Living in san fran / san jose?
- Thread starter thefuture
- Start date
Hey there,
My comments are not regarding either school, Silicon Valley or San Jose in general. Folks arguing about SF vs. SJ gets tedious. Personally, SJ is too much like Phoenix,Az, where I spent my first 19 years for me to want to live there.
This is in regards to you choosing SFSU (And thus, SF as a city...)
TRANSIT
Several folks are right in that you could live in Berkeley,Oakland,Daly City or another surrounding city and commute to SFSU. Whoever said that SF doesn't have a good public transit system should take a better look at the Easy Bay (Berkeley,Oakland), or try where I grew up, which had buses until 9PM...and Phx has a whole lot of walking room...
Buses are only 50 cents with a student ID, cheaper if you get a monthly pass, which also covers underground lines. The 'M' line goes from SFSU to downtown in about a half an hour, even at rush hour, since it is mostly underground. BART (Monorail) connects you to 90% of the other cities that you might want to visit (Or live in, and commute from for school...), and the rates aren't that bad, with a trip to Berkeley coming in under 3 bucks, around 5 bucks round trip.
As well, there are many 'Owl' lines, 24 hour ones, and it is possible to get nearly everywhere with a little planning. Likewise, the City is only 7 x 7 miles, so walking isn't a big deal either.
We have a lot of cabs, which I myself use, since I am often running to work 'almost' late, or coming home at 4am with a pocket full of tips, and catching a bus downtown at 4am with lots of cash is not a smart idea.
Look on craigslist.org under housing for an idea of apartment costs. I pay way too much myself (1447), but I get to live alone in a 3 room apartment, and it is worth it to me.
BILLS
My bills in a nutshell:
Cable-Kickass HBO/Showtime package + Cable for my net, about a hundred a month.
Power, about 100 a month, give or take. I just removed my metal Halides, so I expect (Hope for) a drop.
Phone is 60 or so, very basis.
Food isn't really that much more, you can still get a 5 dollar super burrito, or 3.50 lunch specials in chinese places, and there is a great selection to try.
JOBS
Yes, you can do fast food or what not for min wage, or you could do what a whole lot of students do, find a cafe. SF is a city that runs on neighborhood cafes, coffee shops, etc... people here are quite good tippers, compared to elsewhere, so that 8.82 becomes 13-15+ fairly easily. I wrok in a Nightclub (You would have to be 21+), and, while I don't want to post my earnings, take another look at my bills etc above, I am doing fine.
plus, there are a lot of great reefers here, as well as in SJ etc, to trade with, so your hobby will get an easy boost from trades, freebies, etc...
Give the bay Area a chance, it is a pretty rocking place to live.
I have to run off to do some laundry, but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
-Ron
My comments are not regarding either school, Silicon Valley or San Jose in general. Folks arguing about SF vs. SJ gets tedious. Personally, SJ is too much like Phoenix,Az, where I spent my first 19 years for me to want to live there.
This is in regards to you choosing SFSU (And thus, SF as a city...)
TRANSIT
Several folks are right in that you could live in Berkeley,Oakland,Daly City or another surrounding city and commute to SFSU. Whoever said that SF doesn't have a good public transit system should take a better look at the Easy Bay (Berkeley,Oakland), or try where I grew up, which had buses until 9PM...and Phx has a whole lot of walking room...
Buses are only 50 cents with a student ID, cheaper if you get a monthly pass, which also covers underground lines. The 'M' line goes from SFSU to downtown in about a half an hour, even at rush hour, since it is mostly underground. BART (Monorail) connects you to 90% of the other cities that you might want to visit (Or live in, and commute from for school...), and the rates aren't that bad, with a trip to Berkeley coming in under 3 bucks, around 5 bucks round trip.
As well, there are many 'Owl' lines, 24 hour ones, and it is possible to get nearly everywhere with a little planning. Likewise, the City is only 7 x 7 miles, so walking isn't a big deal either.
We have a lot of cabs, which I myself use, since I am often running to work 'almost' late, or coming home at 4am with a pocket full of tips, and catching a bus downtown at 4am with lots of cash is not a smart idea.
Look on craigslist.org under housing for an idea of apartment costs. I pay way too much myself (1447), but I get to live alone in a 3 room apartment, and it is worth it to me.
BILLS
My bills in a nutshell:
Cable-Kickass HBO/Showtime package + Cable for my net, about a hundred a month.
Power, about 100 a month, give or take. I just removed my metal Halides, so I expect (Hope for) a drop.
Phone is 60 or so, very basis.
Food isn't really that much more, you can still get a 5 dollar super burrito, or 3.50 lunch specials in chinese places, and there is a great selection to try.
JOBS
Yes, you can do fast food or what not for min wage, or you could do what a whole lot of students do, find a cafe. SF is a city that runs on neighborhood cafes, coffee shops, etc... people here are quite good tippers, compared to elsewhere, so that 8.82 becomes 13-15+ fairly easily. I wrok in a Nightclub (You would have to be 21+), and, while I don't want to post my earnings, take another look at my bills etc above, I am doing fine.
plus, there are a lot of great reefers here, as well as in SJ etc, to trade with, so your hobby will get an easy boost from trades, freebies, etc...
Give the bay Area a chance, it is a pretty rocking place to live.
I have to run off to do some laundry, but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
-Ron
TikiDan
Premium Member
I Loved living in SF....for about a year. Now I live 5 min, away in Daly City and pay half the cost in rent, which sucks also because it is still overpriced. Jobs are ok in Daly city, I get paid 12+ an hour for working the register at Serra Bowl (one of the nicest bowling centers in the area) so decent paying jobs are around, but sometimes not as desirable. As a student, try and save as much money as possible. Ditch the car, get a bicycle, find a small studio in Daly City near SFSU, the West Lake district is nice, thats where I live. It is just a 5 minute bike ride to SFSU.
One down side with SF is that with rent so high in here, you may need to keep a smaller reef than what you would like just to cut back costs. Good luck!
One down side with SF is that with rent so high in here, you may need to keep a smaller reef than what you would like just to cut back costs. Good luck!
dannieboiz
Active member
instead of a car, another thing to consider is a scooter or a motorcycle. I know a lot of you might think it's dangerous and what not, but if you're using it as a mean of transportation and not for joy ride. You should be ok. Besides finding a parking for a motorcycle will probably be easier than a car in SF> You'll need to get an M1 license of course, it's a 3 day course which will prepare you for it. Then all you do is take the written test and you have your M1 license. BUt that's another story. email me if you have any question.
IMO I think SF have better public transportation and much more of it compared to SJ. So w/o a car, I'd find a place closer to SF. You have the bus, or the train. Most people that do take the train drives to the station and park there.
Also as someone else mentioned earlier. Generally if you get yourself a job that involves in tips, you'll most likely get min. wage for your base but with tips etc.. you'll probably be up 10-13/hr.
IMO I think SF have better public transportation and much more of it compared to SJ. So w/o a car, I'd find a place closer to SF. You have the bus, or the train. Most people that do take the train drives to the station and park there.
Also as someone else mentioned earlier. Generally if you get yourself a job that involves in tips, you'll most likely get min. wage for your base but with tips etc.. you'll probably be up 10-13/hr.
racrumrine
New member
You definitely need to do a road trip and check both places out.
The area around SFSU has a lot of fog and San Jose is much warmer. That could be important for someone from SoCal.
If you are from the country and you always wanted to live in a city, I think you'll find that SF feels more like a big city than SJ.
After doing your road trip, you'll know which one is right for you.
Best of luck,
Roy
The area around SFSU has a lot of fog and San Jose is much warmer. That could be important for someone from SoCal.
If you are from the country and you always wanted to live in a city, I think you'll find that SF feels more like a big city than SJ.
After doing your road trip, you'll know which one is right for you.
Best of luck,
Roy
dannieboiz
Active member
Here's what a friend of mine did when he was planning to get out of SJ. He picked out a few city that he thought would be good for him, took the whole family there, in your case it would be easy.
Rent a motel/hotel and stay there for a day or two Rent in or around the area you think you might wanna live in. After a day or two you would not get a feel of it all but at least you'll have an idea of what it's going to be like being in the area.
The comment about DC being easier to live in regarding SFSU are spot on as well, I had forgotten that it is such an easy jaunt from there, not to mention BART, which also takes you to downtown SF in a half hour from DC, should you wish to head there. As well, BART is bike friendly.
Scooters/motorcycles are the way to go as well. I actually gave my car away to a niece when I moved here, as there is NO parking. People from SoCal usually go into a bit of shock from this, as SoCal is definately a cornucopia of parking goodness (As was Phx, my hometown).
Spot on with the SF=small reef issue.
I have 3 tanks sitting dry (On end), since I can't find enought wall space for them...(I amso have a lot of book shelves, as well as guitar equipment). My mantis shrimp are getting testy, as I have been promising them bigger digs than the 6-12 gallon tanks that they are in, not to mention combining my two mini reefs into one 80, which is huge for my wall-space-issues.
Regarding the hot/cold issues. Having spent almost 20 years in the desert, I was thrilled to move somewhere with such great weather, mercurial and wacky as it is. You will learn to bring a hoodie everywhere, as we all do, but it's a small price to pay for not sitting in 2 hour commutes on the freeway in 110 degrees (LA, for example).
-Ron
Scooters/motorcycles are the way to go as well. I actually gave my car away to a niece when I moved here, as there is NO parking. People from SoCal usually go into a bit of shock from this, as SoCal is definately a cornucopia of parking goodness (As was Phx, my hometown).
Spot on with the SF=small reef issue.
I have 3 tanks sitting dry (On end), since I can't find enought wall space for them...(I amso have a lot of book shelves, as well as guitar equipment). My mantis shrimp are getting testy, as I have been promising them bigger digs than the 6-12 gallon tanks that they are in, not to mention combining my two mini reefs into one 80, which is huge for my wall-space-issues.
Regarding the hot/cold issues. Having spent almost 20 years in the desert, I was thrilled to move somewhere with such great weather, mercurial and wacky as it is. You will learn to bring a hoodie everywhere, as we all do, but it's a small price to pay for not sitting in 2 hour commutes on the freeway in 110 degrees (LA, for example).
-Ron
Solitaryensis
New member
Having moved out to a big city for college myself, I am clearly partial towards SFSU. In terms of academics, I don’t think you are losing much with whatever choice you make - IMHO, the two schools are very comparable. If you are intent on a major already, then I would suggest that you do some more research on that specific department and compare those, as opposed to the entire school.
In terms of the overall college experience, I would definitely recommend SFSU. San Francisco is a social, cultural and political hub and I think anyone can benefit from living there. While you won’t be far from SF if you go to SJSU, I think the experience of living in the City, as opposed to visiting occasionally, is markedly different.
Whether you are a small town person or a big city person, I would recommend going to SFSU, as I think the experience will be worthwhile and probably life changing. But if you are really torn, I would suggest doing some research on a specific department if you have decided on a major or in the alternative, go and visit both the campuses.
Good luck!
In terms of the overall college experience, I would definitely recommend SFSU. San Francisco is a social, cultural and political hub and I think anyone can benefit from living there. While you won’t be far from SF if you go to SJSU, I think the experience of living in the City, as opposed to visiting occasionally, is markedly different.
Whether you are a small town person or a big city person, I would recommend going to SFSU, as I think the experience will be worthwhile and probably life changing. But if you are really torn, I would suggest doing some research on a specific department if you have decided on a major or in the alternative, go and visit both the campuses.
Good luck!
