I liked the Inner Sunset District and Haight-Ashbury around Carl & Cole when I lived there (long ago)…. There is Golden Gate Park nearby, good transportation (N-Judah downtown).
The area around UCSF Medical Center has a lot of people constantly moving in and out for school (medical rotations etc) and there used to be a bulletin board of rooms and roommates available in the main building there… This is a good way to find a first place until you learn the City and plan your next move…
The Sunset is a bit foggy, but not too bad and offset by having Golden Gate Park and the ocean at your doorstep… If you have a car it is also convenient to Marin and the Peninsula from there…
You really can’t go wrong in any neighborhood though. SF is an amazing place…Good luck to your son!!
I love San Francisco. It is such a beautiful place. It is one of the few places I could definitely envision myself moving to–if the taxes and housing costs weren’t so high, and if we wanted to leave. I keep dreaming about getting a work trip there again. Renting a bike and traveling through the Presidio, Sausalito and Tiburon. So pretty. Instead, I seem to keep ending up in Newark.
Outer Richmond has lower rentals albeit a foggy microclimate in the am. It is on the beach with great hiking and bike trails. Not especially geard toward a 24 yr old. There are express bus lines to the financial district.
Not much progress yet. My son is heading out to SF tomorrow for about a week to try to find a place to live. He sent out a bunch of inquiries over the weekend to Craigslist postings and as of last night, he hadn’t heard back from ANY of them. So frustrating! Hopefully being in town will help.
Which neighborhood? None of them-- they’re all way too expensive!! He’ll end up moving to the East Bay like my brother and everyone else I know lol. But seriously— good luck to your S. An amazing place, but living there is not for the faint of heart.
blackeyedsusan, as of ten minutes ago, my son also has the same problem as yours! He just accepted a tech job in Hayes Valley, and they want him there immediately. The best he offered was to start in two weeks, but he has to move from NYC and find a place to live. He is thinking about staying somewhere temporarily, on a month to month basis, before he finds something permanently. I’m trying to help, and I wish I knew the place better. He probably has a budget similar to your sons, so I will be following this thread with interest! Now I’m off to search for temporary, furnished rentals.
Congrats on the new jobs!!! Maybe they should try an airbnb first to have a place to stay for several weeks, and get a lay of the land. It takes time to find housing and get through the approval process in SF>
Thanks, jym! As you know—it was stressful for us, but worth the wait. He got a better job than I ever expected, what a relief. So I was just searching online, and he texted me that he’d already found a place. The price is right, $200/week, but it is a hacker house with a shared bedroom. I guess he feels comfortable about sharing with tech types, and it should be temporary. His place of employment recommended it. Just like living in the frat, I guess. Maybe your son would consider that temporarily, blackeyedsusan, until he really can find a place he likes?
Congrats, busdriver! Yes, that’s my son’s Plan B – to get some temporary housing before finding something more permanent. He’s hoping to only move once, though.
My niece was able to get a rental near UCSF med center and has hung onto it. She was lucky as it’s under rent control, which has really helped her keep her housing costs down.
It would be nice to get a rent controlled house, but that seems pretty difficult. No doubt people stay there forever.
Certainly would be good to only have to move once, but unless you know someone in SF, could be difficult starting from scratch. Good luck to your son, blackeyedsusan!