Hey everyone, I recently landed an associate role in SF working in FiDi. I'll be making $150k base + 30% target bonus. I'll be relocating to SF (not new to CA though) and need some help both budgeting for an apartment and also finding one that fits that budget and my lifestyle.
I'm hoping to live off of my base alone as well as save just about 10% of my take home. Doing the math on that, I'll be able to save a couple hundred a month and have about $7,500/month remaining of take home. My current spending excluding rent, monthly parking, and utilities is about $3,500/month in a lower COL city, and I expect major inflation if moving to SF. But I know I can cut back on spending so I'm comfortable assuming I'll continue spending that amount. That would leave me with about $3,500 to spend on rent (+ utilities or any fees like trash valet, parking, etc.).
As far as my lifestyle preferences go: - Single, early 30's male hoping to settle down but feel like I have a year or two left in me to party along the way; active with hobbies; work in real estate
Modern builds preferred (love a concrete/industrial loft-style); clean, not moldy, not dated is super important
Walkable to local establishments like coffee shops, lowkey bars
I don't care much for apartment amenities (and would rather not pay for them)
Good natural lighting
Immediate streets are relatively safe; ideally whole neighborhood is clean and walkable (enough)
View doesn't really matter to me: High-rise vs garden style are both okay as long as the natural lighting is there
Parking available (either safe street parking or secured parking); [P.S. do you SF'ers own cars here? I saw $550/month quoted for parking...]
BONUS: Walkable (10-15 min) to FiDi; walkable to night life
So with $3,500 to spend on all things housing, along with my lifestyle preferences, can y'all point me in the right direction? Locations, specific buildings, anecdotal stories or experiences - all are welcome! I move in 3 weeks!!!
North Beach, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Marina; Inner Sunset/Richmond (can take the N-Judah to downtown) for when you're ready to settle down.
How does Telegraph Hill or SoMa compare to those?
Not as familiar with Telegraph Hill, but it's right by North Beach, so should be solid. SoMa is too seedy for my taste, would not recommend.
Early 30’s or even late 20’s. Check out Japantown / lower Pac Heights. Nice vibe and still easy to get to FiDi and the occasional party place. In between high density SF and the western suburbs.
I’ll add:
Inner Sunset (N Judah Muni, parking is tough to find, restaurants and easy access to Golden Gate Park)
I still think Lower Pac Heights/Japantown is the best place for a newbie 30 ish year old. Restaurant, bars, convenience as a central neighborhood), in the mid range for rents, it is possible to sometimes walk home from FiDi or the Marina. Clean and safe area.
I lived in Avalon Mission Bay and Modera Rincon Hill. Both were more modern apartments with garages. Other similar buildings around there too.
Nice, Modera Rincon Hill seems super cool and actually looks pretty affordable, albeit small.
Any gripes with your time there, or at Avalon? What's the neighborhood like?
Avalon Mission Bay was right near a Safeway and the Giant's stadium which was nice. Also the CalTrain station so I went down to San Mateo a lot. Some decent cocktails bars around there and some restaurants but wasn't super lively.
Modera Rincon Hill was also not in a really lively area but was walking distance from Woodlands Market and Equinox Beale Street and the Embarcadero.
Decent modern buildings but lacked the real San Francisco vibe.
I had a friend who lived at the modera and he was always complaining about the noise / traffic outside. It's right at the entrance to the bay bridge. There's also like nothing around there other than offices.
I'd echo the first comment. North Beach and Nob Hill in particular if you want to have easy access to your office. Becomes a bit of a pain to get downtown from Marina / Pac Heights unless you Uber every day or something even if it's not far distance wise. Doable on public transit but takes you 35 mins+ door-to-door realistically. Not many new buildings in any of these areas though.
Rincon Hill is a pretty dead area, but at least it's clean. The other area where newer buildings are (Van Ness / Civic Center) is a mess outdoors, so avoid that.
$550 a month for parking sounds high. I pay $375 for a garage spot in a large apartment building in Pac Heights. My old (and less nice) apartment was only charging me $275.
I would honestly consider street parking depending on what kind of car you have. I used to street park before getting my current car and never had any issues aside from tickets that were my fault. A street parking permit that allows you to park past the allocated maximum time in your neighborhood is only a couple hundred bucks a year if I remember correctly.
Thanks for the insight here! I have been leaning towards Rincon Hill/South Beach/Mission Bay mostly because of the new builds and proximity to FiDi. But hearing it's like a ghost town has turned me off a little (at least for now).
North Beach/Telegraph Hill sound like much livelier options with similar proximity to work so I'm definitely looking into those. Nob Hill too.
Couple questions if you don't mind:
- Anything against Russian Hill since you didn't mention it?
- How far south into Nob Hill would you search before it starts to get into the rougher parts of Tenderloin?
- As someone else pointed out above, NIMBYism in the areas you mentioned seem to make it hard to find any product at all, let alone anything more modern. To overcome this, is it just continuing to search until something comes up?
- Might be a dumb question but thoughts on Treasure Island apartments? Specifically Isle House looks pretty cool and apparently it's only an 8 min ferry? I assume that's not consistent time and the transportation/disconnectedness from SF makes it a hassle to live there?
- Thoughts on Dogpatch (and maybe Potrero Hill)?
Yeah fwiw the majority of people I've know who at one point lived down there or near Civic Center have since moved back out to the Marina / North Beach. We're all mid 20s though, so that may be a factor.
Russian Hill is nice too, just slightly farther than most of North Beach / Nob Hill. If you're near Columbus (ave) it's probably not too bad of a walk but the hills do honestly get more annoying than you'd think. The northernmost part of Russian Hill is basically at Fisherman's Wharf which I did not particularly enjoy living by during my first year in the city.
I think Nob Hill technically ends at Pine and I personally wouldn't go farther south than that, but I've never actually lived there.
Unfortunately it's not a great market for renters right now. Prices are relatively high and there's not much availability across the city. I think your best bet for getting something newer feeling in North Beach / Nob Hill will be finding something recently renovated. There's essentially nothing newly constructed in the last 20+ years. I just moved within Pac Heights after looking on and off for basically a year because there were only a couple buildings that fit my criteria since no tall buildings have been built here in 40 years.
I wouldn't consider treasure island. I've occasionally driven around there on the weekend when I'm bored and I've never seen more than a couple people out and about. That and the neighborhood / housing on the rest of the island is definitely not what you're looking for.
Dogpatch / Potrero Hill may depend on what kind of person you are. To me those are way out there and I've only passed through those areas a couple times in nearly four years. But if you are someone who would like spending time in the Mission rather than the Marina then maybe it could make sense. It's not going to feel as nice as a Nob Hill / Marina though.
Hi! Russian Hill is slightly to the left of Fidi, which means extra walk and potentially walking through rougher patches of Tenderloin. If you live in North Beach walking to Fidi is a breeze - a lot of my friends do this they like to bike to work and walk back.
The sketch starts on 6th street (Taylor) and below Geary - I personally walk through the area lots of good and cheap food its just hella dirty not very scary during the daylight.
Dogpatch is amazing in that it's always sunny and great for running and biking, but its more for families not a single young male.
Absolutely do NOT move near FiDi. SF doom gets way overblown in the media. But, downtown is a hellscape. I can’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to live downtown just so they can “walk 10-15 mins” to work (not to mention, they would pass multiple multiple homeless camps….).
SF is a stunning IF AND ONLY IF you live in a neighborhood you love. And most of those would be: marina, Russian hill, lower haight, inner Richmond, Hayes Valley, some part of the mission.
Do not live in mission bay, dog patch etc. those places have no character. Ditch the idea that you need a “nice” building. You say you don’t care about amenities but then say you want a nice building (what?). You can find a great studio for around $3k, a solid true 1BR for $3.5-3.6 in all the neighborhoods I listed. You can also go cheaper if willing to live a little further out (personally, I think the inner sunset is amazing, and super easy to get downtown via the N Judah line).
You’ll love SF if you move to the right neighborhood. So please please please do not go near Fidi to live.
Oh and how could I forget. Pac heights is incredible too.
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