25 eh? I envy you. You're frontal lobes have just come online. You can finally make good long term decisions.

Sadly the time to move to the SF bay was in the early 1990's. So, don't chase someone else's dreams.

Your goals can be met easily by going to university. Actually, best met. Go. You're not done learning, you've only just begin. Don't feel weird that you'll be 5-7 years older than everyone else. Just be cool. Keep your head down, filter your friends fiercely. Don't be a creep or a douche, haha. Then graduate with a degree and a wife and a bevy of friends.

Don't want to go to university? Making friends is going to be 1000x harder. No joke.