For those of you familiar with the area, is there any reasonably priced (rental) housing within, oh say, an hour’s commute of Fisherman’s Wharf/Cannery Row? Closer is better of course, but…
TIA,
Loren
Hey, did you get the job at Lark? At least planning an interview?
I’ve sent in my resume and have been told I can expect further contact shortly. So, at this point, I need to find out more about the cost of living in the area, preferrably from some locals.
Anyone know how pet friendly the area is? Some places I’ve lived it’s next to impossible to find reasonably priced housing (apartments) where large dogs are allowed 
Loren
Krikey!! I almost forgot a question almost as important:
How’s the Mountain Biking in the SF area? Gotta get some dirt under those fat tires 
Loren
Loren, that’s fantastic! I just want to let you know that I am personally counting on you to transform Lark into the best music store in the world.
Now go get 'em!
Chris
Loren:
I don’t know for sure about rent prices, but the town of Pacifica is awesome for an independent man and his dog. Foggy climate (if you don’t mind a break from SEastern heat), a seashore to run along, nature hikes on the mountains behind. Music and art nearby both North and South of there. Boating and fishing if that’s yer cuppa. Yes, I have considered moving there but can’t.
The people are a nice blend of blue-collar families with some yuppies, but always kind of downhome, perhaps owing to a fair amount of Mex-Am, Italian and Portuguese families who just can’t get too WASP-y. Lots of smart and artsy types who wanted a more relaxed enviro, like schoolteachers and free-lancers too. Seems like you could wedge in there as its not known to be a snobby, exclusive (expensive) place like Marin or parts of the Peninsula. As our economy has been so poor, you might have a good shot gettin in in various places around here, I dunno. People on the Peninsula claim that the freeways are much quieter these days, owing to dot.com failures.
I haven’t lived there so take all of this with reserve, but it seems like a heck of a place to alight if you could find a cottage or something. The drive to SF is a bit hairy in the winter but its quicker than many other directions you could go.
Best wishes and good luck,
THe Weekender
PS: Mountain biking was invented here! Plenty of it, both in Pacifica and just about everywhere around you. Heck, me and TonyH both bike in our local canyons.
Weekenders,
Thanks for info and the tip on Pacifica, I’ll check it out 
Laughlin,
Don’t jinx me dude, I’m far from having a job offer yet.
Loren
“Reasonably priced” is relative, anywhere in Northern California. Do you have a rough idea as to how much you may be able to afford per month? There are some on-line rental sites that may be of help to you. If you were moving to Santa Cruz, I’d say be prepared to spend about $1000 per month for a one-bedroom apartment (or about $500-$700 for a room in a private home or in a rooming house)…I don’t know if SF is higher or lower, though. When I lived there (almost 20 years ago), I had a room in a boarding house (bath down the hall) for which I paid $425/month, but that included breakfast and supper, and was right in the middle of town (Union Square area).
Commuting isn’t a big problem in the City…the transit system is really, really good. It’s a pretty walkable city too, if you don’t mind steep hills 
The first thing that springs to mind when you say mountain biking is Mt. Tam.
It is a really great city to live in…I loved San Francisco, and still love to visit.
Redwolf
I’ll second Pacifica, but be prepared to wasting a good few hours a day in traffic if you’re planning on commuting to SF. Another place nearbye that isn’t too bad is someplace up towards Santa Rosa. Ideal if you ask me and it’s the best place to live in California outside of where I live up in the mountains away from all the $*&#@!& people. Lots of mountains and cool trails up there for you and your dog to stretch your legs. It’s a bit further of a drive but it’s nice. I have some buddies up there in school right now and I’ll see if they can give me some numbers. You also might want to take a look at www.craigslist.org It will give you an idea of the costs of the areas around the bay area and basically it’s like a big classified ads for housing in the BA and it should give you an idea on the pet situation. Just about everyone puts up there vacancies and houses up there so you might find something. Best of luck with the job Loren.
Loren,
You might check commuter housing in Marin County North of San Francisco (still might be close enough to be too expensive): Novato, Kentfield, Mill Valley) and further up into Sonoma County (Petaluma, Cotati, Sebastopol, maybe as far as Santa Rosa). Drive in from there to across the bay from “The City” and take public transport.
Mountain bike riding is plentiful in Marin County (just North of SF). Mt. Tam, or in Sonoma County.
Kevin Krell
Geographically, Marin is certainly closer to the SF Marina. But rents will be much higher until you reach San Rafael. The southern part of town has a lot of apartments and such but is more troubled (some homeless, lots of restless day laborers), mostly due to our immigration policies. I go there four times a week as my son’s gymnastic academy is there. There are some nice older neighborhoods in the transition area as you get toward downton tho. With the exception of Marin City, not an attractive area, most of the towns that are a stone’s throw from the GG Bridge are pretty damn expensive.
I don’t think you will spend “hours” commuting from Pacifica (that’s why I suggested it) but you certainly would from Santa Rosa or even Novato. That traffic is a nightmare. Herbivore, if listening, knows about Marin traffic and could probably give ya a rundown of typical travel times to SF.
Mountain biking in the Peninsula is just as good as Marin, but not as popular, tho some like the steepness of Mt. Tam. Peninsula has Mt. San Bruno and other high hills and county and state parks. Lotsa road biking too.
Anywhere around the bay area is going to be horrible, the price of living is crazy. I checked into about a year ago and I had a friends uncle offer me a “good deal” (quotation marks added for sarcasm). It was right in the city and it was a studio apartment (not even a bedroom) he was asking around $1000 a month, it didn’t seem like he was cutting me a deal. MArin county is just as bad although a bit less, my grandparents have lived there their entire lives, they bought there house for like 3000 dollars in the 40’s, now it is worth half a million. I’d say just find a magazine that has a bunch of listings. The city WILL be expensive, and I suggest using the BART transportation instead of commuting, the drivers are crazier there than where I live, LA. Plus, you could ride your bike part of the way from the station. That would be a good life, Lark in the Morning, public transportation into one of the best cities in the world and riding a bike, sounds like a keeper.
The bay area is really expensive, but the non-rich do live there. SF has probably the best public transit on the west coast. Fisherman’s wharf is not close to a BART station, but is a single bus ride from a few stations. Gives you a lot bigger area to choose from. As far south as Colma, or in the east bay, Union City, or Richmond.
Pets always make it harder to find rental housing, but you know that…
Weekenders is right about Pacifica being a good choice (if you can stand the fog); it’s pleasant, diverse, and not a bad drive to the City. My exec. assistant lives in Pacifica, and it takes her 25 - 30 minutes to get to our office in San Bruno, just south of SF. It’d probably take a bit longer to get to the Marina, but it certainly wouldn’t take hours. Probably 40 minutes to an hour, depending.
I live in San Rafael and work in San Bruno, so have to cross the GG bridge whenever I go to the office. It takes me 30 minutes if I leave at an ungodly hour (like 4:30 a.m., for the dreaded European conference calls), but an average of 50 minutes to an hour at normal commute times. Really not too bad if you like what Marin has to offer; however, your public transport options into the city are limited, and time-consuming. Public transport is much better from the East Bay or Peninsula, or within the city. (All bets are off if there’s an accident somewhere, though; I’ve spent three or four hours trapped on either the Bay or GG bridge in the past, and that’s not too fun. Also not too frequent, thank god.)
Weeks is also right about costs and areas in which to live: we live in a nice are of San Rafael, eight or so blocks from downtown, amongst fancypants Victorian houses that go for two million and up (we live in a dinky duplex, though). For our two-bedroom duplex, we pay just under $1800/month in rent. When I lived in SF a couple years ago, I lived in the Outer Sunset (the fog belt), in a smallish studio, and paid $1200/month. It ain’t cheap, but if you can handle a roommate situation, it may be better.
Pets are hard. Took me a long time to find a place that’d take a cat, much less a large dog. It’s eaier to find pet-friendly places (at least it was for us) outside of SF proper. With vacancies slightly higher than before, maybe landlords will be willing to give a little, but rent sure didn’t decrease in accord with the economic downturn, at least in the most desirable areas. We’ll see what happens as folks continue to move out, though.
Good luck with the job hunt!!!
SF…dude, that would be sweet!
This may be of some help. If you plug in your current salary and place of residence, it will tell you how much you need to make to maintain your current standard of living in your target city.:
http://www.monstermoving.com/Find_A_Place/Calculators/SalaryCalc/
The advantage to doing this is it will give you some idea as to whether housing in your projected price range is likely to be available (and, if so, if it’s likely to meet your expectations as to a suitable place to live). You can play around with various Bay Area communities to see if there’s one or another that might work for you financially.
This link may also be of some use…it’s a rental/roommate finder service:
Redwolf
You do know about the earthquakes, I’m guessing. And the potential for a tidal wave from off Japan…
Another concern: is this state big enough for the both of us…
(First Africanized bees, then West Nile Virus, now Loren Bookbinder.) I’d head west, but I’d need a boat.
If you work at Lark, I’ll walk in and ask about these stupid looking recorders with 6 holes. “What’s up with that?” “No thanks, I’m just lookin’”
Tony 
Hey Loren: A la Tony, if you work there, I wanna see you lose it and kill tourists 57 ways, because I gotta tell ya, that store is intense with the racket from all the pounding, strumming, tootin’ and touchin and typical reactions by newcomers (What IS this? Oooh, well tell me all about it, Can I learn it, do you have a book, oh, Auntie Velma will LOVE this, etc). A siege mentality exists amongst the employees, though the one older lady has always been very nice. I haven’t seen her there for a while…
Every time I go in there, I wonder if I could take it (having been a music store manager before). Maybe with earplugs…
But with LB there, its open season on shoplifters! Nyuk…
Herbi’s a champ, btw, with that good info..
Thanks everyone (except Higgins). I’m not far enough along yet to have any info on what the job might pay, so I’m just trying to get a basic idea on housing costs at the moment, sounds about as expensive as I expected, and with a big dog…well, I’m sure it would be quite a challange. We’ll see what happens.
Week,
Yeah, I know what you mean, having managed a musical instrument store in the past. However, here’s how I look at it: No electric guitars, Marshall stacks, or acoustic drumsets - so I won’t have to listen to people butcher “Eruption” 20 times a day at ear splitting volume, nor will I have to listen to non-drummers thrash away on 24" kick drums, 8" snares, and loud ass cymbals. Everything is relative
Thanks again everyone (Tony, better start paddling now)
Yup, Loren, its IS better than any Guitar Center you could ever walk into! Good luck!