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Comment by dilap | Hacker News Reader

i feel this. (in SF.) i think it's extra bad here in SF because most people have really small apts, so not great for getting a group together at a house. end up in kinda-shitty over-priced bars. meh.

(there's probably cooler places/things going on and i just haven't discovered them. maybe?)

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It took me nearly a year to crack into the SF nightlife scene. There are a staggering amount of events going on in the city and Oakland, you just have to meet the right people. Unfortunately, you won’t find these people at expensive bars.

Hanging around dance places and being proactively social (or a dance maniac) is a good start (Public Works, 1015 Folsom, Nocturnal Codes, etc). Eventually you’ll be invited to the most exclusive beach fires, kikis, kickbacks, etc.

Whatever you do don’t just stand in the corner expecting things to happen.

or just look for BurningMan parties or meetups.

There are a few niche venues, but overall yeah I agree with your assessment. One compounding factor is that public transportation in SF has terrible coverage, stops early, and just kind of sucks all around. In Tokyo or Paris, spending the night with a friend who lives a few kilometers away is not a problem. In SF, if you live in the mission and your friend is in the sunset, you’re probably not going to hang out together that often.

There’s Lyft/Uber, but they’re a bit pricey, and you’re just contributing to a slimy system and not doing anything to help public transit.

It depends on the person not the neighborhood.

Uber/Lyft is not a luxury in SF, you can get most places for under $15, not to mention you can split the cost with others when you travel.

Transit is horrible but if you live by BART, it’s 1,000,000% better. Train to where you’re going and Uber back home for $10.

$15 is expensive! I can cover a 40 mile stretch of land in Tokyo using public transit for about $5. And I'll be supporting a transit company that serves the entire community, instead of an SF startup that is abusing contract workers.

I live right next to BART in the mission, and that doesn't help me when I want to hang out with my friends in the sunset. Even if I'm just going to go to a nearby neighborhood, say the Castro or Hayes Valley, it's just faster to walk than think about taking public transit. I love walking so I don't really mind all that much, but for a major world city, that's kind of ridiculous.

Go to Urban Putt.

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