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TangerineDream posted:Well that is exactly what I am looking for. I am as bleeding heart liberal as they come, and central Illinois is not working out for me. Perhaps, being from Central Illinois, you might not understand just how liberal the Bay Area can be. As a Berkeley student, I can honestly say that you will get some of the weirdest people in the entire world redefining what liberal means. We're talking well beyond Marxism here.
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Jul 27, 2007 22:37
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I know the thread is filled with hotel talk, but I've got kind of a specific question. My mom is coming to visit and I need a hotel for her that's (relatively) cheap and nowhere near the loin. Basically as cheap and quiet and safe as possible. I know it might not even exist, but I thought I'd ask just in case. EDIT: A little bed & breakfast or a boutique hotel somewhere in a good neighborhood would be great. frunksock fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Jul 27, 2007 |
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Jul 27, 2007 22:45
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frunksock posted:I know the thread is filled with hotel talk, but I've got kind of a specific question. My mom is coming to visit and I need a hotel for her that's (relatively) cheap and nowhere near the loin. Basically as cheap and quiet and safe as possible. I know it might not even exist, but I thought I'd ask just in case. this is not entirely helpful, but I have in the past had great success using hotwire.com and priceline.com for hotels in SF. Make sure you specify a star rating and neighborhood and check out what you can get. I know there are sites dedicated to decoding hotwire's star/price ratings so you might even be able to figure out exactly which hotel you're getting before you accept it I've gotten deals like $95/night for the Marriott right by the Embarcadero (I forget the exact name of the hotel) but it was a great hotel and a great price. oh, boutique hotel? Boutique hotels aren't gonna be cheap...
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Jul 27, 2007 22:51
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I had In and Out Burger last time I was in LA and was rather unimpressed. What I consider a good burger joint around the DC area is either Five Guys or Fuddruckers. In and Out was pretty tame in comparison.
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Jul 27, 2007 22:58
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Bouchacha posted:I had In and Out Burger last time I was in LA and was rather unimpressed. What I consider a good burger joint around the DC area is either Five Guys or Fuddruckers. In and Out was pretty tame in comparison. Also can anyone suggest any resources for finding an apartment or people looking for roommates in Berkeley? Craigslist is hardly turning up anything in my price range/within walking distance of the UC, and I have no idea where else to look.
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Jul 27, 2007 23:20
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TangerineDream posted:
Seriously, no offense to those in Arcata but I'm pretty left-wing. If a place is too "liberal" for me...well...uh...yeah. You won't catch me hanging out with no hippies!
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Jul 27, 2007 23:49
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Ozma posted:Seriously, no offense to those in Arcata but I'm pretty left-wing. If a place is too "liberal" for me...well...uh...yeah. You won't catch me hanging out with no hippies! Oh, c'mon now, Ozma. Come play some shoeless hacky sack in the plaza with us.
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Jul 28, 2007 07:31
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I just got back from my trip in SF and wanted to thank everyone for all the advice here. I crammed all the tourist poo poo into the first three days and got sunburned on my walk from the Ferry Building to Fort Mason, but I had fun taking cheesy pictures, seeing the guy who played Boba Fett signing autographs at Pier 39, seeing some sea lions, and spending many quarters at the Musee Mechanique. By the end of the afternoon, I was dizzy from heat, so I hopped on a streetcar for the first and last time, but never got charged the $5 - so free ride back to the hotel! I took a night tour of Alcatraz (the audio tour was worth it) and another all-day package tour to Muir Woods which was the most wonderful-smelling place I've ever been to, then on to the Sebastiani vineyard in Sonoma (which was the second-best smelling place I've ever been to.) I became very well aquainted with the J train and Mission, because I hung out there every drat night because it was so much fun. I actually wowed my friends with restaurant suggestions because they'd been living there for years and never went to Mi Lindo Yucatan and loved it. I also ate at Ti Couz, had divine garlic noodles at Sunflower, and had awesome cactus enchiladas at Velvet Cantina. I hung around the Mission so much, I almost felt like a local when I saw the same crazy guy twice - a black guy with bushy hair who likes to contantly moo like a cow. My friends took me to Sutro Baths and up and down 101 to see Ocean Beach and Pacifica, which was amazing because it was the first time I've ever seen the Pacific Ocean. Another highlight was getting drunk with my friends from Borderland Books (on Valencia and 20th and highly recommended for any science fiction/fantasy/horror needs) and being taken to the very top of Corona Heights at 1am, in a fog so thick you could hardly see the city, while getting told tales about all the weird, occult poo poo that took place in SF throughout the 60s and 70s. Also, I would recommend Hotel Rex on Sutter and Powell. It was very clean, cozy, and had a lot of personality, especially if you like feeling like you're living in a scene from a Henry Miller novel. It was far enough from the Tenderloin that I felt very safe at night. There was also a 24 hour Walgreens on the corner I constantly ran into. The staff was extremely friendly and the location was so central. I got a great package deal through Travelocity, so while it might not look very cheap at listed price, if you search for deals you'll be able to get an awesome rate. I loved SF and will definitely visit again.
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Jul 29, 2007 18:12
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nixar55 posted:Also, I would recommend Hotel Rex on Sutter and Powell. It was very clean, cozy, and had a lot of personality, especially if you like feeling like you're living in a scene from a Henry Miller novel. It was far enough from the Tenderloin that I felt very safe at night. There was also a 24 hour Walgreens on the corner I constantly ran into. The staff was extremely friendly and the location was so central. I got a great package deal through Travelocity, so while it might not look very cheap at listed price, if you search for deals you'll be able to get an awesome rate. I loved SF and will definitely visit again. I may suggest it to my parents next time; they stayed just at a Days Inn on Lombard (I think?) and it wasn't too bad price wise but it was honestly the smallest hotel room I have ever seen in my life. It was seriously just a bed with a little space around it and then a bathroom that was the size of my closet. 
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Jul 29, 2007 19:57
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I am going to be starting my first job out of college on August 13 in downtown San Francisco, and I'm planning on moving into my new place sometime this week. I grew up in Marin county, so I've been in and around San Francisco my whole life, but I'm still really excited to finally be LIVING in the city. Apartment hunting was no fun at all, I have 2 roommates so we were looking for 3 bedrooms which are fairly rare. I'd say $1000/person isn't a bad budget, in all honesty. We ended up getting a sweet deal on our place though. We got the top floor in a Victorian, and we actually have 2 kitchens and 2 living rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a backyard for $3600. That's ridiculously expensive but we honestly couldn't find anything for much cheaper than that for what we needed. We all need to be as close to downtown as possible. I'm living on Hayes about a block off of Divisadero, so I guess it's sort of Alamo Square / Panhandle. Anyone know much about the area? The Independent is right around the corner. To those who may be on the hunt for apartments, I would suggest NOT looking for 3 bedrooms. Either go for a 2 bedroom or 4-6 bedroom house. 3 bedrooms are ridiculously rare (especially closer to downtown) and make it even more of a hassle than it already is to find a place. I was lucky to land a job at my number one choice, at a top-rated technology PR/strategic communications firm. It should be interesting.
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Jul 29, 2007 21:17
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nixar55 posted:I hung around the Mission so much, I almost felt like a local when I saw the same crazy guy twice - a black guy with bushy hair who likes to contantly moo like a cow. That would explain the 'No mooing allowed' signs.
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Jul 29, 2007 22:41
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rossimo posted:Apartment hunting was no fun at all, I have 2 roommates so we were looking for 3 bedrooms which are fairly rare. Yeah, I'll say. That's why I ended up in a 2 bedroom one with a "sunroom" that is kinda-sorta a third. But I actually think you got a pretty good deal for what you have. We're paying $2500 for the 2 bed/sunroom with a water closet (separate toilet from bathroom), living, and dining room. Medium sized kitchen. It should be cheaper than that for us but the landlords think that adding in some stone stuff here and there makes it special.  I lived at Fulton/Fillmore for a while. Hayes/Divisadero isn't that bad at all, though I still have a grudge against that area after my whole bus/gun incident on the 21 line just around alamo square park. Not fun. Crime seems to be going up in that area but not quite where you are. I think it's worse around fillmore itself.
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Jul 29, 2007 22:57
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I'm moving to Oakland at the end of the month (finally) and am in the process of looking for a software/QA job in the East Bay. The amount of daily postings on craigslist are overwhelming compared to my current city (Cincinnati) and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of good software companies to work for in the area. I have a few leads on what seem like good companies but a little more input can't hurt.
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Jul 30, 2007 20:48
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conner posted:i am moving to potrero hill in a week or so, and i have the option of bringing my scooter (honda elite 80) with me. are scooters practical in the city? it seems like SF is so hilly that it's a terrible idea, but maybe not. anyone have a scooter, live in the city and have opinions/experiences to share? sorry for not checking the thread in a few days, but I have a scooter that's only 49cc (elite 80 I assume is an 80cc?) and it's fantastic for getting around the city. SF is hilly, so you just have to know which hills to avoid if at all possible, and where the slightly less hellish grades happen to be. Mine kinda chokes on a few streets here and there (I've learned to just take the long way around a lot of places rather than attempt to go through certain streets in the nob hill area) but for the most part it's all good. Parking is easycakes most of the time, there are a lot of small cars here for obvious reasons, so you can almost always wedge between two cars if there aren't motorcycle spots. The cops don't tend to ticket you for parking on the sidewalk as long as there's enough room for people to still walk normally too, so some places you can get away with that. Parking meters are fairly cheap too, most of them are 25c for an hour at worst, 1h40m for 25c at best and there are (at least on the east half of the city) usually motorcycle spaces every 3-5 blocks from anywhere you're at. (some pay, some free). You need a license (class M) so if wherever you're at doesn't make you have one, you'll need to get one. They don't gently caress around, I got dinged for a lot of money for not having one. Regardless, I think it's a lot better than relying entirely on public transportation around here. (or having a car if you've got a car and a scooter I suppose).
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Aug 1, 2007 05:43
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Justice at Mezzanine no October 10th! Get tickets now they sell out quick! JUSTICE!!
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Aug 2, 2007 00:12
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JohnnyRed posted:Justice at Mezzanine no October 10th! Get tickets now they sell out quick! JUSTICE!! That's the day after my birthday but I'm gonna be in NYC with a bunch of old jews because it's also my grandmother's 80th 
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Aug 2, 2007 02:33
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Earwicker posted:That's the day after my birthday but I'm gonna be in NYC with a bunch of old jews because it's also my grandmother's 80th You fool! The obvious answer is to take your grandma and the jew-team to the show! They will love it Also, saw Labyrinth at Lumiere last night. Awesome! Tonight is the last night there, but it might be at the Shattuck Cinemas for longer, not sure
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Aug 2, 2007 18:20
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nixar55 posted:
Your status as a local in the Mission District will only be complete when somebody gets shot behind your house for wearing the wrong color.  Also, did you see that big old building near Corona heights? It used to be a mental hospital. An eerie, foggy night in SF, drunk, and next to an old mental hospital, all the while talking about wierd poo poo...sounds like a creepy good time! If you're ever back around 4th of july, Corona heights makes a good spot to watch the city fireworks in the Marina, as well as the poo poo ton of illegal ones that get set off in the Mission. You can also see Oakland's Show across the bay. And Borderland books is definitely cool, as well as Mi Lindo Yucatan. Mmmmmm....
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Aug 3, 2007 23:10
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Does anyone know of any people renting out places in say, Mission, SOMA - basically in the middle of the city? I'm still trying to square away a place for a co-worker of mine.
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Aug 4, 2007 01:36
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what parts of the year are easiest to find a place? I'm looking for a 2+ bedroom in the mission, and it seems like there's only a couple places being posted per day on craigslist.
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Aug 4, 2007 06:30
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timmerish posted:what parts of the year are easiest to find a place? I'm looking for a 2+ bedroom in the mission, and it seems like there's only a couple places being posted per day on craigslist. I don't know, but good luck with that as Mission seems to be a very competitive area. The last listing I saw for a 2 br got over 100 calls and had a deposit down on it within 6 hours of posting.
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Aug 4, 2007 19:39
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Ya'll missed some good poo poo at 111 Minna last night! I didn't get in on Thursday, but Friday night had J Rocc spinning, and it was pretty dead. I mean there was a decent crowd, but no line around the block, so it was mainly good people getting their dance on. Good poo poo.
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Aug 4, 2007 23:50
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I've been living in San Mateo for a year and a half now, and my rent is $1600 a month for a super-nice one bedroom apartment (top floor, vaulted ceilings, fireplace, water view, 5 rooms + walk-in closet). Is this exorbitant or am I well-off? I can afford it but I wouldn't mind getting a cheaper unit (the extras I have are nice, but I can stand to lose a few)
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Aug 5, 2007 09:46
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Dumb question: have any of you ridden Golden Gate Transit before and are they reasonably on time in terms of schedule? One of my employees has a meeting with a client out of the city and stupidly didn't look into carshare until TODAY, when he found out that you don't just sign up and go right off the bat. I can't afford to lose him for very long so we have the whole thing scheduled tightly. Do I have reason to suspect that he'll be sitting for a long time at the stop or worse yet, that if he's just a little early/right about on time he will have missed it since it came by earlier? Also, I KNOW we've talked about this but I'm still sorta-kinda thinking about a tattoo. I have it narrowed down to Black and Blue tattoo or maybe just Braindrops. There's one artist at each place that I really think I'd like and that I really think could nail my vision but I am just curious about environment- privacy is a big deal because I am a HUGE, HUGE baby about pain. HUGE baby.
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Aug 6, 2007 18:30
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I rode Golden Gate Transit once before, from SF to Santa Rosa, during rush hour, and the bus was maybe...5 minutes late at the most in arriving at the stop in SF. The whole trip took about an hour and 45 minutes...Was pretty good in my opinion, but that's only one experience.
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Aug 6, 2007 19:33
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So I read this entire thread about a week or two ago hoping, praying, that I would be offered a position for an interview I had scheduled in the Campbell area of San Jose. Well, good news is that I am moving to start my new job in about a week. I am going to be driving my meager earthly possessions from Michigan to California. I plan to stop in Iowa on the first night to stay in family near Des Moines. From that point on, I'm going to be in bat country for all I loving know, because I've never made the drive before. First question, has anyone done the I-80 route to Northern California past Des Moines? Any tips or places of interest I should hit up on the way? I'm looking for recommendations on hotels or eateries. When I finally get to California I think I'll be staying with family in San Mateo, but I want to find an apartment as soon as possible. I'm looking for places on mapskrieg and craigslist, but I'd figure I'd throw it out there that I'm in the market for roommates who live in the South Bay area. Also, this thread seems to have proven that the Bay Area goons seem to do stuff with each other. Are there any shindigs planned or some one who doesn't have a problem showing a total stranger from the Mid-West around in exchange for some drinks or dinner? Last question, how livable is the San Jose area on a salary of $41,000. I know the cost of living is quite high, and I don't mind at all having roommates to keep some of the costs down. *Spelling and such. manchego fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Aug 6, 2007 |
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Aug 6, 2007 20:32
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I ride GGT at least once a week, as my job is in San Rafael. It's about plus or minus three minutes; way better than Muni bus times, at any rate. It's when the bus comes EARLY that's the problem.
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Aug 6, 2007 20:44
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41,000? I think you'll be fine. I guess I'm confused on standards of living, because I've been able to live on minimum wage in San Francisco, and Boston too where min wage was 6.75 so I'm pretty loving sure you'll be able to live on a 41,000 salary. But I have no idea about rents or commute costs, etc. On a side note, I'm about to start working in San Mateo, and I'm not too excited. Have to get a car, long rear end commute, ugh. Plus there's not a whole lot going on in San Mateo. Can't wait...
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Aug 6, 2007 20:47
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Rah! posted:I rode Golden Gate Transit once before, from SF to Santa Rosa, during rush hour, and the bus was maybe...5 minutes late at the most in arriving at the stop in SF. The whole trip took about an hour and 45 minutes...Was pretty good in my opinion, but that's only one experience. Sabacc posted:I ride GGT at least once a week, as my job is in San Rafael. Thanks, guys. I am really hoping things will go well but I just want to be sure so my BP doesn't go through the roof. I've told the guy that he will be at that exact spot at least 20 minutes early to take the bus. I'm gonna kill him over that carshare deal, though. Gah.
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Aug 6, 2007 20:49
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Ozma posted:Thanks, guys. I am really hoping things will go well but I just want to be sure so my BP doesn't go through the roof. I've told the guy that he will be at that exact spot at least 20 minutes early to take the bus. I'm gonna kill him over that carshare deal, though. Gah. I rode GGT this morning to get to San Rafael (the #10 to the #70). The #10 on Geary was about 10 minutes late and the #70 around 15 minutes late (according to the 511.org schedules), but somehow I got to my destination more or less when it said I would. It took about an hour and forty minutes to get from the Inner Richmond to Terra Linda.
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Aug 7, 2007 00:50
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General question: Best cable/internet in the Bay area? I'm looking into Berkeley in particular, but I doubt it varies that much in the area. Comcast has okay starting rates but is pretty expensive down the line. Are there alternatives? Are those any good? How is reliability for different companies, Comcast included?
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Aug 8, 2007 00:53
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manchego posted:When I finally get to California I think I'll be staying with family in San Mateo, but I want to find an apartment as soon as possible. I'm looking for places on mapskrieg and craigslist, but I'd figure I'd throw it out there that I'm in the market for roommates who live in the South Bay area. Hail soon-to-be South Bay Goon. Nothing planned yet, but check in from time-to-time. San Jose is a bit easier to live in than San Francisco; you can find a nice studio apartment for $850, about two blocks down away from city hall.
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Aug 8, 2007 01:36
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What is the best time and the best route to leave from Oakland to LA? (Anaheim) I understand LA Traffic can be unavoidable, but, it's worth a shot.
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Aug 8, 2007 09:45
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k0konutz posted:What is the best time and the best route to leave from Oakland to LA? (Anaheim) Take the I-5 around 1am. I arrived in San Diego before 8am, so going to Anaheim shouldn't be that bad, just be weary of heavy fog.
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Aug 8, 2007 10:09
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Respekt posted:Take the I-5 around 1am. I arrived in San Diego before 8am, so going to Anaheim shouldn't be that bad, just be weary of heavy fog. I should have mentioned I'd be driving in the day...but I might be waiting for my friends until 11am to pick me up here. And I don't want to drive at night since the following day (friday) I'll be enjoying disneyland and want a good night's sleep. I guess what I'm asking is...Should we leave then (11a) or is waiting a couple of hours better?
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Aug 8, 2007 10:41
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To all you musicians out there, does anyone know anything about renting practice space out there, specifically in the East Bay? What's the availability and cost like? I figure there's probably some commercial practice spaces in Emeryville or some such but have no idea where to look. I probably don't need anything large initially, just a place where me and another person or two can play loudly. I'm used to practicing with five people in a room best suited for solo drumming. Oh yeah, the place should have good security too since I'll probably be leaving gear there.
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Aug 8, 2007 15:45
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Grigori Rasputin posted:To all you musicians out there, does anyone know anything about renting practice space out there, specifically in the East Bay? What's the availability and cost like? I figure there's probably some commercial practice spaces in Emeryville or some such but have no idea where to look. http://www.soundwavestudios.com/ in oakland seems to have what you're looking for. I know people who have rehearsed there without security issues, however, keep in mind we are still talking about Oakland.
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Aug 8, 2007 17:43
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k0konutz posted:http://www.soundwavestudios.com/ in oakland seems to have what you're looking for. I know people who have rehearsed there without security issues, however, keep in mind we are still talking about Oakland. Thanks for the tip, I'm looking for something a little less upscale though - that place is a lot fancier/expensive than I can afford. The place I currently practice in is a warehouse with plywood to section off rooms, no elevator, not terribly good acoustics but the upside is that rooms only cost $70-200 depending on size. I know that I'm not going to find practice spaces for $70 in the East Bay, but surely there's cheaper, downscale alternatives?
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Aug 8, 2007 18:26
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Grigori Rasputin posted:Thanks for the tip, I'm looking for something a little less upscale though - that place is a lot fancier/expensive than I can afford. http://www.rehearse.com/oakland/ They don't list prices on their website so you might want to call.
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Aug 8, 2007 23:52
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Has anyone stayed at the Omni in San Fran? There seemed to be decent deals for the weekend I'll be staying and it seemed pretty nice. Is it near the "happening" spots for nightlife? I'll be with 3 of my friends and we definitely plan to spend as much time out in cool areas as possible.
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Aug 9, 2007 02:20
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