Thinking of moving to San Francisco

Hi folks,

I%26#39;m currently living in Scottsdale, Arizona and need a big change. My wife and I have lived here for a year and have realized this is not the city for us.

We are both very liberal (not really a great thing to be in Arizona). We%26#39;re easy going. Both 25. I grew up in Europe... We have little holding us down and feel now would be a good time to make a move.

I used to visit SF frequently as a teenager and remember loving it. I%26#39;ve moved around a lot though, and have come to understand how different living in a place can be compared to visiting it. I%26#39;m looking to make a good/educated decision here!

All I really know about SF%26#39;s cons are that it%26#39;s very expensive. Could you guys give me your input?

What%26#39;s life like?

Are you happy living there? (for people that have actually lived in numerous places)

Weather?

Safety?

People?

Etc...

Thanks a lot for your time. Looking forward to hearing some responses :)

Thinking of moving to San Francisco

San Francisco tried to ban guns...Moving from Arizona, that will be a big change. Don%26#39;t even try to get a CCW here; it%26#39;s pretty much impossible.

Weather is typically mild. Average temperature year round is about 60 F. The summers might drop to the 40s and it might get into the high 70s during the summer. When it gets to 80, that%26#39;s considered hot here. It also depends on which part of the city you go to. The western portion is perpetually cooler and covered in fog while the eastern portion is warmer and sunnier. Temperature can fluctuate from 50 to 70 going from one part to another.

Safety depends on where you go. Some parts are better than others.

Thinking of moving to San Francisco

At your age you should give it a try. My two sons moved up there from LA after college because that is where the new jobs took them. They stayed there for 3 years and loved it, then just got tired of the parking problems, having to move your car from one side of the street to the next all the time, the expense (you definitely need two incomes for the cost of the rent). SF is an exciting city, lots of bars and restaurants, plenty of culture and sports.

Climate is a little colder and wetter than SoCal but people don%26#39;t mind it. One son moved back up later, but again, had to share a flat with roommates if you want to live right in the city. Rentals can be hard to get, you%26#39;ll see an advertisement in the paper, phone about it, and it%26#39;s gone.

Good luck in your endeavors.

Since this is a travel forum, the best thing I would say is do take a 3 or 4 day trip to San Francisco and see it for yourself. The weather is delightful...(at least most of us like it.). Its moderate - usually warm days and cool nights. We certainly don%26#39;t get the hot summer temps of Arizona.

The area is great if you like outdoors, restaurants, wine (Sonoma, Napa), theater, music, and festivals. There is always some festival going on each and every week-end.

If you tend to be Republican, one does not mention it since its generally considered a negative in public life and in work life. As such, tolerance at sometimes is difficult as everyone thinks everyone in the world thinks like them. As such, diversity of thought can sometimes be a problem in the area.

The San Francisco area - alhtough of couse there is San Francisco, people tend to live outside the city due to prices. As such, when one visits the area, there are various communities to visit. If you like Asian food for instance, head south to San Jose area (where many of the technology companies are) and you can find fantastic Asian food...Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Muslim, Indian, Singaporean, Malaysian.

For top notch continental San Francisco is good as well as Napa and Sonoma.

A lot of the talk will be about food...both because we have some great fresh vegetables but also because we have some top notch chefs.

There is $$$$ restaurants plus some wonderful local finds that are $. Its important to ask around as the Cost of Living or Cost of Tourism can be much lower if one just asks for the local places to eat. For example, there is a really good public market in Emeryville, a suburb of San Francisco. There are also good places to eat in San Francisco that are $.

Happiness depends on a lot of factors....and as such looking yourself is key. I have worked in Arizona, California, and traveled broadly. San Francisco is more like Tucson, while Los Angeles is more like the urban sprawl of Phoenix.

The key thing is that the ocean, mountains, etc. are all so easy to get to. And the city life is good.

Safety is the normal stuff - some areas I will never go to and generally hit the news about their weekly shootings (i.e. Oakland has its good neighborhoods as well as some of these for example.). In general, most people feel fairly safe...but always an eye out since its a city.

UC Berkeley and Berkeley is very different than Stanford and Palo Alto, so knowing the neighborhoods or visiting as a tourist is good.

Key thing - its very hard to find a job. Most places are getting 200 - 400 resumes right now for jobs...so while it is a great place to visit, its key to also talk to the locals while here to see what they think about making a living. It definitely has its ups and downs and most people who do well here are willing to try new things and make radical changes in their career lives when necesssary.

Note - its quite possible the bouncer on Trip Advisor may get rid of your post since its a bit off the travel topic. So you may want to print notes out if interested in keeping them.

Enjoy...and do welcome your travel related questions.