I lived there for 3 years and left a year ago. I lived in Nob Hill, Mission, Noe, and Castro.
When I was first there, I felt a strong disgust towards tech. People protesting shuttles, hateful graffiti, news articles about it. Tech workers were moving in troves and driving up rent and people getting displaced. I felt like part of the problem.
Market Street is a mix of insanely wealthy and insanely poor people. Other cities around California send their homeless people to SF, so there are thousands of them and SF can't support them all. It's not uncommon to see shouting, needles, and human feces. Every time I walked down that street I felt awful I couldn't do something to help.
Meanwhile, you step inside a tech office, and you'll see luxurious decor, free lunch, Macbook Pros, and many people making top 1% income for their age. The contrast is staggering.
People I've met in tech vary from the most passionate about work I've ever met, to just there to make a great living and enjoy the nature/weather. Nothing wrong with either lifestyle. San Francisco is a beautiful little hilly city with plenty to do nearby.
It did feel like a hard place to have non-liberal values, but I think people just mean well and are passionate about improvement.
Everything is expensive. Coffee is $4-6 plus tax and tip. Groceries are double where I'm from (Seattle suburbs). Rent is crazy. Office space is crazy.
+1 I’d just add one thing, would you pay $1 million for a studio in the middle of all that? You could live right next to your office and enjoy everything (mentioned above) that the city has to offer while writting code all day. Sounds like a healthy and dreamy life.
Re: homeless, panhandling income is surprisingly tightly tied to general wages. A tech bro making $300k has much more money to give than a blue-collar worker making $30k.
Cost of living (on the street) is pretty similar everywhere, so it makes sense to have the homeless populations migrate to areas with the highest-paying jobs.
There are many different neighborhoods with pretty different feels, but generally speaking I would say this:
The city is dirty, there are many homeless people, public infrastructure is not great (bad roads, questionable public transit), and it is the most expensive rent in the world. Culturally, it is much less "gay" and "hippie" nowadays, and almost entirely "tech," at least in my own experiences. If you're a software engineer, there are plenty of jobs and you will never have issue finding work. The pay, in general, is excellent. If you're NOT a software engineer, I'm not sure.
Seriously though, that city is SO dirty and smelly. The public infrastructure is not only bad and falling apart, but politics is sufficiently broken that very little is likely to be done about it. (Same for housing and homelessness: politics is completely broken, don't expect much to improve in this department.)
And yes, it's a huge techie bubble. In a bad way - most people there are completely detached from any "normal life" perspective. But then again, the same can be said for those in politics in SF.
From 2005-2010 the city had a very positive vibe: we're the most European city in America, we love good food, we have a balance of artists and people who support the arts. Now it's overcrowded, overvalued and overcapitalized. Rather than being welcomed, you will be resented and perceived as pushing other people out. Oakland has a more friendly and creative feel these days, if you can deal with the pervasive criminal element and left-wing monoculture. Plan to make your money and get out.
As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Boston is probably the most European city in America stemming from the fact that it was originally built as one.
Hard to say if SF is the most "European city in America".
Is it that case in terms of culture, philosophy/values, architecture, demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, marriage status, etc), economy? In my opinion: no.
Also happens to be one of the most geographically distant cities to Europe.
Since everyone is chiming in on your "most European city in America" statement I figured I'd give it a go. The reason I love visiting Europe is for the cities as the variety of cultures offer a staggering number of varieties. I don't think anyone would say London and SF are similar, but maybe London and NYC.
I'd also like to throw New Orleans into the mix, and agree with Montreal as well even though it is in Canada. I'd really like to see Vancouver but have never been.
So in one way I think NYC because you can find cross sections of the cultures of many European cities there, but maybe SF more relaxed way of life is more similar to some. I however do not find the people of Lisbon where I am now (rapidly becoming a very multicultural center as more people move for the cheap prices and beautiful weather) to be quite so relaxed as the people of California (as awesome and friendly as they are), however I've only been to California a few times and never for any extended period of time and have only been in Lisbon a week and a half and NYC for ~5 years.
So I guess what I'm saying is... what do I know? I guess maybe Boston's another good city from the comments, beautiful, nicely paced, definitely didn't notice any feces or needles last time I was there.
Maybe it's P = NP problem. Some google searching places New Orleans at the top of 21 followed by Venice Beach, CA. Then there's a list of seven dominated by smaller cities (towns?) with the big one I've heard of being Kansas City. Never been there, would never have thought of it. I have however read about Peoria (sp?) Iowa which does indeed sound quite European. And of course Quebec City comes up which is a great choice.
It probably really depends (for both continents) where you've been, what you've done, when you've done it, and on and on.
I interned there in 2012. My roommate and I got super lucky his family friend hooked us up with $1200/month for a condo at the top of Lombard St in Russian Hill. So my experience is slightly biased since I miraculously avoided the ludicrous rent. I don’t know what we would have done had we not secured that place.
In general, I really liked it. My favorite part was feeling like I was living in the future, since every new app launches in SF first. For example, back then Uber was quite new and I used it for the first time there. My least favorite part was the monoculture of tech (that’s not even considering the political monoculture). While there are a lot of interesting non-tech people in SF, you have to go out of your way to meet them. Otherwise the default is to be surrounded 24/7 by clones of yourself.
I interned in SF, Seattle and Houston. After school I lived in NYC for a year. Now I’m in the UK, but if I had to choose between those cities I would pick New York every time.
New York has plenty of problems but a monoculture is not one of them; it’s still fairly homogenous, but far less than SF simply because the NYC economy is more diversified. In SF, tech is the dominant and basically only industry. In NYC, tech is one of many industries in a city dominated by finance and law.
Put another way, of all my friends in college, 100% of them living in SF are in tech. But many of them live in NYC, and of those people, only some are in tech and the rest are in finance/law/school (nyc has top schools in the city proper unlike SF). I much prefer living near friends in other fields, because the last thing I want to talk about when I get home from work is work.
Coming from Northern Europe, I still find SF a place it would be hard to leave. If you're in tech, there is no better place to be, in terms of learning, career progression and the overall interest. Think about any technology you're interest in, and you're probably a coffee shop away to talk people who work on it or lead the work. In Europe, I'd often feel how lacking and not interesting the environment is in many ways. People don't have much experience and don't often have high ambitions (since there isn't many good examples).
Salaries and equity options are probably higher than anywhere, and its more likely here that those options actually turns something in worthwhile. While rents are expensive, it can be still potentially financially better.
Restaurants, places to go, nature and travel is pretty great overall, there is lot to do.
The quality of living is not really on the same level as in Europe. Lot of the city is quite dirty, not all of it though. If you have a family, its likely to be much more costly in everything. Houses are expensive, and probably there isn't anything to fix that in the near future. I think the protesting against tech has somewhat subdued, you don't really hear about it.
Overall, after living here for a while, you get jaded about all the startup stuff. Its not what you need to do all the time, but it can be still quite interesting to see and hear everyone around you to try new ideas.
People are leaving, but not really seeing that the area is slowing down. There are more great companies now than there was 10 years ago.
Sometimes, I think about moving back to Europe or somewhere else, and don't really feel excited about the job prospects or the overall work environment. It would be hard to find anything remotely similar roles that I've been able to do here.
As Northern European with ambitions to move to a US tech hub one day, I am interested in knowing a bit of your background. Did you go to school in the US? How did you acquire your visa? Were you sponsored by an employer or did you go through the lottery? etc.
The place is geographically incredible, great climate, beautiful scenery, lots to do and many diverse activities are a relatively short drive away.
Having said that, living there can be kind of awful. It's become quite a monoculture of tech people, which brings with it the same gender imbalance you find in the tech workplace. It's very expensive, dirty, poorly maintained, not the safest city and it's not uncommon to have your vehicle windows smashed or otherwise broken into.
There's also significant tension from the gentrification when I was last there ~6 months ago, depending on the neighborhood. If you're visibly a part of that gentrification force (e.g. a white male yuppy with a backpack), don't be surprised if some drunk mexican in the mission starts a fight with you for no apparent reason. This happened to me on two separate occasions, completely unprovoked, and I didn't even spend that much time in the mission.
SF used to be a very diverse and culturally interesting city. That city has died. It’s become a monoculture around tech to a fault.
Other cities with highly successful and growing tech scenes (like NYC) have a much more diverse economy that, IMO, keeps things far more dynamic and interesting. NYC for example has finance, law, diplomacy, tv/film, theatre, music, fashion, and many other big industries that have a strong presence.
SF and the region is just becoming tech tech tech at the expense of everything else. Its one time greatest strength is rapidly becoming its greatest weakness.
The current attitude is tech and homelessness and everything in between.
All the artist and musicians have moved to Oakland instead of living in the mission.
Its a sunny 70 degrees year round, except for in the summer its foggy by the ocean everyday.
Unemployment rate is extremely low (2.2%), but the rent is extremely high.
If you thinking of moving here, just do it. Everyone here is from somewhere else and came to chase a dream that they feel that SF can fulfill. And its true, dreams do come true in SF if you work hard enough towards your goals. But thats true with anywhere. Just in SF, if you don't have your ish together, you'll be homeless and booted out real quick. At least you got to have time in SF though.
>If you thinking of moving here, just do it. Everyone here is from somewhere else and came to chase a dream that they feel that SF can fulfill. And its true, dreams do come true in SF if you work hard enough towards your goals.
This reminds of me of some movie I saw where it starts or ends with something like "Welcome to Hollywood" ... and then something about dreams.
Oh, what the heck, I'll give you a general answer, you may get some benefit from it.
San Francisco, i.e. The City (NOT Frisco), never changes once you're in a neighborhood, everyone is different, some people are friendly, some not, just like any large city.
The time I spent there was fantastic, walking to the store, great neighborhood restaurants, friendly shop owners, amazing art and always interesting graffiti.
The Castro is still fun to walk through if you're not a homophobe and one of the best kept secret hard to find restaurants is there, Orphan Andy's, real comfort food 24 hours a day.
The public transportation is totally adequate and one can get around town without too many transfers.
Despite the hills, it's a very walk-able town, I walked all over the place, it was nice seeing all the different neighborhoods on foot.
Like any location, you get out of it what you put in.
I hear it's way expensive to live there now, even my sister who lived there for 40 years sold her Bernal Heights house and moved North to Santa Rosa.
I went on holiday there for one week, an as a person from Western Europe, the manifestation of wealth inequality was abhorrent sometimes. So many homeless people that are not taken care of, generally dirty, expensive public transit that not really good on top of it, obsession with tech and just generally a bit too stiff.
To answer your question without complaining too much about SF I’d say that people are either new to SF (haven’t experienced the real deal described by everyone here), or holding onto something that used to be a dream a few years back, like a great position at a hot startup waiting for it to go public or a 1 bd apartment bought at $700k a few years back versus +$1 million today. Really not about the city by the Bay anymore.. So, as you may guess the attitude in 2018 here is extremely materialistic, which sounds weird when you think about hippies right? :) either my home equity or my stocks.
People who want to become entrepreneurs these days would rather stop by to create some connections and operate from a remote location. Last but not least, tourists on a weekend trip to SF from all around the World. They want to see the bridge and jump on a boat to Alcatraz
I used to live there between '98 to '02, so my view is outdated. It's interesting to read current outlooks. I'm not American. Back then I found the city to be very European and very accepting. I was part of a fairly large music scene there so although I was in tech, the crowd I hang with was more music people. There was a LOT of tech back then and it was expensive. I remember if you wanted to rent a flat, you'd be there early morning with 20 other people willing to outbid you for the rent.
Lots of homeless people, though I don't remember it being dirty. Great food. 4 seasons in a day but generally pleasant weather. Some streets were wind tunnels (Van Ness in particular). Best Burritos in the Galaxy (Mission/24th El Faralito hot damn). Beautiful city. I left a piece of my heart there (but it grew back).
Reading all of these replies is making me nostalgic for my youth in California.
I spent a lot of time in Santa Cruz between '95 and '98 and used to head to SF pretty regularly. As a young art student before any real involvement in tech, I loved the vibe of the city. Great food and bars, welcoming people. Nice climate.
At the time I did notice lots of homeless people but they didn't seem that threatening. Out of all the places I've visited, it's one of the few places where I would consider moving to, out of the UK.
Not in SF but I lived in East Bay for past two years. Since good tech meetups were mostly happening around Mission I'd be in SF downtown once or twice a week. One night I missed last BART and had to spend my rest of the night until 4am in a 711 near 2nd St which changed my view towards homeless people in SF. I wonder why they're not welcomed by the job market. One guy said the city, SF is beta testing ground for Silicon Valley. Overall I loved being part of the city. But as others here have commented recently Oakland seems more happening.
In NYC, certainly seems like there is a fresh influx of former SF residents. Many around crypto / fintech as all large banks are here.
Refrain I often hear is that "street culture" is dead in SF. Tech workers just stay in and order Seamless and tinker on their respective inventions all night long. Although nowhere what it was at peak in 80s and 90s. NYC nightlife is still popping ;)
I'd also be interested to hear about life in the Peninsula. Hills above Palo Alto, San Mateo, even South SF. Family and friends seem to love it despite chilly nights in the summer...
I found that the tech “scene” barely existed, as such. People who work in tech there are super siloed - they go to work, they work too much, they go home. People don’t really go to meetups and user groups like they do in other cities.
Born in Russia, grew up in NC, live in SF currently, moving to NYC next week. Incredibly excited to leave SF, to say the least.
The good:
Innovation and energy everywhere. You can feel it in the air, especially since every billboard in SoMa is a tech startup.
I've met some of the smartest people in my life here, and have been really lucky to work on some exciting projects.
Neighborhoods are VERY divided and have their own feel, almost like separate cities.
Decent amount of high quality restaurants.
Availability to high paying jobs
The bad:
HBO's Silicon Valley no longer becomes funny, it's just a documentary at this point.
The homeless - they're everywhere and feel empowered to be aggressive on a scale I've never seen. I live in Nob Hill, and have been in a few altercations (though very much not the case when I was in the Marina).
Dating pool for a hetero male is meh at best. Most bars are filled with 75-90% guys, with few exceptions in the Marina.
Tech is everywhere - at first this was a good thing, but now it's unbearable.
Everyone seems to be incredibly sensitive and emotionally charged.
Weather isn't as good as SoCal, and is pretty "eh" majority of the time.
Expensive af.
TLDR:
Amazing career opportunity for young/mid-20's for a few years. You'll meet great people, work on exciting stuff, and raise your income level. Leave after a few years.
[+] [-] a13n|8 years ago|reply
When I was first there, I felt a strong disgust towards tech. People protesting shuttles, hateful graffiti, news articles about it. Tech workers were moving in troves and driving up rent and people getting displaced. I felt like part of the problem.
Market Street is a mix of insanely wealthy and insanely poor people. Other cities around California send their homeless people to SF, so there are thousands of them and SF can't support them all. It's not uncommon to see shouting, needles, and human feces. Every time I walked down that street I felt awful I couldn't do something to help.
Meanwhile, you step inside a tech office, and you'll see luxurious decor, free lunch, Macbook Pros, and many people making top 1% income for their age. The contrast is staggering.
People I've met in tech vary from the most passionate about work I've ever met, to just there to make a great living and enjoy the nature/weather. Nothing wrong with either lifestyle. San Francisco is a beautiful little hilly city with plenty to do nearby.
It did feel like a hard place to have non-liberal values, but I think people just mean well and are passionate about improvement.
Everything is expensive. Coffee is $4-6 plus tax and tip. Groceries are double where I'm from (Seattle suburbs). Rent is crazy. Office space is crazy.
Hope that helps!
[+] [-] bsvalley|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nikanj|7 years ago|reply
Cost of living (on the street) is pretty similar everywhere, so it makes sense to have the homeless populations migrate to areas with the highest-paying jobs.
[+] [-] ralusek|8 years ago|reply
The city is dirty, there are many homeless people, public infrastructure is not great (bad roads, questionable public transit), and it is the most expensive rent in the world. Culturally, it is much less "gay" and "hippie" nowadays, and almost entirely "tech," at least in my own experiences. If you're a software engineer, there are plenty of jobs and you will never have issue finding work. The pay, in general, is excellent. If you're NOT a software engineer, I'm not sure.
[+] [-] moz23|8 years ago|reply
And yes, it's a huge techie bubble. In a bad way - most people there are completely detached from any "normal life" perspective. But then again, the same can be said for those in politics in SF.
[+] [-] collyw|8 years ago|reply
Even over 40? I am genuinely curious.
[+] [-] badpun|8 years ago|reply
It's interesting how many tech people dislike the company of their own kind.
[+] [-] loggedinmyphone|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DrAwdeOccarim|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] partycoder|8 years ago|reply
Is it that case in terms of culture, philosophy/values, architecture, demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, marriage status, etc), economy? In my opinion: no.
Also happens to be one of the most geographically distant cities to Europe.
[+] [-] wbl|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paulcole|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nailer|8 years ago|reply
New York?
[+] [-] codyb|8 years ago|reply
I'd also like to throw New Orleans into the mix, and agree with Montreal as well even though it is in Canada. I'd really like to see Vancouver but have never been.
So in one way I think NYC because you can find cross sections of the cultures of many European cities there, but maybe SF more relaxed way of life is more similar to some. I however do not find the people of Lisbon where I am now (rapidly becoming a very multicultural center as more people move for the cheap prices and beautiful weather) to be quite so relaxed as the people of California (as awesome and friendly as they are), however I've only been to California a few times and never for any extended period of time and have only been in Lisbon a week and a half and NYC for ~5 years.
So I guess what I'm saying is... what do I know? I guess maybe Boston's another good city from the comments, beautiful, nicely paced, definitely didn't notice any feces or needles last time I was there.
Maybe it's P = NP problem. Some google searching places New Orleans at the top of 21 followed by Venice Beach, CA. Then there's a list of seven dominated by smaller cities (towns?) with the big one I've heard of being Kansas City. Never been there, would never have thought of it. I have however read about Peoria (sp?) Iowa which does indeed sound quite European. And of course Quebec City comes up which is a great choice.
It probably really depends (for both continents) where you've been, what you've done, when you've done it, and on and on.
So we get nowhere, eh?
[+] [-] chatmasta|8 years ago|reply
In general, I really liked it. My favorite part was feeling like I was living in the future, since every new app launches in SF first. For example, back then Uber was quite new and I used it for the first time there. My least favorite part was the monoculture of tech (that’s not even considering the political monoculture). While there are a lot of interesting non-tech people in SF, you have to go out of your way to meet them. Otherwise the default is to be surrounded 24/7 by clones of yourself.
I interned in SF, Seattle and Houston. After school I lived in NYC for a year. Now I’m in the UK, but if I had to choose between those cities I would pick New York every time.
New York has plenty of problems but a monoculture is not one of them; it’s still fairly homogenous, but far less than SF simply because the NYC economy is more diversified. In SF, tech is the dominant and basically only industry. In NYC, tech is one of many industries in a city dominated by finance and law.
Put another way, of all my friends in college, 100% of them living in SF are in tech. But many of them live in NYC, and of those people, only some are in tech and the rest are in finance/law/school (nyc has top schools in the city proper unlike SF). I much prefer living near friends in other fields, because the last thing I want to talk about when I get home from work is work.
[+] [-] enra|8 years ago|reply
Salaries and equity options are probably higher than anywhere, and its more likely here that those options actually turns something in worthwhile. While rents are expensive, it can be still potentially financially better.
Restaurants, places to go, nature and travel is pretty great overall, there is lot to do.
The quality of living is not really on the same level as in Europe. Lot of the city is quite dirty, not all of it though. If you have a family, its likely to be much more costly in everything. Houses are expensive, and probably there isn't anything to fix that in the near future. I think the protesting against tech has somewhat subdued, you don't really hear about it.
Overall, after living here for a while, you get jaded about all the startup stuff. Its not what you need to do all the time, but it can be still quite interesting to see and hear everyone around you to try new ideas.
People are leaving, but not really seeing that the area is slowing down. There are more great companies now than there was 10 years ago.
Sometimes, I think about moving back to Europe or somewhere else, and don't really feel excited about the job prospects or the overall work environment. It would be hard to find anything remotely similar roles that I've been able to do here.
[+] [-] diplocorp|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] newnewpdro|8 years ago|reply
Having said that, living there can be kind of awful. It's become quite a monoculture of tech people, which brings with it the same gender imbalance you find in the tech workplace. It's very expensive, dirty, poorly maintained, not the safest city and it's not uncommon to have your vehicle windows smashed or otherwise broken into.
There's also significant tension from the gentrification when I was last there ~6 months ago, depending on the neighborhood. If you're visibly a part of that gentrification force (e.g. a white male yuppy with a backpack), don't be surprised if some drunk mexican in the mission starts a fight with you for no apparent reason. This happened to me on two separate occasions, completely unprovoked, and I didn't even spend that much time in the mission.
[+] [-] obibring|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] code4tee|8 years ago|reply
Other cities with highly successful and growing tech scenes (like NYC) have a much more diverse economy that, IMO, keeps things far more dynamic and interesting. NYC for example has finance, law, diplomacy, tv/film, theatre, music, fashion, and many other big industries that have a strong presence.
SF and the region is just becoming tech tech tech at the expense of everything else. Its one time greatest strength is rapidly becoming its greatest weakness.
[+] [-] nmca|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SmellyGeekBoy|8 years ago|reply
(Just genuinely curious, it's not a trick question)
[+] [-] blegit|8 years ago|reply
All the artist and musicians have moved to Oakland instead of living in the mission.
Its a sunny 70 degrees year round, except for in the summer its foggy by the ocean everyday.
Unemployment rate is extremely low (2.2%), but the rent is extremely high.
If you thinking of moving here, just do it. Everyone here is from somewhere else and came to chase a dream that they feel that SF can fulfill. And its true, dreams do come true in SF if you work hard enough towards your goals. But thats true with anywhere. Just in SF, if you don't have your ish together, you'll be homeless and booted out real quick. At least you got to have time in SF though.
[+] [-] DrScump|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vram22|7 years ago|reply
This reminds of me of some movie I saw where it starts or ends with something like "Welcome to Hollywood" ... and then something about dreams.
[+] [-] spectrum1234|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Mister_X|8 years ago|reply
Oh, what the heck, I'll give you a general answer, you may get some benefit from it.
San Francisco, i.e. The City (NOT Frisco), never changes once you're in a neighborhood, everyone is different, some people are friendly, some not, just like any large city.
The time I spent there was fantastic, walking to the store, great neighborhood restaurants, friendly shop owners, amazing art and always interesting graffiti.
The Castro is still fun to walk through if you're not a homophobe and one of the best kept secret hard to find restaurants is there, Orphan Andy's, real comfort food 24 hours a day.
The public transportation is totally adequate and one can get around town without too many transfers.
Despite the hills, it's a very walk-able town, I walked all over the place, it was nice seeing all the different neighborhoods on foot.
Like any location, you get out of it what you put in.
I hear it's way expensive to live there now, even my sister who lived there for 40 years sold her Bernal Heights house and moved North to Santa Rosa.
[+] [-] partycoder|8 years ago|reply
- Right: San Francisco, SF or "The City".
- Wrong: "Frisco", "San Fran", "415".
If you want to act "friscan" people get pretty upset very fast.
[+] [-] mrleiter|8 years ago|reply
Mission district was fun, though.
[+] [-] bsvalley|7 years ago|reply
People who want to become entrepreneurs these days would rather stop by to create some connections and operate from a remote location. Last but not least, tourists on a weekend trip to SF from all around the World. They want to see the bridge and jump on a boat to Alcatraz
[+] [-] harel|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomclive|8 years ago|reply
I spent a lot of time in Santa Cruz between '95 and '98 and used to head to SF pretty regularly. As a young art student before any real involvement in tech, I loved the vibe of the city. Great food and bars, welcoming people. Nice climate.
At the time I did notice lots of homeless people but they didn't seem that threatening. Out of all the places I've visited, it's one of the few places where I would consider moving to, out of the UK.
[+] [-] bhu1st|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] indescions_2018|7 years ago|reply
Refrain I often hear is that "street culture" is dead in SF. Tech workers just stay in and order Seamless and tinker on their respective inventions all night long. Although nowhere what it was at peak in 80s and 90s. NYC nightlife is still popping ;)
I'd also be interested to hear about life in the Peninsula. Hills above Palo Alto, San Mateo, even South SF. Family and friends seem to love it despite chilly nights in the summer...
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] partycoder|8 years ago|reply
- Prices are high (rent, groceries, services, you name it).
- Transport: public transport is meh, driving/parking sucks, non-recreational cycling experience is mediocre and unsafe.
Unless you make enough money (after expenses) it is not worth it.
[+] [-] jes5199|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] markfer|7 years ago|reply
Born in Russia, grew up in NC, live in SF currently, moving to NYC next week. Incredibly excited to leave SF, to say the least.
The good:
Innovation and energy everywhere. You can feel it in the air, especially since every billboard in SoMa is a tech startup.
I've met some of the smartest people in my life here, and have been really lucky to work on some exciting projects.
Neighborhoods are VERY divided and have their own feel, almost like separate cities.
Decent amount of high quality restaurants.
Availability to high paying jobs
The bad:
HBO's Silicon Valley no longer becomes funny, it's just a documentary at this point.
The homeless - they're everywhere and feel empowered to be aggressive on a scale I've never seen. I live in Nob Hill, and have been in a few altercations (though very much not the case when I was in the Marina).
Dating pool for a hetero male is meh at best. Most bars are filled with 75-90% guys, with few exceptions in the Marina.
Tech is everywhere - at first this was a good thing, but now it's unbearable.
Everyone seems to be incredibly sensitive and emotionally charged.
Weather isn't as good as SoCal, and is pretty "eh" majority of the time.
Expensive af.
TLDR:
Amazing career opportunity for young/mid-20's for a few years. You'll meet great people, work on exciting stuff, and raise your income level. Leave after a few years.
Feel free to ask more