Best neighborhoods in SF to live in as a first year analyst?

I'm getting started as a first year analyst in SF this coming summer. I'm from California, however it's my first time living in the city. The mission and Marina look nice, but any ideas regarding specific neighborhoods, buildings, etc, that would be worth looking at? Russian/Nob Hill seem very expensive and also a more boring/older crowd. I'll be working around the FiDi.

Do you think a roommate is a must if I want decent quality of living for around $2k/month? Maybe living with some tech people would be the move, I have friends from Cal that I could room with.

27 Comments
 

Your best options are the marina, north beach, the mission (west of mission st. is cleaner / safer), and hayes valley if you're interested in living in fun / young areas. Among those, picking the right neighborhood is probably dependent on what you value and what kind of vibe you are looking for. The marina is where you'll get the most classic yuppie experience

 

I lived in the Marina and it was great aside from the long commute to downtown. Those GG transit buses are packed. Took me about 45 min door to door.

If you can find a firm with an office on the presidio, living in the marina or cow hollow would be one of the best lifestyles possible in SF. Most of the shitty aspects of the city are concentrated in the downtown / civic center area.

Personally SF wasn’t for me, but that part of the city is beautiful. I lived next to the palace of fine arts and could walk around the presidio all the time. You’re close to the water and it’s fairly quiet. The marina green always has a ton of dogs and young people picnicking, playing sports, running etc. Very yuppie with lots of tech and finance people.

 

New York City and it’s better in almost every way. I only miss certain parks and restaurants. The nature situation is just different. I like Central Park a lot, but GG park and the hikes north / south of SF are great too. New York has more finance opportunities, though, and it’s not even close.

Another thing is SF is far more permissive of antisocial criminal behavior. If the incompetent and hyper liberal SF leadership actually got serious on crime it could drastically improve quality of life. NYC isn’t perfect but the cops genuinely give a shit about crime. We don’t need stop and frisk everywhere but I think some firm and fair enforcement keeps things real.

 

Why did you take the GG buses and not the 30X or 41? Would be way faster and less crowded. Also pro tip, go upstream a stop or two if you can to get an emptier bus.

It is what it is.
 

Haven’t done the commute in a while but I recall the 30 never made any sense because it stopped too frequently. I did regularly use the 30 to get around when not in a rush or going other places. It was right by my apartment so I would have used it if it went straight to FiDi.

Agreed, I fortunately was able to get on at Richardson and Francisco street before it would fill up. The stop after that always packed the bus.

 
Most Helpful

Have lived in SF for the past few years in the same apartment in a neighborhood called Dogpatch. Would definitely recommend this neighborhood for the following reasons:

  • Has transformed into a pretty vibrant area with a number of great restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and parks (Just for You Cafe, Bandit, Long Bridge Pizza, Piccino, Marcella's, Blue Bottle, Philz, Ungrafted, Third Rail, Restoration Hardware, Crane Cove Park to name a few)
  • Further massive new developments from Brookfield Properties are in progress right now at Pier 70 (right in the heart of Dogpatch) and will comprise 9 acres of waterfront parks, 1,000 - 2,000 new apartment units, 1-2M square feet of new office space, 115K square feet of retail
  • Most of the apartment units are on the newer side loft style as the neighborhood doesn't have a ton of the older Victorian style or Edwardian style multi-family houses that you typically associate with SF
  • Very close to the Chase Center and Oracle so convenient to catch Warriors and Giants games, although the flip side of this is that the area can get busy on game days with alot of cars / foot traffic. No safety / crime concerns from this however as there is always a very large police presence in the area during games
  • Very minimal homeless presence given the nearby UCSF Hospital and graduate campus as their campus police + SFPD patrol the area pretty rigorously
  • I work in FiDi as well and its pretty easy to get there in the mornings for work with the 15 Express Bus line running straight from Dogpatch to FiDi as well as the T Third Street Muni line (above ground train) although you'll have to transfer once for the Muni since they recently changed the route so that it now runs to Union Square / Chinatown instead. Ubers / driving will take about 10-15 minutes from Dogpatch to FiDi and will run about $12-$15 when I usually call them at around 7:30AM.  
  • Very close access to the 101 and 280 highways which makes driving to Daly City or anywhere south (SFO, the Peninsula, South Bay, San Jose, etc.) very easy. If you're driving out of SF alot, Dogpatch is definitely the best neighborhood to live in within all of SF because you're so close to the highways. 
  • edit: Forgot to mention rental prices in my original response so would add that the one downside of the Dogpatch is that as a result of all the great perks / benefits of the area as I listed above, rental prices will be higher than most other parts of the city. To live in a premium area you gotta pay a premium price, but I think its well worth paying for this neighborhood knowing you have the peace of mind that there aren't going to be homeless camping on your block or your car getting broken into. Would highly recommend living with roommates, especially as a 1st year analyst, for the cost savings since 2 / 3 bedroom apartments are much more affordable in the Dogpatch than studios or 1 bedrooms. Plus makes the 1st year analyst grind much more tolerable if you have roommates who you vibe with and can relieve stress with by getting hammered together on the weekends lol.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have about Dogpatch or SF.

 

Would you recommend Mission Bay if you need to take Caltrain down to the Bay or work in FiDi? I know it's upper north to Dogpatch but not sure if it's drastically different. Thanks!

 

If you need to Caltrain down to the Peninsula / South Bay for work then either Mission Bay or Dogpatch works well. There is a Caltrain station in both neighborhoods, 4th and King Street Station for Mission Bay and 22nd Street Station for Dogpatch.

Mission Bay is closer to FiDi so definitely a bit easier to get to FiDi than living in Dogpatch, but not by much. Just as a heads up, there are definitely more homeless in Mission Bay than Dogpatch (especially at the 4th and King Street Caltrain station) even though the two neighborhoods are right next to each other.

The pros of Mission Bay are:

  • Buildings are even newer than those typically found in the Dogpatch with better amenities (e.g., gym, pool, etc.)
  • Better / more convenient grocery with Gus' Community Market
  • Generally more commercial / retail locations than Dogpatch (e.g., bank ATMs, UPS store, dog daycare, etc.) but less options for food / drink than Dogpatch

You can't go wrong with either neighborhood in my opinion but I just prefer the Dogpatch for the reasons I listed in my previous comment.

 

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