Where should I live in San Francisco?

San Francisco is pretty small – about 7 miles by 7 miles. That being said, it has many neighborhoods with very different character and charm. As such, it can be kind of difficult to determine where to live in San Francisco. Find out what might work best for you!

Getting around San Francisco

Despite SF being small, getting around SF can be slow and cumbersome. Our transit system, while not bad, has a lot of overlap in one part of the city. There are also significant hills and Golden Gate Park bisecting a huge part of it. Basically there is a reason why Uber and Lyft got their starts in SF (other than the whole Silicon Valley proximity thing). As such, people generally like to stick around in their own little pocket of SF. This makes it all the more important for you to like your neighborhood or be willing to travel (TLDR: people are lazy). My best advice if you already know folks or have friends in SF, is to live close to where they live. If you don’t know anyone here, then never mind!

Neighborhood Guide in San Francisco

Very broadly speaking, Divisadero Street bisects East and West in San Francisco and North and South is determined by Golden Gate Park/Panhandle on the western half and Market Street on the eastern half. There are a lot of little neighborhoods depending on if you are a real estate agent (I’m not) or how hip you want to consider your neighborhood 🙂

Many people choose to live in the northeast quadrant of the city because that’s where a lot of the “action” is and it tends to be less foggy (more on that later), but pandemic shifts have given many a reason to move to the western parts of the city that are more residential. I tried to list out the various neighborhoods below with a silly short description.

SF Weather: What does Fog have to do with it?

San Francisco weather is generally temperate and pleasant throughout the year. That being said, San Francisco weather is notoriously inconsistent and there are many microclimates throughout the city. You can read more about San Francisco weather here. There is generally an direct relationship between the sunnier parts of SF and cost, but it’s not always true. I put together a matrix below to illustrate how this more or less plays out.

General Notes and Tips

• Neighborhoods are important! San Francisco has many different neighborhoods with their own unique charm and character. This neighborhood guide from Kevin and Jonathan is real estate focused (because they’re real estate agents) but a lot of the same knowledge applies whether you are buying or renting!
• Misleading listings: Some listings are marketed as “Nob Hill” but they’re really in the Tenderloin or the “Tendernob”. I would avoid living in the Tenderloin and Tendernob. Similarly, some folks list “Hayes Valley” when it’s actually Civic Center, since Hayes Valley borders that neighborhood. Make sure to check the actual streets of the address.
• Craigslist, Zillow, and now FB Marketplace are where you can find rental listings. Zillow and Redfin are easy places to browse for sale homes.
• Don’t be scammed on rentals! Do be suspicious if it’s a phenomenal deal and you need to send upfront money to see the place/the landlord isn’t available, you see the same photos show up in multiple listings.
• Many people council against living in SoMA but keep in mind that SoMA is large. Parts of SoMA are really bad (around 6th and Market) and other parts, e.g. East Cut/Rincon, is technically considered SoMA but is totally fine.
• A lot of SF’s housing stock is older, which you may or may not like. Pros to older houses: might be rent controlled, has more “charm”, more availability. Cons to older houses: sound or temperature insulation might be poor, likely no elevator.
• Not everyone cares for the fog. If that’s a big deal for you, you might want to live in a more sunny spot. However, you can often just travel elsewhere if you need some rays in your life.

Common Questions

• I want to live in SF because it’s more lively but work in South Bay
  The feasibility of this really depends on how many times a week you need to commute to work and your tolerance for this. If possible, you might want to test drive this out a few times and see if you are OK with it. Also, depending on how you are going to get down to work (Caltrain or shuttle or driving), you should probably only consider the southern neighborhoods, such as Mission, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, SoMa, Glen Park, Bernal Heights, Mission Bay, Noe Valley. Mission has a wealth of cool restaurants and bars and is quite lively, but some parts are more gritty. Glen Park and Noe are family friendly and more relaxed but aren’t the most “hopping” neighborhoods either. Mission Bay has a lot of new construction but has less “SF character”.
  
• I want to live in SF but work in East Bay
  The feasibility of this really depends on how many times a week you need to commute to work and your tolerance for this. If possible, you might want to test drive this out a few times and see if you are OK with it. Also, you may want to consider living next to BART if that is your primary mode of transit: East Cut, Glen Park, Balboa Park/Ingleside, Mission. These neighborhoods, with the exception of Mission, are generally a bit more sleepy and residential.
  
• I love to bike and hike and do all the outdoorsy things
  Amazing! Pretty much the entire city is your oyster, depending on your willingness/ability to deal with hills. You might want to live near Golden Gate Park and enjoy car-free JFK drive, the Embarcadero, Great Highway / Ocean Beach, or by the Golden Gate Bridge for easy access to Marin. Golden Gate Park is flanked by Inner/Outer Sunset and Richmond, Embarcadero is Telegraph Hill or Rincon/East Cut, and Marina is closest to north bay and Golden Gate Bridge. You might even consider living in North Bay/Marin.
  
• I am in my 20s and want to be part of the action!
  Mission and Marina are pretty hopping neighborhoods, and certain big streets are livelier (e.g. Union street, Lombard street, Fillmore, Taraval, Irving, Mission Street, Divisadero). Hayes Valley is the latest cool kid spot with it’s mix of hip restaurants and the brick and mortar showcases of D2C startups.
  
• I’m in my 30s and I want it to be a bit quieter.
  Check out sleepier neighborhoods on the west, south, and east parts of the city.
  
• Where can I afford to buy a house/condo?
  SF is notoriously expensive. However, check my matrix up top for the “cheaper” areas.
  
• I have kiddos, where should I live?
  Check out sleepier neighborhoods on the west, south, and east parts of the city. Noe Valley is probably the top spot for having kids — and it’s relatively flat.