moving to san francisco
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- i_was0
Is Castro a nice district ?
- Depends on what you're looking for.ben_
- I lived on the edge of it in 2003 - it's changed a LOT since then.ben_
- Yes it’s pretty nice. The community has a sense of pride about how they keep the area and it shows with clean streets and front yards and nice shops and restaurmonospaced
- shops are filled with sexualized puns. Squat and gobble, sit and spin, etc. It's greatrobotinc
- they call the gym there "church"monospaced
- Akagiyama2
Watch out for all the poop.
- brandelec-1
Oakland
- +1sarahfailin
- Isn't Oakland SF's Jersey?CyBrainX
- Oakland is SF's ComptonGuyFawkes
- utopian0
- This always baffled me. Why would someone wants to be a homeless in SF? It's friggin cold & moist. I'd definitely go to socal or some warmer state.Beeswax
- THere'S homeless people in Canada... 6 months of winter. SF is hot in comparisonBennn
- The weather is fresh, no bugs, never freezes, people are trained to accept and look away. Then there are the drugs...robotron3k
- But even back in 2000, the homeless was out of control there, but they don't bother people too much and they seem like to exist and live for the momentrobotron3k
- You see in San Francisco, even some of the homeless are vegetarian and/or gluten intolerant.robotron3k
- What would you say the common denominator is here, mental health issues or drugs or a combination of both?_niko
- Or lack of purpose? Or bad luck? Or just choice? Or no choice?_niko
- Drugs and tolerance is the denominator.Hayoth
- lots of mental health issues on the street, same in every big city. and of course drugs and both like you said _niko.Bennn
- Lack of funds and programs to deal with them too.monospaced
- SF is in a deep declineinstrmntl
- I tend to romanticize the homeless, see them as modern day Diogenes’ Saying fuck you to the system and living life on their terms but sadly prob not the case_niko
- Been in SF in 2009. Not seen a single homeless person while going all around town for days. Maybe times changed since then?NBQ00
- I left in 2008. It was bad then and it’s bad now.monospaced
- Great article thanks for the post utopian_niko
- a lot of people lived in SF when it was actually affordable. a large portion of kids go there for the warmer months to piss off dad.shellie
- For the people who used to live normally in SF, it's hard to leave the only area you really know, plus some family that might help sometimes, friends, resourcesshellie
- If I were homeless, I wouldn't leave LA. That's where anyone who can help me personally would be.shellie
- oh boy, 4 year bump, still living here, great article!feel
- feel0
wow! haven't logged in here in a while, just read all these tips!
I've heard that Oakland is kinda dangerous, like gang fights and stuff... but I get it now that its more like west oakland..
I should take a look there!
thank's for all the tips guys! keep 'em coming!
- downtown oakland is pretty safe in my opinion.sarahfailin
- iCanHazQBN0
Go to the Tenderloin district for great steaks.
- sarahfailin1
Living in Oakland is cheaper and there's better culture and nightlife in my opinion, and the commute via BART is not bad. You can put your bike on the train as long as it's not packed with ppl. Oakland is not as good for biking as SF, though.
If you don't live in Oakland, the Mission district is the "coolest" and it's pretty cool. Has good food, but it's a hotbed for overpaid, 20-something tech kids.
If you want someplace in SF great for biking, find a place near Golden Gate Park. There are lots of bike trails within the park, which are great, and there are many trails leading TO the park from various places in the city, so it could be a good spot to bike from. Plus the neighborhoods near there (Richmond District, Sunset District) are cheaper than other, more central neighborhoods in SF.
The first thing you'll learn about biking in SF is to bike "the wiggle," so you're not going up and over all the big hills.
- What area(s) of Oakland would you recommend? I'm considering heading back west in about a year.duckseason
- Sarah gives sound advice. For Oakland areas I would recommend something around Lake Merritt.atomholc
- i second lake merritt.lvl_13
- Oakland sucks, but it is way cheapermoldero
- Bluejam3
be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
- zarkonite0
What are the best online resources to find a place to rent?
- i dunno. padmapper.com?iCanHazQBN
- i like craigslist.sarahfailin
- your own 2 feet and craigslist.lvl_13
- sarahfailin1
Re: the notes above,
Lake Merritt is probably the prettiest part of Oakland, with lots of good restaurants, pretty houses and Lake Merritt, which has a great biking/jogging trail that's about 3.5 miles around it. If you're near the Lake Merritt BART then you've got the best of both worlds, although I think some of the coolest stuff is on the North side of the Lake, where the BART stop is on the south side.
Piedmont has a similar vibe, with a nice bakery, sushi restaurants and other, nicer places, but not too upscale or snooty. Very "neighborhood-y." Farther from BART, however, so a longer commute to the city.
Jack London Square is an easy place to live, because it's close to downtown Oakland, not a ton of traffic, near the highway and has some new restaurants and venues in it. Yoshi's is a landmark jazz establishment located here with good, expensive sushi. It hasn't been the expensive place to live, historically, but a lot of gentrification has happened and now it's getting pricier. The places that are going in are more generic, upscale kind of craft beer and oysters type of places. A little devoid of authentic culture, in my opinion, but a little cheaper than downtown.
Downtown/Uptown Oakland is really fun. Lots of bars and music venues on Telegraph ave, and there's a whole bunch of new housing (gentrification) that has gone in recently. There are two BART stops, one at 12th and one at 19th. Housing here is as expensive as it gets in Oakland, which is to say, about the *average* price of housing in neighborhoods in SF.
If you're a pioneer and want to lead the newest horizon in gentrification, there's West Oakland. It's the most desirable of the least desirable places in Oakland to live, with low rent, high crime, no grocery stores, (almost) no restaurants and no bars. It's also the closest BART stop to San Francisco, with only a 7 minute trip under the bay to arrive at Embarcadero, downtown SF.
- nb0
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
- colin_s1
don't.
- STORM3050
FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... THE US