Graduate Visa - (San Francisco) October 2013

EoinT89

I'm moving to San Francisco with a friend on October 14th on a 1 year graduate visa. I'm just wondering where is the best place to look for accommodation this time of year considering travelling to look for jobs and generally being central to the city.

Also, if anyone is going or has recently moved to San Francisco and can give or some info or help us with accommodation please PM me.

(Two 23 year old lads).

Thanks.

InTheTrees

You're moving in about a week and you're just starting to look?

www.craigslist.com

InTheTrees

Generally flats rent unfurnished in the US unless you rent a holiday apartment.

You've only got a week so you'll probably need to start out in some kind of hostel maybe?

Push Pop

EoinT89 wrote: »

I'm moving to San Francisco with a friend on October 14th on a 1 year graduate visa. I'm just wondering where is the best place to look for accommodation this time of year considering travelling to look for jobs and generally being central to the city.

Also, if anyone is going or has recently moved to San Francisco and can give or some info or help us with accommodation please PM me.

(Two 23 year old lads).

Thanks.

Assuming you work in the city, I would recommend the sunset. Traditionally Irish area with good access to downtown by muni. Rent is crazy in nicer areas so maybe east bay and take the Bart in. Dont live in oakland but further east is ok. Berkeley is cool too. You will need to be earning good wages for a decent standard of living but your experience will be well worth it.

EoinT89

Yeah we've left it a bit late. We're planning on staying in L.A for 4 days in a hostel then moving up to San Francisco. Our plan originally was to go to L.A and that's why we've left the accommodation so late. Also, the fact that we don't have jobs going over has made it hard to know where to go accommodation wise. We've graduated with degrees in Product Design and Aeronautical Engineering.

Is Cragislist a good place to start?.

InTheTrees

You'll be fine. Best thing would be to hook up with some people who are just leaving.

Yup, craigslist is a good starting point. Thats where most people would find accommodation.

EoinT89

InTheTrees wrote: »

You'll be fine. Best thing would be to hook up with some people who are just leaving.

Yup, craigslist is a good starting point. Thats where most people would find accommodation.

Yeah that's great. Is there anywhere in particular you can find people who are moving there?.

iusedtoknow

Hey

To be honest...you can't really look for apartments in SF until you're here. It's cut-throat. Apartments can be advertised at 9am and be gone by 12.

Are you looking for a place for the two of you? Be prepared for sticker shock if you want to live in the city. Rent here is beyond a joke. We rent a 2 bedroom for $2500 and that is on the low end - I've seen places in certain areas going for double that.

To get a place landlords will look for a credit reference or proof that you can afford the rent. The rule of thumb here is 1/3 of your income. You'll need to handover 1 months deposit.

If you're just looking for rooms, it'll be easier (and cheaper), you'll get a nice enough room for 1000 per person. As I said...it's expensive here.

As for areas:

Stay away from the tenderloin and bayview. It's cheap, but cheap for a reason.

SOMA: expensive condos/sublets and a bit soulless.
Mission: FUN FUN FUN, cheaper and more mexican food than you could shake a stick at. It is being gentrified, but anywhere between 16th and 24th street bart is fine. There are some dodgy people hanging around the BART entrance but as soon as you get onto Mission or Valencia you'll be fine
Sunset: I'm biased as I live in it, but it's a great area. The rents are a bit cheaper, but there is a lot to do - especially the inner sunset (between 1st/19th Avenue and between golden gate park and Taraval). Outer Sunset is mostly residential. In the inner sunset, 9th/Irving is the place to go.
Richmond: quieter and more expensive - Jony Ives (designer of iPhones/iOS 7) lives between richmond and Pacific heights
Pacific Heights/Nob Hill: expensive as hell
glen park/daly city cheaper areas, but not a lot to do and you'd spend your life on BART getting to fun areas
Haight: getting more expensive but a fun neighbourhood
Hayes Valley: another fun neighbourhood, but getting more expensive
Castro: An OK neighbourhood between Mission and Market Street. It's the center of the gay life in SF - very nice place, a lot of history and pretty mixed (especially towards Mission)
The east bay is cheaper - some parts of Oakland are OK, Temescal, Rockridge and Berkeley are where it's all at though - the rents are OK, and there is a lot to do. If you do live here though, you have to factor in the BART ride to the city - around $6 each way.

Life in general is not too expensive - you can get a monthly transit card for the city (clipper) for $76. Food is pretty inexpensive

IM me if you need any more info

Ewa24

Hi,
I'm moving to San Fran on the 30th of Dec for a year through the IWT visa work programme. I'm heading over with a few friends and we have accomodation sorted in the Sunset but can you tell me what the life is like, the people there, and looking for jobs? I'm assuming it'll be a big culture shock seen as the Irish are so friendly and everything in the US is so different.
Thanks!

iusedtoknow

well for one thing, the sunset is "traditionally" irish (i live there). You'll be hearing old men walking around with thick Mayo accents. In Roxy's deli you can get pretty much everything Irish thing you need.
It really depends what part you're moving to - the inner sunset is great, between 1st and 14th Avenue, Lincoln and Kirkham. There are piles of restaurants and bars, and you can walk to Haight Street really easily. Outer sunset is mostly residential, a lot of asian communities, but GREEEAAAAT vietnamese and regional chinese food. The lifeline is the N and L muni lines. From the far end, it'll have you downtown in 30 or 40 minutes.

People are really friendly out here, you won't find any problems, we didn't experience much culture shock at all. I have found people are more direct than we would be in Ireland, but i have grown to appreciate that rather than anything. You know where you stand.

As for jobs, I don't know to be honest. I came for a job, my wife had one lined up. I do know someone who came over on the same visa a me, and his wife walked into an office admin role within days of her EADS (work permit for spouses of L1 visa). SF has among the lowest unemployment rates in the state.

InTheTrees

The default place to llok for jobs now is craigslist, from flipping burgers to brain surgeon they're mostly all there:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/

iusedtoknow

and another thing...don't call it san fran, frisco or anything like that when you get here

It's the bay area, or the city or san francisco

Ewa24

Haha thanks for the heads up to you both! That was very informational, much appreciated! Woops and there I was thinking 'San Fran' is so appropriate.

InTheTrees

Ewa24 wrote: »

I'm assuming it'll be a big culture shock seen as the Irish are so friendly and everything in the US is so different.
Thanks!

Americans are pretty friendly as well but there'll be culture shock alright, thats part of the fun of it. Everyone loves the irish too.

Remember to tip. 15%.

Dont mess with the cops. And be careful in the Castro.

iusedtoknow

InTheTrees wrote: »

Americans are pretty friendly as well but there'll be culture shock alright, thats part of the fun of it. Everyone loves the irish too.

Remember to tip. 15%.

Dont mess with the cops. And be careful in the Castro.

20% has crept into normality here unfortunately. Any of the cops I've come into contact with have been pretty nice overall, there are a few corrupt ones, especially that you see reported, however they are getting fewer

As for the castro...what's wrong with it? It's pretty low key these days, especially since councilman weiner banned nudity. Granted I've never been out there on a night, but whenever I've walked through on the way to the mission it seems pretty OK