Having reviewed the thread, I would like to make an addition, regarding the threat of earthquakes. I cannot roll my eyes enough. I have lived in the Bay Area for 21 years and have experienced a whopping three earthquakes, and two of them did nada. People who don’t live here seem to think they’re a daily occurance, but they’re really very uncommon (The ones you can feel, anyway. There are teeny ones that only seisographs pick up all the time.) Anyway, I recently found proof that hurricanes in Florida are more destructive than earthquakes in California, which is relevent because the OP is considering moving from Tampa. According to my pal SanibelMan, Floridians cannot insure their bottom floors against hurricanes, because if they did, they would all go bankrupt. In California, you can insure whatever the hell you want against earthquakes.
Knock on wood, I have been hurricane-free for a decade, but the weather here blows. It’s 100 thousand degrees with 90% humidity all year, except two months in the winter where it’s 40 degrees with 100% humidity. I actually have a decent job setup if I want it in Sunnyvale, but I’d like to stay close to San Francisco. I was thinking of something inbetween-ish… How’s Pacifica? Anyone have ideas on there?
thanks again, punk snot dead, other goodbyes,
broccoli!
Pacifica is cold 
. One of the previous posters is correct - people who come to SF thinking “sunny California”, often get an unpleasant surprise. It’s a very foggy, gray city and because of the hills there are myriad little microclimates. One learns to layer when dressing out here - The advice about always having a sweater is well-taken. It is very possible to walk or drive five miles and encounter a 20 degree temperture shift. Now personally I like the fog. But then I’m a gloomy sort 
.
Pacifica is basically in a little basin surrounded on three sides by steep hills and exposed on the fourth to the Pacific ( which is much colder than the Atlantic, relative to U.S. coastlines ). So it tends to get pretty grey and dank. There also isn’t much there. It’s mostly residential, a bedroom community for SF. There are supermarkets and stuff. But you’ll be driving into the City for anything substantial ( including jobs ). It is still cheaper than SF proper, but it is starting to get pricey ( like all of the Bay Area ) as population continues to spill out of the hub.
A brief comment on previous posters’ comments on different parts of the Bay Area. None of them are wrong . Everybody here has there own favorite area and there are different reasons to like each. I like the East Bay ( Alameda County ) for the climate, the easy access to the bookstores and record stores of Berkely, and the HUGE number of great, cheap restaurants on virtually every block ( so it seems ). And I live in a very low crime, pretty city, with good amenities, and, as I said earlier, great centrality vis-a-vis the rest of the Bay. But it is separated by only an estuary from crime-saturated parts of Oakland and it’s quite true that a significant portion of Alameda County is very poor, depressing, and can potentially be dangerous ( like any poor urban area ).
Marin County ( and a small chunk of Sonoma that’s within striking distance ) on the other hand is much more rural ( and toney ) in character. But I hate the commute and the urban amenities are just less concentrated than I like. And so on. Positives and negatives everywhere. You just have to balance out what you prefer.
- Tamerlane
What will the Tampa punks do? Probably nothing being that we are a lazy bunch. Of course if you leave I’ll probably never get to have a beer with you. That may be a selling point on moving to california in itself!
Don’t forget all the rice-a-roni in san fran! 
aww… pezzy’s gonna miss me… hey man, wanna go to the Hub on friday or something?
broccoli!
In SF, people are real nice there. If you’re a guy & walk down the street, you’ll meet lots of guys who let you stay at their house free.
Also the women are very nice. If you wait on the sidewalk at night, youll get invited for many dates.
Er… brocco, if you’re going to be working in Sunnyvale, you’re gonna be living in Sunnyvale (or thereabouts). The commutes are pure hell, and you will do wisely to minimize your travel time if you want any quality time in your evenings.
Living in SF and commuting to S’vale is possible, just not very desirable. Sunnyvale is essentially in the heart of Silicon Valley and therefore at the core of all commutes. You need to seriously weigh the need for a rural setting versus wear and tear on your vehicle and psyche. Your commute from Pacifica would consume a minimum of 90 minutes EACH way every day. That’s almost eight hours of commuting every week. The cost of gasoline alone should give you pause if nothing else does.
That said, I still love this place. I grew up in the scenic East Bay area and have lived in Silicon Valley for over twenty years. I still can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Dammit! My thought-to-be-a-sure-thing-roommate backed out on me. Now I have to seriously decide what to do. I was all up and ready to go, but now, grrr…
sorry, just needed to vent.
Ha-ha! I have a new roommate, as long as I can find out wherever the Hell Japantown is… I’m guessing with the high asian population of the silicon valley, it’d be near there. Can someone please fill me in?
broc
Well, you’re going to be in for one heck of a commute if you’re working in Sunnyvale. Get ready for an hour and half each way. Japantown in more or less in the middle of SF, where Geary crosses Fillmore. You’ll have easy access to pretty good sushi, an eight screen movie theatre, a nice little shopping district along Fillmore, and a very good Japanese book store. You’re also likely to be only a block or two from the storied Fillmore music venue. Keep in mind, though, that Japantown is tiny tiny tiny. One of the smallest neighborhoods, and some of the immediate areas aren’t quite as nice.
If you are indeed going to be working in Sunnyvale, you should check to see if your job is close to a CalTrain Station. There’s no easy bus connection to the SF CalTrain Station from Japantown (that I’m aware of) but parking is generally fairly easy, and if you’re within walking or even biking distance of a CalTrain station in S’vale, you should seriously consider it as a commute option.
I hear its a nice quiet place-good to raise kids!
Of course, 99% of the people “living” in Colma are dead!
If you have flexible hours and decent freeway access, it’s possible to expand your horizons. I commute from South San Francisco to San Jose (Hickey & 280 to Zanker & 237). I leave around 9am, and arrive 50 minutes later. I will admit that the traffic is a lot worse than it was 5 years ago, but for now it’s acceptable.
If broc’s planning to live in Japantown, a lot of time could be spent just getting to/from the freeway.
There are two major Japantowns.
One is pretty much in the heart of San Francisco and would not be a fun commute to Sunnyvale.
The other is in San Jose and would be more reasonable for Sunnyvale but then you would be living in San Jose.
Yeah, I was thinking of the Japantown in SF, not SJ. Actually I just another job offer for a place in SF, so that would be much, much cooler than Sunnyvale. And i’m not really concerned about how nice the neighborhood is, as Tampa’s crime rate is three times higer than SF’s and I lived in the worst possible place here for quite some time broccoli! can take care of himself. NEwho, anybody know where the punks hang out?
hugs and pisses,
broccoli!
I second the CalTrain suggestion for San Francisco’s Japantown and disagree that SF-Sunnyvale is inherently a bad commute IF your Sunnyvale destination is near or easily reached from the Caltrain station. Caltrain has at least hourly service Monday through Saturday and every other hour Sundays, and accepts bicycles on the trains and at stations.
General CalTrain info:
http://www.transitinfo.org/Caltrain/
Information on the Sunnyvale station, including connecting buses and employee shuttles:
http://www.transitinfo.org/Caltrain/Stations/Sunny.html
As to Japantown in San Jose, the Santa Clara VTA’s light rail line directly connects Japantown (station: Japantown/Ayer) to several stations in and near Sunnyvale.
Santa Clara VTA information:
http://www.transitinfo.org/SCVTA/
Map of VTA light rail & street location of stations:
http://www.transitinfo.org/cgi-bin/sched?C=SC&R=901&M=M
It may turn out that transit isn’t the way to go and you’ll have to face the infamous road traffic. But take a look at the ample transit options first.
My big beef is the bagels. Even lender’s bagels seem to be made with a different recipe here- they taste like sour milk to me. On the other hand, I can buy yaki soba makings from the grocery store any time I like.
-Ben
I had a friend who did the CalTrain commute from SF to Sunnyvale for a month. He absolutely hated it. If you aren’t right near one of the stops (on either end) it is not fun.
He had to take Muni from North Beach to the 5th Street CalTrain station (half-an-hour), an hour on CalTrain (or however long it takes) and then another bus on the other side. Then do it again coming back.
And Japantown is far enough away from a station that Muni is definitely going to be involved.
Move to Oakland, its a much better place to live. The great thing about it is that the reputation is much worse than the reality so you get much lower rents. (And for anybody who points out West Oakland and Fruitvale I will point out the Tenderloin and Mission; at least in Fruitvale they pause the crack sale while you walk past).
ah! a question I can answer. I live in SF ( actually SJ now) and I am a punk. SF has a good punk scene, although it’s not as good as it used to be. First thing is to find a “the list” it puts out all the punk, hardcore, and goth shows that’s a good start. Gilman is good, though it makes you feel verrrry verrrrry old going there. In SF there are a lot of small semi-underground clubs. My current fave is the Tempest. There are also lots of good punk bars. Tell me when you show up and we’ll crawl to a couple of them. and feel free to email me if you have more questions.
I HATE YOU NUTSCAPE!!! I HATE YOU WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!!!
Um, I hate Netscape too as it keeps making oldscratch post as me!
Anyway, I just moved to the Bay Area myself, from Rhode Island. Been here since Jan. 1. I haven’t done too much in the way of sightseeing or anything cuz oldscratch and I are not gainfully employed, but I’m loving it here!