SF - Advice for 3+ Months Living

Sorry for a mostly non-bike related thread, but I'm hoping to get some advice from the Bay Area folks here.

It looks like there is a 95% chance that I'll be in the city within the month for 3+ months (possibly permanently, based on how things go).

Any advice on good areas for apartment renting? Thus far, I've heard good things about nob hill and mission. I'll be working in the financial district. Advice on short-term rentals... er, possibly with a dog? I'd probably just keep a bike (or two) out there, not sure what monthly parking type stuff looks like (aside from expensive compared to Milwaukee ).

Also any advice on must-see stuff nearby via motorcycle, I'm all ears. I'm hoping to have both my honda interceptor and dr200 out there.

A lot of us are gearing up for local rallies this weekend, so check out similar earlier threads in this sub forum.

As for apartments, check out Craigslist and visit the neighborhoods you prefer, looking for "For Rent" signs displayed in the windows.

Check out MUNI for transportation options: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/indxmaps.htm

Let us know when you plan to arrive.

Welcome!

Yeah, let us know when you get here and we'll show you around. As for the riding- good god, you can't scratch the surface in three months.

As said, most apt. searching happens on Craigslist.

There are some good area's out of the city too that have access via train or bart if location is not a big deal. For bike stuff, you will be in heaven here and we should have a wee get together when you come out

What time frame you looking at?

We haven't had a wee get together in a while have we?

indeed, ace went to the grave and while I don't like to upset barry ZG kinda sucks

Going to try and make mayday for friday at least.

life gets in the way I guess

Thanks guys! Things are still in the works but it will be in pretty short order, likely within this month. It'd be great to meet you all- a get together is a must! I will bring some good Wisco beer to share.

I think I would like to live in the city, at least to start. That said if the commute isn't crazy I'm open to any suggestions really. Basic requirement is a good bar within stumbling distance. Maybe I'll google map bars and then look for for rent signs between them.

Feel special. When guys move out here, there's no get togethers.

I'd check craigslist for a sublet in the Inner Richmond or Sunset with a garage space and a backyard/ pet
friendly household.


The Presidio would be great too.


Whatever you do, keep the bikes off the street in a secure garage.

Hey now! We're all kindsa welcoming, an shit.

The city is a great place to live. I don't know much about the apt. situation at the moment, but if you are working right down town, and near a BART stop it's actually quicker to get there from the east bay than from some parts of the city- like the sunset. I do know the neighborhoods of the east bay pretty well and the particular area that you live in will effect your experience quite a bit. The bad areas are pretty bad and the good ones are well, much better . It's hard to differentiate them by looking at a map in another state.

Yeah, I just assume that anything that just looks really expensive instead of outrageously expensive is probably a crappy area.

I'm not sure what the exact logistics are going to be yet... not sure if I'll be able to keep my place in Milwaukee in case I come back, or what. Hopefully crash in a hotel or something for a week so that I can find a place to stay.

After some attempts at craigslist fu, it's looking like the trifecta of garage, dog allowed and short term lease is kind of an elusive animal. I do have a backup plan for my dog if I'm unable to find a place that will allow him to stay. If I were to stay on after the first 3 months, I'd look for a longer lease at a place that allowed pets and then move him.

Pete, any neighborhood suggestions for the east bay?

iyeager, when guys bleed from their crotch 12 times a year, they can get some extra attention.

That about sums it up.

The trifecta you are looking for is going to be tough indeed. A dog AND short term? Near UC Berkeley in a shared house is what I would consider the most likely chance. You could rent a nearby garage (or part of one) seperately perhaps. If you had a cat and could pass yourself off as a 35 year old lesbian it would be a lot easier. For safe neighborhoods you go North from the University rather than toward Oakland, but then you are getting further from SF. The BART system is very convienient and safe etc. but doesn't run all night like in NYC or somewhere.

UC Berkeley has a housing dept. for students and visiting Profs. That might be the best short term rental potential, but you need a student friend to access it. Or maybe that dosn't even exist anymore, Craigslist just rules the rental world. Posting in the "Housing Wanted" section should help.

Maybe I can use the opposite of anti-wrinkle cream or something? The pretending to be a lesbian part would be pretty easy.

The more I look, the more I think that it might be a good idea to have my sister look after my dog while I am doing the short-term thing... might make things a lot easier and he'll have two other pups to play with during that time...

You never know. You could get lucky. And again, I don't pay much attention to the rental situation in the city- you could get lucky there too.

zing!

oser

On the dog thing, perhaps the pup could come out later, easier to ask forgiveness than permission and by then you can butter up the landlord/lady etc.

sometimes the best bar is the one you can crawl back from within 10-15 minutes

Pete ain't you a slump lord already?

slump.

Ok so it looks like I'll be arriving late on Memorial Day, by bike. Not bringing the dr200 at this point. I'll probably crash a hotel for a week while I nail down a place to rent, probably gonna target the nob hill area to be closer to work.

If anyone wants to get together once I'm there, I'm game!

For the record, I'm just joshing ya'll, my first weekend here Nixels bought me pizza, so nyah.

I'm living in a temporary situation up in Marin while I await the big move of my wife and child, and I wouldn't recommend against Marin. I'm paying $600 a month for a no commitment rental room with full use of the whole house and half of a bathroom to myself. Pretty good deal, considering how expensive everyone told me Marin was. I couldn't tell you about the commute to the city from where I am, the Terra Linda area, but I can tell you the bus ride on the weekends is a five dollar bill and an hour of your life. There is no train up here, so that's out too.

If you were working in Marin, like I am, I'd highly recommend living up here for the same situation, but having to get to the city and back every day seems like it would be cost or time prohibitive. That being said, other than Nixels block, I haven't found a place yet where I wouldn't consider moving to.

-Ian

As you'd expect, the desirability of an area is proportional to cost. My top choices for somewhere cool to live would be Jackson Square, North Beach, Hayes Valley, Lower Haight, Castro, Noe Valley. They're safe areas and close to public transit (easy to get downtown), but not necessarily cheap, either. As far as finding a garage in the city... It's gonna be tough. I love the city, but the reality is that it's not practical or cost effective for a lot of people.

Pete is right... It's surprisingly easy to get into the financial district from Oakland and Berkeley. I go to school at SFSU (by Lake Merced near Daly City), and commute in from North Oakland. Sometimes by BART and sometimes by moto. As far as neighborhoods in the Oakland area... Basically if you're north/northeast of the 580 you're good. If you're on a hill (characterized by curvy roads on a map), even better.

iyeager, I figured as much. Giving you a hard time.

Thanks for the feedback, all. Definitely a lot to think about! Milwaukee has like 2.5 cool areas to live in, San Francisco/the bay area seems to have about a million...