpool. Our carpool lanes work differently than they do in LA- most of them require you to have two or more people (though the 80 and the Bay Bridge require 3), and they’re only carpool lanes at certain times during the morning and evening commutes.

Parking in San Francisco is usually next to impossible. I never drive into San Francisco- if I’m going there, I take BART and Muni to get around, so I don’t have to look for parking. It is, however, one of the easiest places to live without a car, or to minimize your driving, if that’s what you like. It is, by the way, very much worth your while to get an apartment that comes with a reserved parking space rather than one that requires you to get street parking or that has free-for-all parking in a lot or garage. Parking spaces that are numbered are usually reserved, by the way, and taking someone else’s reserved space without their permission is a no-no.

When you fly back home (or wherever), fly out of Oakland instead of SFO if you can, especially in the winter. SFO is very prone to weather-related delays, and it’s not that unusual for SFO to have hours-long weather-related delays while Oakland has no delays at all.

4

San Bruno isn’t bad from what I hear, though it is pretty noisy, being right next to the airport.

The apartment under mine (I live in a 4-plex) is nice and big (around 900 square feet, I think) and is asking $1200. They’re theoretically two-bedroom apartments, but my landlady has decided they’re one-bedrooms so she doesn’t get families trying to move in. You could probably get it for less, maybe $1100 or $1150. San Mateo is about twelve miles from Brisbane, and not nearly as noisy as San Bruno (being right near the airport and all). I almost took it, since it’s nicer than mine in some ways (new hardwood floors, fresh paint, air conditioning), but the kitchen is small.

If that sounds nice, and you don’t mind an upstairs neighbor who comes in late (three days a week I usually won’t get in until 10:00 at night, and then I’m up another two or three hours), I can take some pictures of it for you, email them, put you in touch with my landlady.

5

Do you know about http://www.housingmaps.com/ ? It’s a really good resource for finding housing in the area.

6

oh come on? no one has mentioned www.craigslist.org yet?

Craigslist may look jenky, but it’s probably the most powerful listing service for just about anything(jobs, apartments, furniture etc) in the bay area. If money is an issue you can always choose to live in a house with housemates.

brisbane eh? Biotech?

I love the weather here. it’s chilly and foggy, but that just means I get to always wear my jackets. In my experience weather down in san mateo, just 10 miles from SF is GORGEOUS 24/7.

Welcome to the bay area doper family… we really should have a dopefest.

7

[QUOTE=Red Barchetta]

How’s the traffic?
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Second worst in the nation, though thankfully a distant second ( to Los Angeles ).

If you dislike grey skies. As noted the coast side of the coast range tends towards the overcast and moister, with fog being relatively common. The inland side of the coast range, as Anne Neville mentioned, tends towards the hot, sunny and dry ( with thick Tule fog at night in the inland valleys in the right season ). But those microclimates can even vary by neighborhood in the right areas.

For the most part though, the weather is what I’d call pleasantly boring. Few spectacular lightning storms, few spectacular storms of any sort really. Just steady rain and drizzle in the winter, nothing the rest of the year. Very few freezing tempertures and in SF proper ( and immediate environs, including Brisbane, San Bruno, etc. ), relatively few scorchers in the summer.

A little farther south down the road, Burlingame might be just a little nicer than San Bruno and possibly just a little sunnier near the base of the hill. But it’s been quite awhile since I’ve poked around the corner of the Bay Area, so I won’t swear to that.

  • Tamerlane
8

[QUOTE=Harmonix]
oh come on? no one has mentioned www.craigslist.org yet?
[/QUOTE]

Actually, at least here in San Mateo, many of the Craigslist offerings are really out of whack. I thought that, too, because it works really well in Berkeley (and apparently elsewhere), but I found Craigslist places asking $1200 for small apartments so close to the freeway you could probably spit out the window and hit a commuter car if you practiced. I found my apartment when I was scouting a Craigslist listing (agent, “drive by first and call if you’re serious about wanting a look”… the place looked like a dump) and my landlady drove by, and stopped, thinking “He looks like he’s looking for an apartment!”

9

It all depends on what is important to you. Weather? Commute time? Proximity to Things To Do (if so what sorts off things?)?

I’ve lived here my whole life (33yrs) and I’ve never seen better, more consistent weather than here in Mountain View. I’ve lived in the east bay, SF(8yrs in about 5 different neighborhoods) and the penninsula.

The only place I liked better than MV is San Francisco but I would only live there if I also worked there.

The bay area is culturally, economically and meteorologically such a diverse place that you should decide what your preferences are before looking for a pad.

10

sry “what sorts OF things”

Oh, Brisbane is close enough to the city to live in SF and have it not be a hassle to commute there. IMHO

11

I agree with the poster who mentioned the diversity of the Bay Area, go have a look-see if you can before you commit to anything. Even a short term lease can seem like a long time.

That said, my mother has a rental property in Alameda county. It’s a house which has been divided into two apartments. I’d have to make sure it’s still available, but if you are interested email me.

If you don’t like the weather in Holland, just wait a damn minute. If you don’t like the weather in the Bay Area, just drive a damn mile. Microclimates are fun, you will find that you dress in layers and keep the discarded layers in your car as you travel around. Or I always did anyway.

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[QUOTE=Tamerlane]
For the most part though, the weather is what I’d call pleasantly boring. Few spectacular lightning storms, few spectacular storms of any sort really.
[/quote]

Thunderstorms are one of the few things I miss about East Coast weather.

Yes- it’s very rare that we get freezing temperatures in the Bay Area. If they do happen, it’s almost always overnight in the inland valleys, not during the day or in San Francisco or nearby. You don’t have to winterize your car here, for example, unless you drive up to Tahoe in the winter to go skiing.

I moved here in August 1998 in the middle of a heat wave. The heat wave was front-page news in the paper, and a new record high temperature was set in San Francisco- 85 degrees. Coming from the East Coast, I found that really funny.

You can always tell who the tourists are in San Francisco in the summer- they’re the ones wearing shorts.

13

[QUOTE=MrJackboots]
Actually, at least here in San Mateo, many of the Craigslist offerings are really out of whack. I thought that, too, because it works really well in Berkeley (and apparently elsewhere), but I found Craigslist places asking $1200 for small apartments so close to the freeway you could probably spit out the window and hit a commuter car if you practiced. I found my apartment when I was scouting a Craigslist listing (agent, “drive by first and call if you’re serious about wanting a look”… the place looked like a dump) and my landlady drove by, and stopped, thinking “He looks like he’s looking for an apartment!”
[/QUOTE]

Sometimes, landlords will post fantasy rents on craigslist just to see if they can get a bite from someone who has no idea what the market conditions are. You can sometimes have luck negotiating these rents down to a reasonable level.

14

Being in Brisbane, you’re not in SF (and thank God for that!). You are right between two CALTRAIN stops- BAYSHORE & SOUTH SANFRANCISCO. Caltrain will take you to much cheaper areas, but South San Francisco is pretty damn cheap.

http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Brisbane-California.html

http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-South-San-Francisco-California.html

You really don;t want to live in SF- greta place to visit, shop, etc, but not to live. Weird politics, high prices, VERY high crime.

Note that working in Brisbane, you could live anywhere from Oakland to Half-moon Bay to SF itself to San Jose and those are so widely disparate in everything as to be almost different states.

15

Thanks for all the advice guys; I’m working the details out now on a $1,000 studio in a closeby city (the name escapes me right now).

Now onto other things. This is a whole new experience for me; I don’t know anyone who lives down there, and thus will have do to a lot of exploring by myself. What are some cool places to check out? And good hangouts I should be aware of? Or any other random factoids that would be good for me to know?

I’m 21, male btw.

16

Also, are there any good colleges/community colleges nearby?

17

It’s kind of funny, but living in SF, I never thought of any surrounding areas like Brisbane and San Bruno as even remotely related to or associated with the city. I don’t mean anything bad by that, of course, just that they are pretty different environments, so get ready for that! Also a second on the microclimates. Where I live, ingleside near city college of SF (not bad, btw, you get out of it what you put in; I went there for a bit before Cal), it’s perpetually in a cold cloud, whereas in a place like bernal heights, it’s almost always clear and warmer.
craigslist is very good for finding things. Found our first apartment and my last job that way very quickly, and there are a lot of other helpful functions. I can’t really say what’s cool to check out without knowing what sorts of things you like; if there’s one thing here it’s diversity. But it’s quite easy to entertain myself here on any given day. :slight_smile:

18

[QUOTE=DrDeth]
… You really don;t want to live in SF- greta place to visit, shop, etc, but not to live. Weird politics, high prices, VERY high crime.

[/QUOTE]

Oh, I don’t know … I consider the politics “interesting”, not weird, and the statement about the crime is way overstated. Like any big urban environment, you just need to stay away from questionable areas at the wrong times of the day. The only reason why you may not want to live in SF is the price of housing. The same $1200 apartment in San Bruno will be at least twice that cost in a nice SF neighborhood.

19

[QUOTE=Anne Neville]
It is cool and foggy. But there’s no snow or anything like that. It will only rain in the winter.

The thing that throws off most people who move to the Bay Area from elsewhere is how locally variable the weather is. I’m originally from Maryland, near DC. If you look at weather forecasts most days, DC, New York, and Boston are probably within a few degrees of each other, even though they’re hundreds of miles apart. The Bay Area isn’t like that- there are lots of local microclimates, so the high temperature in San Francisco can be 60 while the high inland of the hills in Walnut Creek (where I live) is 90. Walnut Creek is within commuting distance of SF (well, it’s a long commute, but people do it)..
[/QUOTE]

This sort of thing is actually typical all up and down the state. West L.A. and Santa Monica are often 10 degrees cooler than downtown, and 20 degrees cooler than the desert bedroom communities.

As for SF weather, I don’t find it that bad when I visit, and I’ve visited many times at various times of the year. Even in winter, if you do get a sunny day you’ll find it to be shirtsleeve weather when you go out into it, but in the shade it’ll be cool. It’s a perfect “sweater weather” town; I’m a big fan of sweaters because they can be tied around the waist or neck when not needed, but you have hold and carry a jacket.

20

[QUOTE=Red Barchetta]
Thanks for all the advice guys; I’m working the details out now on a $1,000 studio in a closeby city (the name escapes me right now).

Now onto other things. This is a whole new experience for me; I don’t know anyone who lives down there, and thus will have do to a lot of exploring by myself. What are some cool places to check out? And good hangouts I should be aware of? Or any other random factoids that would be good for me to know?

I’m 21, male btw.
[/QUOTE]

Really depends what you are into, there’s tons of stuff to do. The whole Bay Area has jillions of cool little places to eat, drink, shop, browse, read, look/listen at art, music, movies, etc.

Outdoors you will find all kinds of hiking, biking, sailing, surfing, swimming, fishing, golf, climbing, etc etc and yet more etc.

So what kind of stuff are you looking for? There are also plenty of free daily and weekly newspapers which cover the various stuff happening around the area.