With 4 people and 2 cats living in an apartment with only ONE bathroom, it can get pretty crowded. There's very little room to breathe. Privacy is a thing of the past, we're sitting on eachother's laps and sharing everything.
But I guess if there's anywhere in the world to experience living like you're in a Hippie commune, it's San Francisco...
I've been checking the classifieds and Craigslist for affordable apartments in the area.
There AREN'T any...
The average ONE bedroom apartment in San Francisco is $1,400 to $2,600 dollars a month. (and that's the lower end Some apartments run as high as $6,000 a month.) Which is just as bad as Manhattan
Our friend, John's lease for his current apartment ends DECEMBER 1st. He suggested that we stay until then and all move out together into a new bigger apartment. We would all continue living TOGETHER for another year.
If we put all of our money together, we can get a more spacious two bedroom, two bathroom apartment and with all of us chipping in it would be MUCH more affordable than splitting up.
So now we're apartment hunting..
The big question is... WHERE IN SAN FRANCISCO SHOULD WE MOVE?
We can continue living here in the Nob hill/Russian Hill area...(Cable cars and lots of great cafe's, pubs and the San francisco you see in the postcards) but our new apartment wont be much bigger than the current one we have now.
John suggested the Haight/ Ashbury district (The hippie area) or Presidio (closer to the Golden Gate bridge and his job
There's always the Mission District, Pacific Heights, Castro or Bayview.
It's hard to figure out where to even START... We need to move out on Dec 1st, but we want to have a lease signed by the end of this month.
Does anyone that has lived or is currently living in San Francisco have any suggestions or recommendations?
Day 29 of 365 days
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At Saturday, October 20, 2007, 
Since I've never lived there I can't be of help. The only suggestion I can give would be to explore each neighborhood during the day and if you like it make sure to go back at night! Some neighborhoods can seem so lovely and inviting during the day but turn into sketchy neighborhoods during the night. Also make sure to check Craigslist for apartment listings sometimes they have photos!
I was across the border this week and went into TJ Maxx they had so many stripey socks(in cashmere!!) that were knee length or over that I thought "Clarity would just die!)
At Monday, October 22, 2007, 
Nightmare
Personally I would move to one of the "burbs". SF has one of the greatest rapid transit systems in the world and there are plenty of cheaper areas in the bay area rather then stay downtown SF. Redwood City is GREAT! Or you could go across the bay closer to Cal Berkley, try and find some cheap student housing.
At Tuesday, October 23, 2007, Kathleen
Do not live in the Haight...it sounds cool, but it's not. The faux (and real) homeless are a huge problem down there. And it's dirty.
Problem with living in the burbs (which aren't that much cheaper anyway, these days) is that you will need a car to get to the public transportation.
I think the Sunset and Richmond areas would be cheaper, and closer to the water, but commuting downtown (if you have or get jobs downtown) will be a tad long. Problem with the Sunset (that I noticed) is that you then have to take the street cars which is fine if you live off a J-Church line, but if you live off the N-Judah line, you're screwed, because they have much fewer cars running out there.
Nob Hill is very nice, although pricey. Pacific Heights is nice. I lived south of PH in the Fillmore/Hood area. Lots of places to walk to, centrally located to lots and close to lots of bus lines.
Mission District is iffy with the gang problems, although I'm not sure how far the gentrification has gone since I left. The Castro is nice...hmm, I should send Sal over here to give you advice. He lives near Nob Hill.
At Tuesday, October 23, 2007, Nob Hill Omnivore
Kathleen sent me over to offer some advice. I've lived Downtown/Nob Hill for the last 12 years, but I always kick myself for not moving into the Mission. The neighborhood can be a little rough late at night but it's not nearly as dangerous as it once was and the flats are huge, the weather's warm and there's a million things to do just outside your door. I agree with Kathleen about the Haight, they're not so much hippies anymore as they are drug addicted runaways and burnouts, but you may want to check out Cole Valley which is right next to it. The other great area (also near Haight) is the Sunset, I'm thinking around UCSF or near 9th Ave. You'll have perfect access to the Golden Gate Park and there are tons of fun cafes, restaurants, and bars. One place you may not have considered is Glen Park, it's a really nice quiet family oriented neighborhood where you may actually have a yard. My first apartment was in Glen Park we had a 2 story 2 bedroom 2 bath with a backyard, it makes me cry to think how cheap it was back in 1990. I hate saying it cos I think of myself as an old San Francisco person but there is all the new construction of hideous buildings SOMA and I hear some of the buildings include superfast wifi connections and other yuppie pluses. Good luck, I've noticed that pickings are slim on craigslist and that rents are going sky high. Happy hunting!
