I moved to San Francisco 9 months ago from the East Coast bastion of
Boston. Despite having experience living in a major US city, I found
quite a few surprises coming here. Some have been great, while others
not so much.
If you’re planning the move here, I hope this will help you know
better what to expect. And if you already live in SF, this should give
you a laugh or two and hopefully inspire you to leave a comment with
anything I missed. Consider this the guide I wish someone had given me
when I moved here.
It gets cold at 4pm.
On the east coast I got used to it staying warm on a nice day til
10pm. If it was 70 degrees in the morning, you could rest assured that
the temperature would be about 70 when you left work that night. That
is not the case here.
Working in SoMa, I’ve found that somewhere around 4pm the temperature starts dropping and so by 5 or 5:30pm it’s 10 degrees cooler outside. A lot of this is due to the fog that seems to roll in around then.
Pro Tip: Be prepared to always have layers with you. A light jacket is your best friend in San Francisco.
Neighborhoods define you.
People take the neighborhood you live in pretty seriously. It’s often
a quick way to figure out a lot of what a person values most as SF is a
city with something for everyone. Each neighborhood has a unique set of
offerings, and pros and cons. Like any stereotype, it’s not always
true, but you will find that yes, there are a lot hipsters in the
Mission, bros in the Marina and families in Noe Valley.
Pro Tip: If you’re moving here, spend some time in different neighborhoods before you get locked into living somewhere.
(See one man’s opinion here)
If you’ve ever lived in SF, you’ll totally get this, and if not,
it’s a pretty good idea of the stereotypes & diversity of
neighborhoods:
Rent is insane.
The first thing you’ll notice when you get here is the sticker shock
on rent. This is the most expensive city to live in now and only
Manhattan is in the race with them. A studio is now over $2,000 a month
in most parts of the city and even with roommates you’ll end up paying
$1,000-$1,500 a month for a place pretty much anywhere in town. I just
looked up the building I moved into April 1, 2012 and as of January,
2013 the rent is up $700 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment. If you’re
wondering why that is,
this PandoDaily article does a good job explaining why.
Rental rate rises by Lovely
Cost of living overall is sky high.
Of course these high rental prices are just part of the challenge of
living here economically. The cost of goods in my experience have been
as high or higher as anywhere else in the country. I’ve solved much of
this by moving to buying more online, which is a shame because that
means not supporting local businesses. The most crushing aspect I saved
for last though. Taxes here are significantly higher than I’ve
experienced anywhere. This means you’re squeezed both on your take home
pay and your expenses.
To put it all in perspective, I used to take home about 75% of my pay
in Boston and here it’s only 65%. Meanwhile, my monthly expenses have
risen almost a third from $2,500 a month in Boston to $3,300 here. This
combines to mean despite a significant pay raise when I moved here, I
live less comfortably here. I have no idea how anyone who isn’t working in a high tech role that pays an above average salary can live here.
Pro Tip: If you’re moving here for a job, take into
account the added costs so you’re sure you get paid a salary that won’t
dramatically hurt your standard of living.
There are crazy and cool things always going on.
One of my favorite things about coming to San Francisco has been this
fact. It is truly amazing to me how often there are festivals,
concerts, and just randomly awesome cultural events going on. From
SantaCon to
Fleet Week,
Yerba Buena to the
Academy of Science,
there’s not just something for everyone; it’s impossible not to get
drawn to something you didn’t expect. I give huge credit to the city of
San Francisco for how often they let streets get shut down, allow for
impromptu performances and try to make it easy for people to participate
by adjusting public transportation accordingly.
Pro Tip: There’s quite a few great sites out there to find things to do. The best I’ve found are
Sosh (my goto site),
UpandOutSF and
Thrillist. Finding something exciting on one of those sites and asking people to go with you is the fastest way to make friends.
Costumes are a way of life.
“Is that a costume, or is that how you always dress?” is a
legitimate question in San Francisco. I can’t tell you the number of
times I’ve thought that question when I look at a fellow passenger on
the bus or a group of people walking down the street. San Francisco
takes costumes so seriously, we even make up extra occasions for it as
Bay to Breakers is essentially a second Halloween for SF.
Also, as a forewarning, some people choose the cheapest costume of
all, their “Birthday Suit”, on some days. As one friend told me,
“You’re not a true San Franciscan until you see a naked guy walking down
the street.”
Pro Tip: Don’t fight it. San Francisco is one of the
most creative cities and it’s because of the self-expression that comes
from events like this.
This is a drunken costume party, err, race, across the city:
Lots of homeless, beggars and crackheads.
This is definitely part of the uglier side of San Francisco.
Unfortunately, the worst parts of the city for crime are the Tenderloin
and Civic Center (as well as some areas of Western Addition and the
Mission), which are right in the middle of the city. Market Street and
Union Square, which are areas filled with startups and great shops, is
unfortunately on the border of those areas. Due to this, going to work
or going shopping you’re likely to have multiple people hit you up for
money and probably meet a crackhead or two. Luckily, most are harmless,
so you’ll find it humorous after while as evidenced by
this Yelp thread on “Favorite Crackhead Moments.”
Unfortunately, this means there are some unpleasant scents in those
areas. Walking down the street you may find yourself playing the game
“dog or human?” (note: this is unfortunately referencing what kind
of feces is on the ground…or in one case a high heel on the sidewalk in
SoMa).
Pro Tip: Learn the streets that include the
Tenderloin and don’t walk there at night and avoid any Muni buses that
will take you through there on your trip. (See map below.)
Don’t wander inside the dotted lines alone
PBR is pervasive, but microbrews rule.
No matter what bar you’re in or store that sells beer, you will
always find a hearty supply of PBR, usually in cans. Even Whole Foods
sells 30 racks of PBR while only selling 6 packs of everything else. Of
course, being SF, startups have gotten into the game as well with
recruiting pitches including a
“year’s supply of PBR”:
Now, if you’re not into PBR, never fear. There’s actually a
vibrant homebrew community and
a number of great beer bars including Toronado and the Monk’s Kettle.
California is home to tons of microbreweries so there’s always new beers
to try. I personally prefer the microbrews but still see PBR everywhere
I go. And if you’re not into beer, the influence of Napa is felt
strongly with plenty of great wine options.
Pro Tip: When you’ve spent all your money on rent, you can still afford a beer thanks to the many happy hours and cheap cans of PBR.
An extremely pro-dog city.
If you’re a dog lover or have a dog, this is an amazing city for you.
Every neighborhood has one or two parks in it and every one I’ve seen
has had sizeable dog-friendly areas. No matter the time of day, you will
always find people out and about with their dogs and socializing with
others with dogs. A number of bars I’ve been to have even let owners
bring their dogs in when it’s not too packed.
“Living here has been a revelation when it comes to my dog.
I’m not just talking about the fact
that there are hundreds of acres scattered in and around the city where
he can romp undeterred by a leash. I’m talking about the fact that the
people of San Francisco love their dogs. Where else in the country is
there an active dog owner Political Action Committee?”
Pro Tip: Not all landlords allow pets, so if you’re bringing a dog with you, be sure to look into it when searching for an apartment.
Divisadero is the fog line.
San Francisco is known for many things, and one of the most notable
is the fog. It’s a big contributing factor to the temperature drop I
mentioned before. The Divisadero is a street running North-South across
the city effectively cutting it in half. If you live West of the
Divisadero, you’ll see the sun a lot less than your East of the
Divisadero counterparts.
Now, this isn’t to say that the whole city doesn’t get blanketed in
fog, but if you’re on the West side, right around the time the sun has
burned off the fog in the morning, the evening fog is rolling in.
How the Fog rolls in San Francisco
Pro Tip: Don’t let the fog discourage you from
checking out the West side of the city. The Golden Gate Bridge, Ocean
Beach and Golden Gate Park are all awesome places on the West side.
Palo Alto and Mountain View are farther away than you think.
When I first moved to San Francisco, I was excited to know I had a
number of friends who lived in Palo Alto and Mountain View. I figured
I’d definitely make trips down regularly for work and pleasure. I also
figured they would come up to the city regularly. In the 9 months I’ve
been here, I can count the number of visits on 2 hands. Meanwhile, I do
see them in the city on rare occasion mainly because the center of the
Silicon Valley universe has shifted back up towards San Francisco.
The Caltrain actually is pretty reliable, and most things in Palo
Alto and Mountain View are within a reasonable distance of the stations,
but when you look at your phone and realize it’s a 90 minute to 2 hour
trip each way, it suddenly feels a lot less appealing.
Pro Tip: If you love living in an urban environment,
don’t even consider living in Palo Alto or Mountain View. There’s a
reason Google, Facebook and other Valley powerhouses have shuttles for
their employees living in SF.
The 3 things you need to know about MUNI
The MUNI is the bus system in San Francisco that most San Franciscans
have a Love-Hate relationship with. Learn these 3 tips and you’ll
avoid some of the biggest pains.
1) Google Maps is never right about what time the bus will come.
- If you need to figure out the best bus(es) to take to get to your
destination, Google Maps is great, just not for telling you when the
next bus will arrive. Use
Rover or
NextMUNI for time of the next bus arriving.
2) Half of the buses require you to step down into the steps to get the back door to open.
- Failing to do this will get the whole bus yelling at you. Avoid the rookie mistake.
3) Chinatown is a bottleneck on any route going through it
- If your bus passes through Chinatown you can be sure that the bus
will stop numerous times while passing through, usually delayed by a
horde of people either cramming on or fighting to get off. If passing
through Chinatown, add time to your trip.
Pro Tip: There are tons of great alternatives for any budget to MUNI & BART: walking, biking, cabs,
SideCar,
Lyft and
Uber.
There are tons of amazing views.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is walk to your destination. This
is because there are so many amazing views in San Francisco. I’ve lost
count of the number of times I’ve looked around while walking the city
and seen a truly breathtaking view.
You can learn where there are particularly great views in this awesome video (Corona Heights and Buena Vista are my favorites):
Of course, the views aren’t limited to the city sky line. There’s
incredible nature all in and around the city from the waves crashing on
the rocks on Ocean Beach to the sunsets on the Embarcadero to the
Presidio view of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s definitely one of the
best things about this city.
Pro Tip: Alcatraz is not just a cool destination in
and of itself, it has some incredible views of the city. Bring your
camera and hope for a clear day.
Startup Central is in SoMa
If you’re interested in startups, the center of all the activity is
SoMa, which stands for South of Market St. With all the public
transportation (MUNI, BART and CalTrain) criss-crossing Market Street
and SoMA, it makes it super convenient to get to from most areas of the
city.
Someone told me that there are over 1,000 startups in the area, and
from what I’ve seen, it would not surprise me. Everywhere you look,
there’s a sign for companies big and small. It’s not uncommon to find
out an entrepreneur you’re going to meet with is in the same building as
you.
Pro Tip: San Franciscans are a heavily caffeinated
group that takes their coffee seriously, so try them all and choose your
coffee meetings wisely.
SF is a super fit city.
First, the weather is virtually always nice enough to be active and
go outside. While the Northeast is freezing and cooped up in their homes
buried in snow, it’s sunny and in the 50s here. This makes it easy to
stay active year round and helps avoid the dreaded “winter weight” many
fight off every spring in colder climates.
Access to healthy food here is also pretty amazing. There are
great farmers markets all over the city and
with so much agriculture in California, the produce in grocery stores
is also super fresh. Restaurant menus are also generally tailored to
healthy eating as well. What surprised me most though was that even the
Walgreens has produce, so you’re always within reach of something better
than a candy bar.
Finally, with all the great weather, everyone seems to find some way
to be active whether it be rock climbing, surfing, running, sports, yoga
or the gym. Just Google your favorite activity and you’re sure to find a
group for it.
Pro Tip: Joining a league or taking a fitness class
is a great way to make friends. I made quite a few quick friends from
the soccer team I joined and the ultimate frisbee league I play in.
If you’re a foodie, welcome to heaven.
A friend told me San Francisco has so many restaurants the entire
city could eat out at the same time and be seated. From what I’ve seen,
I’d believe it.
Seriously
check Yelp.
It’s truly stunning the wide variety of food available. With so many
options, there’s little reason to eat at the same place too many times.
A few of the tasty things you’ll find in SF (via Let’s Eat SF)
Pro Tip: Great places to eat and drink are a great
conversation topic for any San Franciscan. If you want to move beyond
Yelp and Foursquare Explore, just ask a local for a recommendation.
The 3 hour time zone difference is a big deal.
Having lived on the East Coast my whole life, I got very used to how
much life revolves around the EST time zone. Sporting events, major news
(like the State of the Union) and most television is optimized for EST.
Being 3 hours behind can be difficult.
Being a big sports fan, this was a big adjustment. The first time I
realized a Celtics playoff game was starting at 4pm was a sad day as
there was no way I could watch the game until at least half time because
of work. Meanwhile, NFL Sundays will never be the same as 10am kickoffs
is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. For those of you
playing Fantasy Football, you may find yourself setting an alarm to make
sure you’re awake in time to check injuries and set your lineup before
the 1pm EST games.
Most importantly though, is the adjustment with family if they live
in another time zone. I used to call my parents at least once or twice a
week, especially to talk to my father if I needed business or life
advice in a pinch. Unfortunately that’s a lot harder when you realize
that if you wake up at 7am, it’s already mid-morning for them.
Meanwhile, after work, if it’s 7pm here, it’s already 10pm and my
parents are getting ready for bed. Bummer.
Pro Tip: Build a routine around connecting with
anyone you want to keep in touch with on the East Coast. It will help
fill in for all those moments you’re about to call someone and you
realize the timing won’t work.
Watching sports matters a lot less.
With such great weather, so much to always do and the time zones
throwing off game start times anyways, it’s little surprise that sports
aren’t the center of conversation like they are in much of the
Northeast. In Boston, even women that hate sports have to pretend and
wear pink Boston gear and watch the games. That definitely doesn’t
happen here.
Pro Tip: If you’re used to bumming around inside on
Sundays watching football, expect for that routine to change to brunch
(a SF favorite activity) or any number of outdoor activities.
Everything is taken to the extreme.
San Francisco is a city with something for everyone. The interesting
thing I found is how that is taken to the extreme. Whether you’re a
hipster who will ride your fixie with your year-round (not just
Movember) mustache or a bro in the Marina hulking on creatine, it seems
everyone in a group tries to take it to the furthest point. In the most
extreme case…look up the Folsom Street Fair (NSFW warning: graphic /
sex-related).
In my daily life this has led to me noticing polarity like:
- In fashion, either
you’re super dressed up or you try very hard to look like you’re not
trying at all in your skinny jeans, sandals and a t-shirt you wear every
day.
- Either you wear a jersey of your favorite team and go to the team bar to watch and talk about the game, or it doesn’t matter.
- If you have a startup, your pitch probably includes how you’re going
to not just build a cool business, but change the world in a massive
way.
Pro Tip: Use
this to your advantage and take one of your interests to a deeper level
when you get there. You’ll likely meet others with the same interest
who can teach you new things and be a friend.
You’ll turn into an early adopter even if you weren’t one before.
As a city, San Francisco is at the forefront of a lot of innovation.
Even our trash program is progressive as it tries to set us on a path
for
zero waste by 2020. More specifically in your day to day though is all the new products gaining new adoption and hype every day here.
A common topic of conversation whether at work, at a bar or just out
and about is always the latest the apps people are using. You’ll try
them out and have an opinion or be left in the dust. All this adoption
has an added benefit of meaning that San Franciscans often gets the
first look at apps other cities can’t even use yet (exp: Sosh, Lyft,
SideCar, etc).
Your iPhone screen may start looking like this after a few months:
Pro Tip: Try a couple
new apps every week and if you’re looking to spark conversation, ask
someone if they’ve tried any great apps lately.
All the best tech startups are at their best here.
With all this great early adoption, it’s not that surprising that most of these startups are at their best here.
The most impressive to me is definitely Yelp. It’s amazing in SF. I
always use it and hear tips constantly after never using it in Boston.
It seems like every store and restaurant has hundreds of reviews and
there are a crazy number of
Yelp Elites.
Pro Tip: If you tried apps like Foursquare and Yelp in other places and weren’t impressed, they’re worth another shot here.
Working in tech is the norm, not the exception.
Coming from Boston, startups feel almost like a secret society that flies under the radar; most of the city has no idea the
hundreds of early stage startups
there nor realize giants like Constant Contact, Kayak, and VistaPrint
are all Boston companies. Meanwhile, here, no matter what you’re doing,
those you meet will almost always be in finance or startups.
Like in Hollywood a few hours South, if you’re trying to “make it”
(in our case, in startups, not writing/acting/directing), this is the
place to be. There’s a 98% chance the person next to you in the coffee
shop with the laptop open is working on their own startup or someone
else’s.
Pro Tip: If you listen carefully to the
conversations around you at the coffee shops here, you’ll hear tech
gossip without even having to read TechCrunch.
A common sight at San Francisco coffee shops
People love novelty and new experiences.
This was actually one of the most surprising adjustments I had to
make in common to San Francisco. In Boston, people are all about
routine; you go to your favorite bar or restaurant with a certain group
of friends like clockwork. If you find something you like, it quickly
becomes the old standby and everyone is excited to recreate that
experience.
In SF, it’s all about trying new things. Just because the last place
you went was awesome doesn’t mean you’d like to go back.
Instead,everyone looks for unique things to do and the fastest way to
make friends is to suggest something unique & awesome to check out.
Pro Tip: With great weather pretty much year round,
you can safely assume every weekend you’ll be able to get out of your
apartment and experience something new. Cabin fever is a foreign concept
in San Francisco.
Tons of awesome lies just beyond SF’s borders.
It’s easy to get lost in exploring San Francisco, but what really
makes the city great is what lies just beyond. No matter what you love
doing or your favorite climate, there’s great places to visit within a
few hours drive of San Francisco. You can snowboard or gamble in Tahoe,
taste wines in Napa, rock climb or hike in national parks, mountain
bike in Marin, or sail the bay.
Pro Tip: Oakland gets a bad rap, but there’s tons of great concerts and other events there worth checking out.
Come with an explorer’s attitude.
San Francisco is a city for new adventures and boundless
opportunities. There’s great websites, apps and friendly locals who can
help you take advantage of all there is to offer. With all the
personality of the city and each individual neighborhood, there’s new
things to discover and appreciate every where you go.
source: http://jasonevanish.com/2013/01/17/25-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-moving-to-san-francisco/