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I live in Norcal SF is cool but just as clique status as LA, personally I think Los Angeles is a much better move and you can go farther a lot faster. SF to me is really really fun to visit, but im the type of person that likes to be responsible for himself and drive myself places, this is impossible in SF and it gets old fast. Not to mention everyone is in a band and everyone sucks. You'll move back home in 2 to 3 months, you can't hack it here kid. But I do wish ya luck, and if you do move to SF the pork store on haight st is world famous for their breakfast and i suggest you live a little and try it. After breakfast if you feel like smokin some green shit, hippie hill is in the park at the end of haight st and some fools can sell ya a dub sack and you can get all red eyed and go shoppin. words.

all snark aside, it would seriously be wise to visit the Bay Area for at least a week or two before committing to moving here. it's a weird place in many ways, especially if you're coming from a back-East background and experience (trust me on this; i came here from Chicago), and before you relocate you had better know what you're dealing with. do research, and not just "research" that involves people talking about the great weekend trip or year at UC Berkeley they had...living somewhere in non-student mode is a whole other thing. the internets are full of people; find yourself some San Francisco bands in your age cohort on Facebook and e-mail them, and see if you can get them to talk with you about what they're dealing with and how they live. i'm not telling you "don't do it," i'm advising you not to move to the other side of the country based on an idea of San Francisco/the Bay Area as a home and a place to make music which may not reflect reality. find out what the reality is, then decide.

snipelfritz wrote:I don't know jack about the Bay Area, but when I lived in Minneapolis we got lucky and ended up in a house where you could barely hear us playing from outside when we played in the basement. We also lived next to an old lady who could hardly hear on one side and a dysfunctional couple who we could hear arguing all the time. This was a relatively urban area; I'm not sure exactly what constitutes urban, but it certainly wasn't a suburb. The houses were probably 10' away on one side(dysfunctional couple) and 30' on the other(old lady). Point is, if you're the only ones living in a house with a basement with concrete walls and a bit of buffer space, you should be fine. Just so long as you aren't playing at full volume.

Oh, and we were pretty sure the guy two houses down was a higher level drug dealer, but he was like some 30-something dude with a family. It was a weird area. Cool, but weird at times.

Basements pretty much dont exist in California, especially not in urban areas.

I'm in the East Bay Area.
Walnut Creek is too expensive. Alamo is also expensive.
My friend who lives in one of the cities surrounding Pleasanton says that that area is fine.

And as for the rough neighborhoods, it's really not as bad as you think. Maybe stay away from Richmond, but i live in what people would consider to be a "rough" area, and i'm doing fine. I was also talking to this one guy from one of my classes and he lives in Oakland with i think 5 other dudes in some house, and relative to everywhere else, it doesn't really cost that much.

Sorry if i don't have super specific details, but yea... the bay area in general is expensive (relatively speaking)

DEATHDRUG wrote:I live in Norcal SF is cool but just as clique status as LA, personally I think Los Angeles is a much better move and you can go farther a lot faster. SF to me is really really fun to visit, but im the type of person that likes to be responsible for himself and drive myself places, this is impossible in SF and it gets old fast. Not to mention everyone is in a band and everyone sucks. You'll move back home in 2 to 3 months, you can't hack it here kid. But I do wish ya luck, and if you do move to SF the pork store on haight st is world famous for their breakfast and i suggest you live a little and try it. After breakfast if you feel like smokin some green shit, hippie hill is in the park at the end of haight st and some fools can sell ya a dub sack and you can get all red eyed and go shoppin. words.

thank goodness you are happy where you are now!!!
Been living in the city for 5 years and counting. If you want to Make it, Then make it within yourself. Visit all 3 citys proper and you will have true clarity! All moves are challenging for all involved ,so it IS what you make of it you know! I am from San Diego and this is my home in the City of San Francisco. And i love this city. And i ride my bike.

Whoa, totally neglected this. Anyway, thanks for all the info so far dudes.

dubkitty, I agree that talking to bands / musicians from the area is important and we're trying to do this (making this topic was part of that effort, in fact ). The reason we're set on SF is because my job is actually kind of well-paying and, me being a software developer, the SF Bay area is really the best place for me to get a job these days, and I've signed already so trying to make the best of this move is kind of our motive right now.