Local Night Clubs

Moving to San Francisco, any advice

Im moving to San Francisco from the suburbs of Virginia, ive never moved anywhere and am preparing for a rude awakening but am really excited. Im coming for a month to look for a job and an apartment. Anyone know anywhere cheap and still relatively safe. I dont mind living in a crummy apartment as long as its safe for me walking in and out alone. Im looking maybe around the mission, or SOMA but im clueless and any extra advice would help. Feel free to email me if your really familiar, or just know of any cool bars or restaurants to check out on a budget. —- AWarren87@live.com

The Mission District and SOMA are certainly not suburban.

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SOMA used to be full of abandoned warehouses and urban blight. But since the early 1990s, it has become one massive construction zone. The San Francisco branch of MOMA came first. Then the new baseball stadium. Nowadays, many condominiums are going up. And if all goes according to plan, the 1,200 ft. Transbay Center Tower – the West Coast’s tallest building – will be completed by 2013. Al Gore has a penthouse apartment here (one of his many residences around the country).

Despite all of this gentrification, however, SOMA still has some of the best nightclubs in San Francisco (Folsom 1015, DNA Lounge, Mezzanine, Six, Supperclub, EndUp, Temple). And it isn’t all sterilized for your protection yet. Much to the annoyance of City Hall, the 6th Street corridor has stubbornly refused to give up its “skid row” status. And the areas closer to the freeway are still seedy.

I actually think it is a great neighborhood. It has just enough “gritty” pockets to be interesting. But it also has a very wealthy class of folks in those new condos. So, it isn’t particularly dangerous.

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The Mission District is the Latino quarter of San Francisco. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city (the original 1776 church still stands). And it has maintained its lively Spanish heritage for more than two centuries now. The Mission is always, always noisy. While light sleepers might have some trouble in SOMA, they would definitely have trouble in the Mission. So, that’s one problem.

It is also a relatively poor area. There are a lot of Mexican immigrants. Legal and otherwise. And sadly, there’s also a great deal of gang activity. It is generally fine during the day. But at night, you don’t want to wander off. This is especially true around 24th Street (including the subway station).

If you’re not street savvy, I can’t recommend the Mission. It is a fascinating neighborhood to visit during the day, with lots of thrift shops and cheap food. But it simply isn’t safe for newcomers to urban life.

San Francisco – South of Market – SOMA – Neighborhood Video