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Comment by wunderland | Hacker News Reader

What should someone do if they're moving to SF and want to live in SOMA or nearby neighborhoods? Does anyone have any recommendations? It seems like there aren't that many choices for buildings, and a lot of them aren't that new. All of the reviews I have read (for almost all of the buildings) sound mediocre or negative.

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Get roommates, get ready to pay, and don't expect much.

There are some great old houses in South of Market, but turnover is rare, and they're all expensive. There are some great/awful new live/work buildings there too, but most of them are condos and all of them are expensive.

Affordability comes in Outer Mission, Excelsior, Outer Richmond, Outer Sunset. Occasionally Potrero Hill toward Cesar Chavez. "Affordability" is relative of course, but if you're finding yourself priced out of the places that everyone talks about and look nice on the map, check prices in the places I listed.

Also, remember that East Bay near BART is closer to South of Market than most of San Francisco city is, time-wise.

Any figures? I live in Dublin, Ireland, and pay €500 ($624) per month for a room in a two bed apartment in the centre of the city. That's cheap for the area -- I live within walking distance of all the bars.

You can't get a room share in most of SF for under $700, for SOMA and the Mission you'll be lucky at $850. A studio you might be able to get for $1200-$1500, 1BR $1400-1800, 2BR $2000-$$$$$.

This is assuming you don't want to live in Bayview.

I think you need to add about 50% to all those prices.

I used to rent an entire 3BR house for $700/mo, albeit in one of the more depressed markets in the US. Thinking about moving to SF makes me more than a little queasy.

Studio in the in non-sketchy, easy transit, city proper is going to be 1900, 1bd 2000-3000 range easy, 2 bedrooms can quickly get near 4000.

Your data seems stale. We moved in 9 months ago, when a studio in the Tenderloin was $1450. We have a "jr" 1 bedroom in Alamo Square for $1900.

Good estimates for SOMA pricing:

  Studio: $2000-$2700
  1BR: $2500-$3200
  2BR: $3100-4000

Also, remember that East Bay near BART is closer to South of Market than most of San Francisco city is, time-wise

Depends what part of the East Bay, of course. West Oakland is the closest BART station, but it is in some serious ghetto. Lake Merritt, Berkeley (esp North Berkeley) and Rockridge are your first good options, but they'll take a little longer to get to. My advice would be definitely to check out Rockridge, it's a surprisingly nice part of town.

Yep. Sketchiness is proportional to affordability.

Actually the Dogpatch area has come a long way in the last decade or so. Not much of a secret any more, and low turnover, but still relatively cheap, easy access to South of Market (or 101), and nicer than many other options. Low walkability, but easy parking...

Realize you are going to get what you pay for if you want to live in SOMA. Realize that most buildings aren't new in SF in general, especially the more affordable ones. Then decide if you can't pay that much, whether or not you can stomach living in the tenderloin. Next up, you decide what other neighborhoods might be a good alternative, probably the Richmonds or the Sunsets, or maybe outer mission.

And unless you have 3+ months to look for a place every day, don't expect:

1. A bargain 2. That you will get picked for said bargain

Avalon is brand new and freaking expensive. It depends on your comfort level. For me $3K odd for a 1 bedroom apartment was deeply discomforting. If you are open to living a little far away, take a look at the Castro, Noe Valley, Haight-Ashbury. All these neighborhoods are on Muni train lines which will make traveling to SoMa suck less (it won't be awesome but it will be ok).

It is also riddled with problems: management went to the pits from mid 2010; the construction quality is terrible (particularly in the new third phase); if you value a decent night's sleep, you're screwed (Caltrain and Berry St garbage trucks)

Moving into an older, but more sturdy unit is the most sensible thing we have ever decided to do.

Forget it, unless you have friends or money. The building quality is generally terrible and the economics are dreadful. My wife and I bought in North Oakland, not far from Berkeley. It's not perfect, but it's a lot nicer than the Mission was when I first moved to SF. We spent over 2 years looking for a place, partly because my wife grew up in SF and was reluctant to move outside the city. Now we have space and she gets downtown in half the time on the days when she goes to her office, plus we have a large garden and a kitchen we can both fit into at once. The economics are a bit different if you're renting, but not that different. Sorry to say it because I lived in SF for 15 years, but I gave up on the city a couple of years ago and haven't missed living there since we moved last spring.

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