Never been to sf but have always lived in nyc. The cost of living in sf and the island of manhattan is pretty much the same from what my relatives tell me. I highly suggest you make sure you have a good steady job that pays at least $75k a year because even at that income you are looking at $2k a month to spend on utilities, food, transportation, etc. after taxes and rent. The outerboroughs in nyc are cheaper the further out you go. Basically sf is apple and nyc is the pc. Theres more asian chicks in sf if you are into that
I never bought into the notion that you have to be a wall street tycoon to survive in NYC. I dont think I ever made more than 25 or 30 grand a year living there in my early 20's. the thing about NYC is all you need is a metrocard to get around and you can survive on pizza, hot dogs, deli sandwiches, coffee, and bagels if you have to. to live comfortably in NYC like an average adult, I'm sure you could do it for 40 grand a year easily. that's why I honestly believe SF is more expensive.
Are you more of a hipster or a gritty guy? If you like that hippy urban, go to Cali. If you enjoy gritty urban, NY it is.
I've been living in San Fran since mid April and I like it a lot. Second others on how crazy expensive it is. A corporate apartment near the civic center (ghetto) is 3k a month, so I'm guessing a regular 12 month lease is around 2.5k. But I've mostly been around the financial district, soma, civic center and mission bay areas. There's a lot of good cheap food if you're willing to brave the tenderloin. Living next to their excellent rail system (BART) is pretty handy, but real estate costs will adjust accordingly. Never been to NY, but I'm aiming for that to be my next destination!
Tough choice, my 2 favorite cities in the US and it's close. They complement each other well. NYC if it were only about spring and fall. But for a full year, I give the slight edge to SF. I'll take sweater weather and rain year round over brutal summers and winters.
I would choose San Francisco 100 times out of 100. But I wouldnt live in either. Too crowded, too expensive.
I've lived in SF for 4 years now. Here are the best things about it: - Scenery - views of the Bay, Alcatraz, GG Bridge, Bay Bridge, Twin Peaks, etc. - Parks - every neighborhood has badass parks, which are great when it's sunny out; I'm only a 5 min walk from Crissy Beach, and live down the street from the Yacht Club - Day Drinking - either at dive bars or at the parks is a huge part of the lifestyle here - Skiing: Tahoe area has Kirkwood, Heavenly, Squaw, etc all within 3 hrs - Proximity to Other: Napa, Yosemite, Monterey/Carmel, Santa Cruz, etc. - Beaches: multiple beaches in the city: Crissy Field, Ocean Beach, Baker Beach on the few days where it's warm enough for it. - Walkability - don't need a car here. You can walk/cab/bus it 10-15 mins anywhere - Restaurants - world class; some really unique places here - Giants games - these are fun as hell The Bad - Weather/Fog - as I type this it's 57 degrees outside and foggy...in the middle of the summer. it rarely gets above 75 here so you're never really warm. I miss the sun in Texas. - Homeless - when you're downtown, you have dodge these guys everywhere. I don't like smelling piss at 530AM when I'm heading to work. - Rents out of control: thanks to the Social Media boom, a decent 1BR/1BA will run you at least $2500, and it's super competitive. There is a major shortage of housing here - Nightlife - there's some decent places to hang out like Marina and North Beach, but overall it's way lacking compared to NY. Most places do last call at 1:30A, and there's really no "nice" places to go
