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What is the important mass transit to you? CalTrain for trips to San Mateo?

In San Francisco there are the Muni Rail routes, bus, BART, and CalTrain to help you get around without a car. It all depends where you would like to have easy access.

Check out the Chronicle's page on San Francisco neighborhoods for a better idea of what is where.

Mission Bay has a lot of new development such as Mission Place and it is near SBC Park, CalTrain, and the N Muni rail line. South Park is a nice area just off Second Street with good loft style apartments and a dog friendly neighborhood.

I'm also in the process of moving from Manhattan to SF, but I'm about 2 weeks ahead of you. My girlfriend and I spent last weekend looking at 2 bedrooms in Noe Valley and the Mission because we had similar public transportation desires. (Actually I needed a place close to 280 because my job is down in San Jose, but we would both prefer to maneuver around SF without a car.) We ended up signing a lease today for a place in Noe Valley.

Here's the scoop: you are moving to Brooklyn.

These neighborhoods are not as densely packed with mix-use space as Manhattan. There is one or two streets with lots of action and all the surrounding blocks are mostly residential. There are fewer subway (BART) lines and it doesn't service every place as easily as it does in Manhattan.

Also, it's *much* harder to walk places in SF (or at least in the places I was walking around) because there are fricking hills everywhere. I know this shouldn't be a big surprise, but I really didn't think that I would have to factor that into my calculations. However, if you're three blocks up a steep hill there's really no way you want to walk home after dinner. Worst of all, sometime it's uphill both ways.

I can't tell if this is something you get used to or better at navigating, but I really wasn't prepared for it. It's almost made me consider buying a Segway. :)

I found Craig's List as a great source of listings. It's worth it to call ahead and set up appointments because while some places have open houses, not all of them do. Also, I advise going to one of those online credit report web sites and paying to get a copy. Proving you have good credit is a good way to make it past the list of other people looking at the place.

Assuming you'll be commuting to San Mateo, you'll want to be near one of the Caltrain stations. This means SoMa around 4th & Townsend. In that case South Park is quite nice having about the only park-like space in SoMa. If you can afford it: http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/33672683.html
Or David Siegel's place if you want to buy (courtesy your employer): http://mena.typepad.com/dollarshort/2004/03/clock_tower.html
It's *still* available: http://sfarmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Sanfrancisco&PRGNAME=MLSPropertyDetail&ARGUMENTS=-N267333,-N6455881,-N400567622,-AS,-N1

The other CalTrain station is 22nd st in Portrero Hill. Portrero offers much more value but is a bit furhter from rest of city than some folks prefer. That said, it's a very nice area.

Buy: http://sfarmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Sanfrancisco&PRGNAME=MLSPropertyDetail&ARGUMENTS=-N266512,-N6455801,-N427808100,-AS,-N4

Rent: http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/33842565.html

Besides word of mouth, Craigslist best for rentals, sfarmls best for buying.

You'd like Cole Valley, Noe Valley and the Mission as well but getting to Caltrain is marginal. Cole and Noe are somewhat comparable but Cole is closer to city and right next to Haight but more expensive. Mission is grittier but more interesting and less expensive.

A few scattered thoughts:

1. Get the Muni system map [818K PDF]. Look for proximity to BART stations or the Muni rail lines (J, K, L, M, N). These are the main arteries of SF mass transit. Everything else connects to them.

2. Recognize from the start that having a dog rules out 90% of your options. Look for proximity to larger public parks -- these areas are more likely to have dog-friendly landlords.

3. Look at the fog patterns. Cole Valley is a nice neighborhood, but forget about sun in the summertime there.

4. Mission Bay is going to be a nice neighborhood. Check back in 10 years.

5. Good news and bad news about Craig's List. The good news is that there are a lot of good listings there. The bad news is that Craig's List is hardly a secret.

6. Unless you're going to be working there, proximity to SoMa is not really worth pursuing. It's pretty quiet down there these days.

Hi Anil
I can firmly recommend Noe Valley, a good friend of mine has lived there for 4-5 years and there is a good range of bars, places to eat and shops all in walking distance and it doesn't get too foggy.
Short walk from most of it to the Mission BART station, if I was moving to San Francisco it is definitely where I'd want to live.

Hi Anil:

I've sent you an email because my post was painfully long, but these links and numbers might help everyone out.

this site: http://www.grin.net/~mirthles/web/sanfrancisco_latest.html has lots of good stuff for locals. Sent to me via Sunshine at Imperial Dub.

The SPCA has a listing of pet-friendly places in the city as well. (shh) Call them at 554-3000
to see if they have any updates, their website isn't always updated with this info. It's worth a shot to explain your situation to them.

Try the trip planner for the best routes to and fro in the Bay Area: http://www.transitinfo.org/tripplanner/index.asp

Also, if you have a PDA, there are schedules for CalTrain and BART you can download from their websites.

I hear that if you are disoriented, you can call MUNI and ask what the best bus is from point A to point B. 673-6864 (i think.)

I don't work for MUNI, I swear. Just lots and lots of time traveling from various points to SJ.

Cheers,
Ginevra

You'll need a car. Count on it.

Quick thoughts:

http://renttech.com
Well worth the expense.

You only need a car if you're too far from MUNI. Most places, you totally won't need one. Ask Lance.

Don't live in SOMA. Work in SOMA, live somewhere else.

Cole Valley rocks. Email me for more.

You may or may not need a car. I don't need a car because I live somewhat central (Hayes Valley/Civic Center) with proximity to MUNI (Van Ness Station) and BART (Civic Center) and it's not hilly unless I want to head West toward Cole Valley and Golden Gate Park or Crissy Field, etc. In any case, I bike most places, walk otherwise, but my locale and where my office is (SOMA) make that all convenient for me. Owning a car in San Francisco is insanity, IMHO. No parking, bad drivers, MUNI trains and cable cars on the street and Jeff Veen careening around like a mad biker all spell trouble.

I love Hayes Valley. It's kind of a little secret place nestled in a crook of a bunch of other neighborhoods. Like most 'hoods, go a block or two in the wrong direction and you could end up shot in the stomach. Fun!

My advice: Avoid Sunset and Richmond. They're less expensive, but there's a reason for that, namely inconvenience to the rest of the city. Noe is nice and pet-friendly. Cole Valley is too foggy for me, but the park is great. The TenderNob is often overlooked. The Mission is still funky, if you like funky. Don't have a car unless you absolutely need one, and don't absolutely need one.

And I second RentTech. And when you come looking, bring a local to steer you away from the wrong and into the right. Lastly, never believe the phrase "great views!" More likely than not, you'll have a 'great view!' of your next door neighbor's wall. And/or, the place is situated so far up a hill that you'll experience cardiac arrest just coming back with a gallon of milk and some toilet paper.

Little tips:

-- June/July is a good time to hunt, particularly in near-campus areas (Inner Sunset/Cole Valley, eg)... lots of students moved during May/June, there are many vacancies now.

-- For fog, there are bands of areas along the west and north shores... the Beach gets 90% fog during the summer, there's less if you're on the far side of 19th Ave, still less if you're past Arguello, and then once you get half-a-mile past Twin Peaks then it's rare to be covered in fog. The Marina is nice but can get some spillage through the Gate, and North Beach gets less, etc. But you'll feel the chill in most areas... a jacket during the "hottest" months is normal city wear.

-- I live in Cole Valley, and can walk ~3 miles to SOMA, but usually take the N-Judah partway back to avoid the biggest uphill. (The hills aren't actually that bad, but you'll usually find some strategic hills to plan around to get from A to B.)

-- Check a topographic map, and compare a potential street to neighboring commercial streets... if you're on a level with a main drag then you'll likely get more foot traffic than if you're a hundred feet or so uphill. (A purloined shopping cart rustling bottles out of trashcans at 5:30am rarely goes uphill... drunks roll downhill, too.)

-- If you haven't decided on a neighborhood, then check its shops, and the walks to adjoining neighborhoods... if you like burritos and they're not nearby, then that's not good....

-- For car, garage or other reserved spot is highly recommended, unless neighbors are few. I used to bike but gave it up after too many close calls... these days it's even easy for a pedestrian to get hit when they're on the sidewalk, crazy. (Segways were outlawed here, by the way... welcome to the same ol' Bible Belt, just with different text in the hymnal.... :(

-- I'm not sure of resources but would definitely recommend a search for listings of dog-friendly parks. Some parks have been closed down to 4-legs recently, so having a nearby resource is key.

Noe Valley has better shops than Cole Valley, and has a better sunshine ratio too, but Cole Valley's a little cozier and is nearer Golden Gate Park, the Haight, Inner Sunset, Clement... tradeoff.

jd

Ah... now I see how people can afford to live in the city of SF... no one wants cars. Hell, I had to find a place with a garage in Sunnyvale because I can't parallel park to save my life. SF would eat me alive. Something useful though... they just started running CalTrain again on weekends, which will less limit your public transporation options.

why the heck did typepad require me to repaste my info and comment into the box after previewing?

If you're concerned about steepness, the SF Bike Coalition has a neat map with color-coded streets to show how steep they are. It's quite detailed; na zdravie to the SF Bike people: http://sfbike.org/?maps

Egad, you're moving to SF? Are you going to keep your apartment here or are you uprooting entirely?