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Can you live in San Francisco on the cheap?
- Thread starter Armadilo
- Start date
Yes, if you have roommates or are at least sharing with someone who helps with the rent.
$3300/mo studios are not uncommon in the city proper.
$3300/mo studios are not uncommon in the city proper.
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The average rent in Seattle isn't that much less. It is $2126 a month as of January 2018 for all apartments while 1 bedroom apartments are $1964. However, they have been building a lot of apartments lately so from what I've recently heard those figures might continue the recent trend of declining a bit.
Apparently enough people don't want anything built in San Francisco that it's only going to continue to get worse there until something breaks.
Do people not tolerate roommates or something? Because I'm living in a 2 bed 1 bath for much less than that.
OP
OP
Seattle is doing a lot of building, but with how many people Amazon is pulling into the area I honestly wouldn't expect prices to drop dramatically.
My best advice is just to find an apartment 15-30 minutes from downtown Seattle and maybe look at living near a park-and-ride if you want to take a bus instead of commuting. I currently live in Mountlake Terrace which is a pretty good location (not far from Bellevue or Seattle and you don't need to cross the water or pay a toll if you're going to one or the other), but this area is creeping up in price too. Lynnwood or maybe as far north as Everett probably have decent rent still, but then you'd be living in Everett...
This is likely the only correct answer. I'm a SF native and my rent is crazy inexpensive for anywhere, not just SF due to rent control. If it is compared to the rent prices for anyone trying to either 1) find a new place to live in SF, or 2) trying to relocate here, I'm paying 1/10th of what they would be paying. Everything else is fairly reasonable, groceries and eating out, although eating out has been steadily going the past 8 years. The rent is the only thing that makes moving to SF unreachable for many people.
I live in SF, 4br 2bath. 4 people live here, well 5 now that one guy's gf moved in. Great neighborhood, no problems with parking. $2100/month. However, I should mention that I know the landlord, which explains the awesome price. That said, I could afford this place on my own and no roommates needed, but I live with friends so that's cool.
Reminds me of that homeless dude who made the news because he would hit on a different girl each day so he could sleep at their place
Sure. Here are a bunch of places under $2K.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search...e=2000&availabilityMode=0&sale_date=all+dates
Actually NYC is less affordable than SF because wages haven't kept up with rent.
You might not be able to live in the hippest part of town all by yourself with no roommates, but with Muni and Bart trains going all over the city you can feel pretty connected regardless.
If that's still too expensive I would look for a place on the East side that is near a Bart stop or look south along the Caltrain stops. If you want to live here, you can.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search...e=2000&availabilityMode=0&sale_date=all+dates
Actually NYC is less affordable than SF because wages haven't kept up with rent.
You might not be able to live in the hippest part of town all by yourself with no roommates, but with Muni and Bart trains going all over the city you can feel pretty connected regardless.
If that's still too expensive I would look for a place on the East side that is near a Bart stop or look south along the Caltrain stops. If you want to live here, you can.
Anywhere in the Bay Area is close enough to go to SF regularly, save maybe for Livermore. There's a bunch of little spots that have ok rent. I feel like a lot of people who live in SF proper think the Bay Area is much smaller than it is...
You can find cheap rent in SF if you dont mind small and/or unsafe living spaces.
You can find cheap rent in SF if you dont mind small and/or unsafe living spaces.
You have to change your mentality unless you make ridiculous amounts of money. Accept that you'll need to live with others and that you'll pay even more to do so than it would cost to live alone in any non major city in the world. I lived there for 5 years. I rented a room in a house with a married couple and another girl in outer Richmond for two of those years. It only cost $600 to do so. I took the bus to work which added 1-1.5 hours of commute time to my life. So you can find places like that ($600-1000) and make it work. I also had car payment, utilities, student loans, gym fees, food, etc that left me with enough play money to see a movie once in awhile and buy clothes. I felt like I was spinning my wheels. But the women!! And men...if that's your thing! And you're surrounded by beauty throughout the city and all around you. Yes, it's gross in some parts and crime is bad and schools for families are substandard. But for a single person I couldn't endorse it enough. Just be aware that SF, like NY, is ground zero for income inequality. You are often separated by a single block or even street from dire straights. I've seen some things that made me really sad. Families with children living on the streets, a homeless man literally squat and took a dump on the sidewalk in front of a crowd, drug addicts, mentally ill, etc it's a sad reminder how great people have it in comparison to how bad others do. Eventually I got in a relationship and was able to get an apartment for my last couple years there, had a child, and realized we'd need to leave the city for a variety of reasons, mostly financial.
Short Answer, yes.
https://frominsidethebox.com/?reverse=true
That is an interesting blog by a Silicon Vally guy who has lived in the back of a truck the past 3 years
https://frominsidethebox.com/?reverse=true
That is an interesting blog by a Silicon Vally guy who has lived in the back of a truck the past 3 years
Lol you have no idea what you are talking about
Me and my friends from the city have no problem finding shit to do on our days off. Everyone that lives there isn't an overworked tech bro
it does. i'm happy paying more than you do for not living in akron, having millions of people around me, public transportation, culinary options galore and access to more entertainment options that I can ever experience
That's cool I can respect it.
Small city living is pretty rad though. I like driving and traffic is usually fine even during rush hour. Tons of cullinary shit you would never think of too. We've got a few really great hole in the wall mexican places, my neighborhood had an influx of nepalese refugees over the past decade so there's some great nepali food too. We've got jamaican, cajun, lots of sushi of course, it's pretty rad.
Not much in the way of entertainment, but cleveland is 40 minutes away. There's a couple concert venues here too, I saw Primus in Akron last year and 15 year old me would never believe it.
If I wanted to experience San Francisco I would definitely live outside the city and commute, but that's just me.
Alright OP, I've been living here in SF for the last two decades. If you really want to live here, here's my tips and tricks (other than the ones already mentioned)
- If you don't have a high-paying job, your rent+bills will eat up half or more of your monthly paycheck(s). Work OT/get a PT job for more $$$ obv.
- Minimize purchases that isn't essential to your daily life.
- Your social life may take a hit because going out (happy hour/events/concerts/etc) can get pretty expensive in the long run.
- COOK. If you don't know how to cook, then learn and learn quickly. You'll save ~$10/day if you bring lunch to work everyday (unless your company provides lunch on a daily basis).
- Get particular grocery items only when they are on sale. Brake that rule on necessary items ex: milk, cheap fruits/vegetables/proteins, hygienic products.
- Look on craigslist/Nextdoor (of your potential neighborhood) for cheap/free items for around the house.
- If you don't have a high-paying job, your rent+bills will eat up half or more of your monthly paycheck(s). Work OT/get a PT job for more $$$ obv.
- Minimize purchases that isn't essential to your daily life.
- Your social life may take a hit because going out (happy hour/events/concerts/etc) can get pretty expensive in the long run.
- COOK. If you don't know how to cook, then learn and learn quickly. You'll save ~$10/day if you bring lunch to work everyday (unless your company provides lunch on a daily basis).
- Get particular grocery items only when they are on sale. Brake that rule on necessary items ex: milk, cheap fruits/vegetables/proteins, hygienic products.
- Look on craigslist/Nextdoor (of your potential neighborhood) for cheap/free items for around the house.
I mean to each his own.
I just hate coming in here and people going "just live elsewhere." Cities, suburbs and ritual areas are all different.
And people's constant overpricing is cities by people is Lol. Millions live in NYC, SF, Seattle, Boston on affordable rents in nice parts of the city. Yeah sacrifices are made but theres sacrifices made living in suburbia where you don't have what the city offers
Oh for sure. I wasn't saying live elsewhere, it all depends on priorities. If you want to rent a house to yourself in San Francisco, that's obviously out of the question and there's tons of benefits to living in/owning a house.
For somewhere like San Francisco or NYC, you're paying a cool city tax. There's nothing wrong with that at all, it's kind of cool that adults in different areas live drastically different experiences. I see people I consider super successful on instagram posting pictures of their apartments where they live with 3 roommates and it kind of blows my mind lol. If you had that level of success around here you could afford a super nice house, and a bunch of cars and shit lol.
yeah it's just about adjusting. My rent eats a lot more of my budget than most but I have a negligible transportation budget because I use the bus and train.
I'm always curious about the price of drinking in big cities. Where I live a 6 pack of a nice craft beer is about 10 dollars, you can get a 12 back of busch or whatever for like 9. At the bar usualy a nice craft beer is like 4 bucks, a 16oz PBR is 2-3 dollars, shots are about the same price. You probably will pay 5 or 6 for a nice mixed drink. How much are those things in SF? My sister lives in D.C. and whenever we go there I'm blown away by how expensive alcohol is.
You could, but why would you? San Francisco isn't that great of a city. Well, truthfully, most American cities aren't. Well, America in general, no health care and people have guns all over the place.
drinking at home is usually the same price maybe a buck or two more.
Drinking out is inflated but made up by the fact it's usually walkable so you don't have to drive or pay for a taxi.
There are also some cheap places. I can get a bud light for 2 near me. But average is 5 bucks
2010- it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing in Emeryville or Oakland and commute
2014- it's not bad, you can find cheaper housing in Richmond or Pinole and commute
2016- it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing in Vallejo and commute
2018 - it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing in Sacramento and commute.
2020 - it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing out of state and commute.
2014- it's not bad, you can find cheaper housing in Richmond or Pinole and commute
2016- it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing in Vallejo and commute
2018 - it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing in Sacramento and commute.
2020 - it's not so bad, you can find cheaper housing out of state and commute.
I don't know whether to laugh or to cry, I know this is sarcasm but it's not far from the current reality.
Need a handful of roommates. Or just move to a town around the bay area. You'll get stair crazy after awhile. A 20-40 minute drive to the city is plenty of San Francisco for me.
I'm currently renting a room for $750 + utilities in the city. The adjustment to living with people I've never met before wasn't so bad because everyone is pretty quiet here.
The limited space and having to share the bathroom/kitchen with others kinda sucks sometimes but I absolutely love the neighborhood I'm at (Inner Richmond) and the commute to my job is super easy by bus. I honestly got blessed with this deal when it came to timing but I'm sure there's similar offers going, you just have to keep searching and be patient.
The limited space and having to share the bathroom/kitchen with others kinda sucks sometimes but I absolutely love the neighborhood I'm at (Inner Richmond) and the commute to my job is super easy by bus. I honestly got blessed with this deal when it came to timing but I'm sure there's similar offers going, you just have to keep searching and be patient.
Only if you're homeless or have owned your house since the 70's like my uncle who refuses to make bank by selling his house.
You can always hook up with a tech person or a nurse and share rent
Unless you're earning less than 80k then you need more than one person
Unless you're earning less than 80k then you need more than one person
It's a piece of shit city that's overpriced and not worth it. Don't make the mistake of living there.
But to answer your question... no not really unless you want to sacrifice a lot of things.
But to answer your question... no not really unless you want to sacrifice a lot of things.
My cousin lives in San Francisco. She has three other roommates. Her room is a living room that was converted into two bedrooms. Her share of rent is $1250. Do the math.
Check out the Excelsior, Outer Mission, Visitacion Valley, Portola, etc. Just go about your business and you'll be able to cut it in those neighborhoods.
4-6 for cheap or draft local stuff
6-10 for micro brew or specialty
8-10 for shots or cocktails
Happy hours help.
We also have alot of brewpubs that often have their own beer for less
That is not always the experience though. This isn't trying to compare to the likes of NYC, SF, LA, Chi, D.C., Philly, etc. This is just to show that you can live for about ~$800/mo in housing in a city that is the anchor of a major metro area with lots to do.
I live about 15 minutes (using surface streets) from downtown in a metro area of 4 million+ people, so I'm not in the middle of things, but, I have a single car garage, a 1259 sq ft house, and a huge backyard for my dog to play in and my mortgage is ~$800/mo.
Due to the abundance of resorts here we have a lot of great restaurants from chefs who leave the resort and strike out on their own. Due to being the only major city in the state there is a vibrant arts culture that is manifest in having venues for "Broadway shows" (travelling, since only NYC has the real Broadway shows), Opera, Symphony, a bunch of theaters and music venues, and dozens of modern art galleries all of which are downtown.
This city is called Phoenix. Yes, the rest of the metro area outside Tempe sucks and the rest of the state outside the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, Flagstaff, and Tucson sucks.
OP
OP