If I Were Moving to San Francisco in 2025, I'd Move Here

San Francisco has nearly 90 different neighborhoods, each of them very different from each other. Different culture, lifestyle, nightlife, food, walkability, weather, parks, making it extremely difficult to figure out what is the exact right neighborhood for you. I faced that very problem when I first moved to San Francisco. I had spent most of my life in Orange County and had moved to San Francisco from New York where I was living for law school. I just got a job at a law firm with an office in downtown. And while I'd been to San Francisco before on vacation and for things like job interviews, I never really spent that much time in the city exploring the ins and outs of all the different neighborhoods. And I didn't have a resource that could guide me through all those ins and outs of the various neighborhoods and make sure that where I ended up checked off all the boxes that I wanted checked. So I thought it'd be a good idea after living here for over a decade to make that resource for someone else who might be moving here in a similar position that I was when I first moved here over a decade ago. This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent in San Francisco and Marin County. I moved to San Francisco in 2013. At the time, I was single. I didn't own a car and I had a job in downtown San Francisco. Being near nightlife was really important to me. Food is one of the most important things for me. Still is today. Literally the only reason I work out is so I can feel a little bit less guilty for all the crap that I eat. And because I didn't own a car, I wanted to be within either walking distance or at least easy public transit access to get to downtown. Because at that time when I first moved here, you know, it was pre-pandemic. I was going to the office. 5, sometimes more days a week, and I had really long hours. The last thing I wanted to do was sit in a ton of traffic on a really long commute home. My life is very different today. I'm not a lawyer anymore. I'm not single anymore, and I'm definitely too old to be going out to all the bars. But food is still a huge priority for me, as is walkability. So these wouldn't be my priority neighborhoods if I was moving to the city today as current me, but as 10 years ago me. 10 years ago me. Knowing what I know about the city now, these are the neighborhoods that I would consider. First up is the Mission District in the south-central part of San Francisco. Now I'll say this up front, I don't think the Mission is the safest or the cleanest neighborhood in the city. Not all of the Mission is bad. There are certain parts of it that I would probably avoid. Areas that are really close to the 16th Street and 24th Street BART stations can be a bit dodgy sometimes, but there are some absolutely stunning places to live in the Mission. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Think beautiful tree-lined streets, flat blocks, gorgeous historic homes next to a ton of incredible food and nightlife. The Mission also has some of the best weather in San Francisco, and in my opinion, the most expansive food and nightlife scenes in the city, from things like hole-in-the-wall places with amazing late-night food to some of the finest multi-Michelin star restaurants in the entire city, on top of all those great bars and nightclubs that you get living in the Mission. And like I mentioned before, it has 2 BART stations. Each of them will get you right to downtown in just a few minutes. Also, Muni lines throughout the area, so really easy to get to downtown by bus. The Mission unfortunately isn't walking distance to downtown, but it is a very convenient place to live still if you have to work downtown and commute to work. It also has one of the most beautiful parks in the city, Dolores Park, with awesome views of downtown San Francisco surrounded by some gorgeous historic Victorian homes. It also recently underwent a huge renovation, so you have things like new tennis courts, tennis courts and new seating spaces, new playground area. Really a ton of awesome things to do in The Mission. Now, if I was moving to the city as 2013 me today, not 100% sure that I would ultimately choose The Mission, but because of all the nightlife and the food options that are available and all the activities and amenities that are available in The Mission, plus the weather, plus the convenience for working downtown, it would definitely be on my list of places that I would consider. You know, the main downsides for me, the Mission tends to be on the hillier side. I also prefer to be walkable to downtown if I'm working downtown and have to go as much as I was going when I first lived here. I also prefer being closer to the water. I think it's just more peaceful, more beautiful. It's also a huge pain to find parking in the Mission. So while you don't need a car to live there, if you do have a car, you better get a place with parking because finding street parking in the Mission is awful. Most of the Mission District is condos, not single-family homes. Only 7 single-family homes have sold there in the last year for an average of about $1.7 million, about $850 a foot. Definitely below average for a single-family home on a per-foot basis, NSF. In contrast, about 40 condos have sold for an average of about $1.25 million, a little over $1,000 a foot, also below average for condo prices in all of San Francisco. By the way, if you want to learn more about how different neighborhoods in San Francisco stack up against each other, I've got a separate video on that where I rank in tiers a bunch of different places in San Francisco. I don't go through all of the nearly 90 different neighborhoods, that would take way too long, but I do hit a lot of the popular and some of the not so popular neighborhoods. So if you want to see how those stack up against each other, go check that video out. I'll link it in the description below. And if you like more videos just like this or about current events in San Francisco or new developments, definitely subscribe to my channel because I make videos about that stuff every single week. And if you're thinking about buying a home in the city, definitely reach out to me. I've helped people relocate from within San Francisco and from all over the country to the city. I'd be happy to be a resource for you. I'll link my contact information in the description below as well. Reach out anytime. Now back to the neighborhoods I would consider if 2013 me was moving to San Francisco today. And the next one on my list is Mission Bay. Now Mission Bay is way different today than it was when I first moved here. So if I was moving here in 2013, there wouldn't really be as much to consider in Mission Bay as there is today. Probably wouldn't make my list at all. But Mission Bay today is definitely worth considering if you're in a similar situation to the one that I was in when I was first moving here in 2013. Mission Bay is a 300-acre waterfront neighborhood close to the Eastern and Central Waterfront. It's really close to the highway, so super easy to get to the airport or to the South Bay, which was really important for me when I, when I first moved here because I was traveling a ton for work. It also has some of the nicest weather in all of San Francisco, very similar to the Mission. It's also entirely flat, unlike the Mission, so it is very, very walkable. Mission Bay itself is a tech hub. You know, OpenAI is headquartered there. So if you're relocating to San Francisco for a tech job, definitely should be on your radar. And I go over Mission Bay in a ton more detail in a separate video. I'll link in the description below. I've also got another video on where to think about relocating if you're moving for an AI job or a tech job. I'll put that in the description below as. But Mission Bay is great even if you don't work in Mission Bay or you don't work in tech necessarily. It is walking distance to SoMa and the financial district. So financial firms, consulting firms, law firms, all of those different companies are gonna probably have outposts if they have offices at San Francisco in one of those places. And Mission Bay is very convenient if you're working in those places. And like I said, Mission Bay has changed a ton. There's so much more to do there today than there was, you know, over 10 years ago. You know, biggest thing in my book, it's right next to a brand new community, Mission Rock, that has a ton of great food as well as Thrive City and the Chase Center, which is where the Golden State Warriors play. There are a ton of bars, new restaurants, concerts, outdoor events. It's also close to Oracle Park where the San Francisco Giants play, plus all the bars and restaurants servicing that area right by the ballpark. There's a ton of new development going on near there, you know, at Mission Rock, at Pier 70 near the Dogpatch area. There's a brand new RH with a gorgeous restaurant and rooftop, and a whole lot more is coming there. There's a huge UCSF Medical Center there. So if you're in a similar situation to the one that I was when I first moved here in 2013, $1.3 million, 100% you should be considering Mission Bay. Most of the housing in Mission Bay, it's not really single-family homes. It's much newer, more modern condo buildings, amenity buildings, some loft-style buildings as well. The average condo in Mission Bay has sold for a little bit under $1.1 million, about $980 a foot, less than the average condo that sells in all of San Francisco, which is about $1.28 million, a little over $1,000 a foot. Obviously a million dollars isn't cheap, but when you compare it to what else you can get in the city and the fact that these are, you know, for the most part, very new condos with amenity spaces, definitely relatively a good bargain. One thing to keep in mind though, because a lot of these buildings have amenities, the HOA fees tend to be higher in Mission Bay than in other places in San Francisco. The cheapest HOA over the past 2 years for condos that have sold is about $400 a month, and it goes up to north of $1,600 a month depending on the amenity stack at the building. It's obviously going to vary building to building, but if you're moving into an amenitized building, you know, with doorman and gym and rooftop, things like that, ballpark, you should estimate at least $1,000 a month. Okay. The next area I consider if 2013 me was moving to San Francisco would be Russian Hill. It's colder weather than Mission Bay and the Mission, but I personally prefer colder weather. I actually like the weather better in San Francisco than I do in Orange County. So not a negative for me, but just something to be aware of. It's also way hillier than Mission Bay, which is completely flat, probably hillier than the Mission as well, but it's much closer to downtown than the Mission is. If the name didn't indicate Russian Hill itself, is a big hill. So maybe even though it is closer to downtown, TBD whether you're actually going to want to walk to downtown. Depending on where you live in Russian Hill, that might be easy to do. You probably are going to be walking downhill if you're walking to work, but if you're going to walk home from work, you're going to be walking up a massive hill. So maybe it's better to take public transit, or if you drive, drive home from work than it is to walk home from work. Russian Hill also has one of the best dining and bar scenes in the city. You've got all the great bars and restaurants on Hyde Street, which trend a little more on the higher-end side in my opinion. My two favorites are probably Union Larder, which is a wine bar, and Seven Hills, which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the city. Really low-key, like no-frills restaurant, amazing pasta. And then you have the bars and restaurants on Polk, which trend a little more casual, a bit more rowdy than the ones on Hyde Street. Lord Stanley and McAndre on Polk are awesome, definitely worth checking out. Another great perk of living in Russian Hill, especially compared to Mission Bay and the Mission, in my opinion, is that Russian Hill has way better views. You have great views from the hilly parts of the Mission, of the city, and Eastern Waterfront, and you do have waterfrontage views in Mission Bay, but you get those coveted north-facing views from Russian Hill, as well as views of the city downtown to the east, and depending on where you live, maybe to the Presidio to the west. Unfortunately, those views and the convenience of living in Russian Hill come at a very steep price point. The average single-family home over the past year sold for $4.3 million in Russian Hill, about $1,240 a foot, with the highest ones going for north of $2,600 a foot in the, like, super prime locations in the area. The average condo over the past year sold for about $1.7 million, about $1,170 a foot, and some have sold for well north of $2,000 a foot in those prime buildings with those big views. So by no means is it a relatively affordable area. It is much more expensive than some of the other areas on my list and one of the most expensive areas in the entire city. The number 2 neighborhood to consider on my list is the Marina on the northern waterfront of San Francisco. Not only do you get gorgeous classic San Francisco architecture, that Marina-style home you see everywhere in the neighborhood, but you have a completely flat neighborhood, one of the most walkable in the entire city, mild weather by San Francisco standards, easy access to the most beautiful open green spaces along the north waterfront. You have Crissy Field and Marina Green at your doorstep, which are, you know, great open green spaces, great places for pets, for kids, lounging around, going on jogs, taking in the sun on warmer days. Truly some of the best park sites in the city. You also have incredible park space by the really awesome Palace of Fine Arts. You are steps from all the shops and restaurants and nightlife on Chestnut Street. You have a ton of events that happen year-round at Fort Mason, plus some awesome food and artist shops in Fort Mason as well. One thing to keep in mind is that because there are so many great bars that are open a little bit later in the area, Chestnut Street does tend to get pretty busy and stay busy later into the night and remain louder later into the night. So if you're living like right on Chestnut or like literally right next to Chestnut, expect it to be a little bit noisier and have a lot more traffic. But if you're living on the offshoots and further into the neighborhood, it is really serene, very peaceful, very quiet. The streets of the Marina are a bit narrower, so it can be tougher to park and tougher to navigate street parking there in particular because of those shops and restaurants and bars that I mentioned. Really hard to come by. So definitely consider getting a place with parking if you're thinking of living in the Marina. But honestly, the Marina is so walkable, you really don't need a car unless you need it for work, for example. The Marina is also an incredibly expensive neighborhood by San Francisco standards. The average home is just about $4 million, almost $1,400 a foot, and condos on average about $1.5 million, over $1,200 a foot. So on a per-foot basis, one of the most expensive areas to live in in the city. But the amenities there are amazing, 100% worth it, and definitely an area you should be considering if you're in a similar situation to the one that I was in when I first moved to San Francisco. And the number 1 neighborhood on my list is actually the neighborhood that I ended up moving to when I first moved to San Francisco. Just happened to be the one that I would choose today knowing what I know about the city, and that's North Beach. North Beach is on the north side of San Francisco as well, but much closer to the Financial District. That was one of the primary reasons I chose to live there when I first moved here. Remember, I was working at a law firm in downtown San Francisco in the Financial District, and from my place in North Beach, which was right next to Joe DiMaggio Park, which I'll talk about in a second, it was was a little over 20 minutes door-to-door walking. That walk was mostly flat, and on the way home, you're walking by so many great food spots that, you know, you could stop at any number of them and get awesome food to go on your way home from work. Super convenient. The general neighborhood is relatively flat. There is a slight incline if you're going toward the Financial District on Columbus, which is the route that I would take. Um, there are some hilly streets in the outer edges of the neighborhood, but the heart of North Beach, for the most part, is pretty flat and super walkable. And like I hinted at before, the food in North Beach is amazing. North Beach is known as San Francisco's Little Italy, and for someone whose favorite food is Italian, it's absolutely heaven. Places that I would stop to routinely on my way home from work: Molinari's Deli, A+ Sandwiches, some of my favorite in the city, and Tony's Pizza, my favorite pizza to this day in the city. There are also great cocktail bars and dive bars lining Columbus Street and its offshoots as well, so plenty of places to go out after you've had a great meal at one of those Italian restaurants. It also has great amenities. One of my favorite parks in the city, Washington Square Park, is in North Beach. It's not a huge park, but great open green space, and it's surrounded by a ton of different restaurants, so it's really easy to go get food to go from one of those places and have a nice picnic in the park. The neighborhood is also steps from the Northern Waterfront, which is where Pier 39 is. Not exactly a place that locals hang out at, although they are trying to do a complete revamp of the area to try and get locals there. We'll see how that shakes out. But setting aside Pier 39, you can have, you know, great walks or runs along that Northern Waterfront. You have some awesome food at your doorstep of any neighborhood in the city. There are also multiple grocery stores very close by. Where I lived, I was 2 blocks away from Safeway and a Trader Joe's, and I was close to a ton of other stuff. I was a block away from the gym. I was a couple blocks away from Joe DiMaggio Park, which underwent a huge renovation recently. New tennis courts, basketball courts, there's an indoor swimming pool there. Really beautiful park space. There are just so many incredible amenities in North Beach, and it is so walkable. It is the perfect neighborhood, in my opinion, to live in for someone who's getting acquainted with the city, especially if they have work downtown. And what's great is that despite having all these amenities, it is relatively affordable compared to other neighborhoods in San Francisco and several on my list. Not a ton of single-family homes here. It is mostly multifamily living. The average condo in North Beach over the past year has sold for about $1.25 million, about $1,020 a foot. So very in line with city average, not egregiously expensive, relatively speaking. Well, there you have it. Those are the neighborhoods that I would consider moving to if 2013 me was moving to the city for the first time today. So if you're in a similar position as I was when I first moved here, or you want similar things to the things that I wanted, definitely consider those neighborhoods. They all offer different styles of architecture, a mix of walkable streets, action-packed food and nightlife scenes, and are relatively easy to get to and from downtown. If you want to learn more about each of these neighborhoods, I have in-depth tours of them that I will link in the description below. And if you're thinking about purchasing a home in any of these areas or other areas in San Francisco and have questions about the market, definitely reach out to me. I've helped people relocate to San Francisco from all over the country, and I'd be happy to be a resource for you. I'll put my contact info in the description below. Definitely reach out. Or if you like videos just like this, or about current events or new developments, all about San Francisco and Marin County, subscribe to my channel because I make videos about that stuff every single week. I hope you enjoyed the video, and I'll see you in the next one. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]