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Kappuru
forum bishonen
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:45 am Post subject: Who lives in SF Bay Area? |
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I'm thinking of moving there. Trying to decide between, LA, Portland/Seattle, or SF.
Thoughts on public transportation.. do I need to own a car? Is making 40k/yr enough to live on, or I should say, enough to live on well?
Do you like the atmosphere of the city itself?
The number one thing I'm worried about is finding an apartment that's not a total:
a) schlep
b) shithole
c) obscenely priced studio
If you live in LA, feel free to chime in about it too, but I think I have a decent handle on that city. I have a lot of friends there but I feel like driving and traffic would make me go insane.
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Pat the Great
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:18 pm |
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I live in Oakland, grew up in SF.
I don't know if you need a car. I don't. But, I've been taking the bus my whole life, pretty much. If you don't mind waiting for the bus every now and then, it'll take you wherever you need to go.
Apartment hunting is a bitch. Right now I think the Mission and Sunset districts are probably the cheaper in-city areas to live in.
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Ebrey
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:54 pm |
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I've spent a lot of time in all these places.
SF:
Pros: It's gorgeous, has good public transportation, good food, and there's plenty of leather daddies
Cons: It's expensive, and there's plenty of leather daddies
Seattle:
Pros: It's got beautiful summers, friendly people, a good bus system, and is cheap to live in.
Cons: There's not much good food (too many white people). And the weather might make you blow your brains out
LA: Pros: Best food in the US, lots of culture, and great architecture.
Cons: The traffic might make you blow your brains out. |
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Kappuru
forum bishonen
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:20 pm |
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Ebrey, where do you live now?
Is the bus okay, or full of crazy people?
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Ebrey
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:06 pm |
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| Kappuru wrote: |
Ebrey, where do you live now?
Is the bus okay, or full of crazy people? |
Crazy people are the best part of the bus! Also it's much easier and more fun to go to downtown Seattle on the bus than by car, since you don't have to find parking.
I live in LA now, but I lived in Seattle for 10 years. |
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scratchmonkey
Final Finasty
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: Who lives in SF Bay Area? |
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| Kappuru wrote: |
| Thoughts on public transportation.. do I need to own a car? |
If you're living in the actual City, you probably won't want/need a car at all. If you live outside of SF, it can be very handy depending on how close you live to the major lines of public transportation.
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| Is making 40k/yr enough to live on, or I should say, enough to live on well? |
Enough to live on, definitely not enough to live on well. Keep in mind that the Bay Area has the highest median income in the nation at $65K, so many things are going to be expensive. As an example, gas is cheap at 3.77 a gallon and people I know who have moved here are always complaining about how food is more expensive (and we're talking groceries here, going to a deli, it's pretty normal to see $7 sandwiches, etc.).
(Although this is only true for certain areas. If you live in a "reasonable" part of Oakland and eat Vietnamese sandwiches and shop in Chinatown, you can get by on the cheap pretty easily.)
| Quote: |
| Do you like the atmosphere of the city itself? |
Sure. It's usually described as the "most European" of large American cities, whatever that means. It's bustling and filthy and full of artist-types.
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The number one thing I'm worried about is finding an apartment that's not a total:
a) schlep
b) shithole
c) obscenely priced studio |
Finding one of these is going to be pretty difficult. In terms of living in the City itself, you're probably going to have to choose between shithole, high prices or living out in the Sunset or the like (and even then it's going to be pretty spendy). There are some deals to be had; they're pretty rare though and understandably tend to be snapped up quickly by those in the know.
I dunno what you feel to be a "schlep" though. There is a subway/train system called BART that runs through the Bay Area and if you lived in say, Oakland, where rents are generally more reasonable, and commuted to SF, you'd be looking at what I'd guesstimate as a 30-50 minute commute each way, depending on how close you lived to the station and how far away your work was. Driving, it really depends on where you're going. My wife often has a commute of up to an hour-and-a-half each way, whereas my commute is rarely longer than 30 minutes each way because it's a "reverse commute".
Last edited by scratchmonkey on Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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manmachine plays jazz
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:37 pm |
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bay area pros: daphaknee & cossix
bay area cons: $$$$$ |
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Kappuru
forum bishonen
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:46 pm |
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| manmachine plays jazz wrote: |
bay area pros: daphaknee & cossix
bay area cons: $$$$$ |
I'm not sure she and I would get along very well. But I welcome her input in this thread!
40k seems like a pretty decent wage to me, sad to know that it's not that great out there. Though I may be making 50ish (standard of living pay bump).
I think i'd be fine with a 30-40 minute commute on a train. Not on a bus. For some reason, I just really hate busses, no matter the city. Maybe DC ruined me for this, the Metrobus is kinda crappy.
I suppose I could always get a roommate, freeing up several hundred dollars per month for leisure activities.
Ebrey, where do you live in LA? What do you think of Echo Park for accomodations... assuming my job is in Century City?
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scratchmonkey
Final Finasty
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:51 pm |
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| It depends on what you mean by "living well". I pretty much make exactly that and I get by okay. I have enough money for small amounts of luxuries and to put away some savings as well. Then again, I also share expenses and live in a bedroom community that's 16 miles away from SF itself. |
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CubaLibre
the road lawyer
Joined: 02 Mar 2007
Location: Balmer
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Ebrey
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:50 pm |
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| Kappuru wrote: |
| Ebrey, where do you live in LA? What do you think of Echo Park for accomodations... assuming my job is in Century City? |
I live in West LA which has nice weather but is kind of boring. Echo Park is near downtown, Silverlake, and Hollywood so there'll be plenty to do. It used to have a lot of gangs but not so much anymore. And there's lots of great shows at the Echoplex. You won't be that far from Century City, but East -> West commutes always have traffic. |
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google
Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Location: Vancouver, BC
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:04 pm |
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| Ebrey wrote: |
Seattle:
Cons: There's not much good food (too many white people). And the weather might make you blow your brains out
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I'm sorry...exactly what parts of Seattle were you spending time in?
Whitey Whites McWhiteville?
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Daphaknee
a whole shitload of class
Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Location: nickel dime
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:36 pm |
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| google wrote: |
| Ebrey wrote: |
Seattle:
Cons: There's not much good food (too many white people). And the weather might make you blow your brains out
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I'm sorry...exactly what parts of Seattle were you spending time in?
Whitey Whites McWhiteville? |
his parents house
i dont have much to say that people havent said already
dont you live in tokyo right now? san francisco wont seem that expensive for you if you're used to tokyo prices
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Cossix
submersible administrator
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Location: San Jose
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:40 pm |
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| LA sucks. It's got the worst traffic and the worst people. At least when New Yorkers are assholes it's kind of charming. |
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