I wasn't sure at the time I did it, but in retrospect, moving to SF was the best health-related decision of my life. (After Ga Tech in Atlanta, I waffled for ye

I wasn't sure at the time I did it, but in retrospect, moving to SF was the best health-related decision of my life. (After Ga Tech in Atlanta, I waffled for years about moving to either SF or Boston, before finally moving to Mtn View in the early dotcom era. After one yr, I left for a 2 yr stint overseas, then moved back to SF in 2000.) I hate going to the gym, and Atlanta is miserably hot for outdoor exercise. As you say, in SF you can cycle or walk every day all year -- lately I walk an average 5 miles per day. When out of town friends come visit, they're so used to driving in the suburbs that they can't walk 6 blocks without complaining (six block isn't even one mile). I love it when ppl complain about parking; tough parking is your friend, bc it encourages you to bike or walk. SF has multiple local farmers markets where you can get fresh seasonal produce. Fresh vegetables taste different than what you get in a supermarket. This is one of the key benefits of being in California. (In Atlanta, there are "International Farmers Markets" where the produce is shipped from Peru/Chile.) In Atlanta I rented a 2br house by myself, and when I moved to Mtn View I brought most my stuff with me. Luckily I was able to drop that mentality while living out of a suitcase in a Sao Paulo hotel suite for two years. When I moved to SF, I ditched all my crap and shared an apartment. At the time I worked in Walnut Creek at Maxis/EA and several coworkers told me they wished they could live in SF but "couldn't afford it". The real issue is that for the same cost of renting a tiny SF apartment, they could rent a 2BR house in Pleasant Hill with garage and washer/dryer and they were unwilling to downgrade their lifestyle. My sister told me for decades she wanted to move back to a city, but they were trapped on the Florida space coast by that same mentality. Consider that you might be able to find a living situation where the master tenant has been living there for a while and has cheaper rent than market rate. When living in Sao Paulo, I got some kind of severe respiratory allergy, and even after it passed, it still affected my sinuses. Moving to SF, I recovered because the air is fresh here. The smog gets pushed against the hills in Alameda. The famous fog and ocean air gets sucked across the city due to inland heating that lifts air, lowers air pressure, causing a breathing effect. People are transient here, over the years most the friends I'd made moved away. Many of them had moved to SF intending to stay only for a few years in the first place. People are busy here, and it's difficult to socialize. It's totally unlike Atlanta where people had time to chat and I had built a huge professional network. Here my network is relatively small. The art/music culture may not be what it used to be, but you can still see the arts in Oakland [1], and open studios every October in SF [2], and it's still decent compared to other similar sized cities. The art museums here are certainly better than the ones in Atlanta. [1] https://www.oaklandfirstfridays.org https://www.oaklandfirstfridays.org [2] https://www.artspan.org/visit-sf-open-studios https://www.artspan.org/visit-sf-open-studios When I'm working on the peninsula, I take my bike on Caltrain. It takes longer than driving, but I like aspects about it: exercise while commuting, enforced practice focusing on work during the train ride (instead of wasting that time reading news), and you see some regulars on the train. Cool things you can do in SF that you can't do in Atlanta: - For a few years I was a volunteer docent at Point Bonita lighthouse in the Marin Headlands (part of Golden Gate Natl Rec Area), which I thought was cool. But if you want to meet females, you're better off volunteering at the Marine Mammal Center. - For the first 5 yrs in SF, I shared a ski house in Tahoe every winter. Tahoe is ~3.5-4 hour drive from SF (if no traffic). I'd find a group on Craigslist, 12 ppl get a Dec-Apr lease. Mid-week skiing is awesome, sometimes you have whole slopes to yourself. - I had a roommate who'd get up early a few times per week and go surfing in Pacifica before work. You can dial in your cost of living: - I learned how to cook well, and cook at home almost every meal now. Most my groceries are from the farmers market and Costco. Huge savings compared to eating out all the time. - For a while I got rid of my car, and was spending about the same on Zipcar as I had spent on car liability insurance alone. - Housing is cheaper in Berkeley/Oakland and Bart isn't bad. Some companies give pre-tax commuter benefits. It's unfortunate there aren't more tech startups in East Bay.