5 ms·

As someone who has worked in South SF for years, it is pretty bad for employees. It is a cultural wasteland with few restaurants or interesting things to do. Tr

by dmode 7y ago

As someone who has worked in South SF for years, it is pretty bad for employees. It is a cultural wasteland with few restaurants or interesting things to do. Transit is also poor as both BART and Caltrain are in awkward locations. And the fog is worse. This will be like Uber’s move to Oakland, which got rolled back pretty quickly

masahiko 7y ago
Fog is worse than where? I work in SSF as well... A) its where businesses like Stripe should be in the coming years (it wont be creative, it'll be internet infrastructure) B) there is a ferry to Oakland (to help alleviate the absurd traffic jams over the bay bridge) and C) bring some variety (right now SSF is all pharma and med device) into SSF. There is no reason why SSF couldn't be a thriving, cool place to live and work. It takes companies like Stripe to take the lead and have a vision. Right now downtown SSF is totally boring but add a good grocery store (ahem, Berkeley Bowl) a couple cool coffee shops, wine bars and great restaurants and it would be a perfect fine place to live and work - half way between the south bay and SF. Buy, renovate or build a place or open a restaurant in SSF now while you have than chance. It will be corporate, funky but potentially cool in 5 years with your creative and financial energy in it.
- harimau777 7y ago
  Is SSF still a large city in terms of cost of living and owning a home? Personally, by living in a large city I'm giving up the ability to own a home in exchange for access to niche resources such as ethnic enclaves, bohemian artist communities, cultural events, groups dedicated to uncommon hobbies, etc. Just having trendy restaurants and coffee shops wouldn't do it for me.
  - bravura 7y ago
    I think you’ve nailed for me the difference between superficial trendiness and rich culture, in an urban setting
  - maxlamb 7y ago
    |bohemian artist communities Do bohemian artist communities still exist in San Francisco? How can they afford to live there?
    - asdff 7y ago
      *65 year old bohemian artist communities that bought their property in 1972
    - Noos 7y ago
      trust fund kids with their MFAs playing at being bohemians, more likely. These days a lot of people who would have been bohemians are drawing porn of cartoon characters on Patreon to pay the bills. Art is a rich man's game now.
- selimthegrim 7y ago
  The ferry terminal with 12 bike spots (like downtown Oakland BART station which has 8) and no current ferry service to Pier 41? Why doesn't Stripe fork over some $$$ for that if they're so serious?
thordenmark 7y ago
North of the GG Bridge has great restaurants and plenty to do. More tech companies should move up there, I don't understand why they usually go south of SF. Also, real estate can be found that are still within a range middle class can afford.
- derekdahmer 7y ago
  Marin is over an hour away by bus from SF, with no train or BART. Basically to work in Marin you have to live in Marin, so any company that moved there wouldn't be taking advantage of the SF/South Bay labor market.
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    Marin is over an hour away by bus from SF, with no train or BART. Basically to work in Marin you have to live in Marin, so any company that moved there wouldn't be taking advantage of the SF/South Bay labor market. You're looking at closer to three hours depending on where you're coming from. There is a ferry from Larkspur but transit connectivity and parking are limited. The Tiburon and Sausalito ferries are worse.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  North of the GG Bridge has great restaurants and plenty to do. Thanks, I needed the laugh. Also, real estate can be found that are still within a range middle class can afford. Compared to what? A tear down in (an OK part of) San Rafael went for around $800,000 a few months ago. Marin is consistently one of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area and there's relatively little public transit and bridge toll to contend with. Marin is also strongly anti-development.
- dmode 7y ago
  Marin is inaccessible for people who live in South Bay. They will lose out on a lot of senior talent
kennydude 7y ago
Maybe someone as large as Stripe can help bring money into the area and fix some of those problems?
refurb 7y ago
Meh. I’ve worked there as well and I think SSF has a lot of potential and it’s clear why: - SSF has been welcoming new housing (see multistory apartments going up along highway) - SSF has been welcoming businesses. The new biotech clusters are truly shocking, I’d guess another 5 million sq ft of office/lab space is new or under way. Genentech just submitted a plan to double their foot print. - it has a decent commercial strip, obviously nothing compared to SF, but how could it be - it has both a Caltrain and BART station, but your point is true about the locations not being ideal If you’re a 20-something looking for cool restaurants and an ideal car-less life, then yeah, SF is better, but for the remaining 80% of the population, SSF offers a lot.
dehrmann 7y ago
> Transit is also poor as both BART and Caltrain are in awkward locations. How many cities have Both Bart and Caltrain?

by dmode 7y ago

masahiko 7y ago

Fog is worse than where? I work in SSF as well... A) its where businesses like Stripe should be in the coming years (it wont be creative, it'll be internet infrastructure) B) there is a ferry to Oakland (to help alleviate the absurd traffic jams over the bay bridge) and C) bring some variety (right now SSF is all pharma and med device) into SSF. There is no reason why SSF couldn't be a thriving, cool place to live and work. It takes companies like Stripe to take the lead and have a vision. Right now downtown SSF is totally boring but add a good grocery store (ahem, Berkeley Bowl) a couple cool coffee shops, wine bars and great restaurants and it would be a perfect fine place to live and work - half way between the south bay and SF. Buy, renovate or build a place or open a restaurant in SSF now while you have than chance. It will be corporate, funky but potentially cool in 5 years with your creative and financial energy in it.

harimau777 7y ago
Is SSF still a large city in terms of cost of living and owning a home? Personally, by living in a large city I'm giving up the ability to own a home in exchange for access to niche resources such as ethnic enclaves, bohemian artist communities, cultural events, groups dedicated to uncommon hobbies, etc. Just having trendy restaurants and coffee shops wouldn't do it for me.
- bravura 7y ago
  I think you’ve nailed for me the difference between superficial trendiness and rich culture, in an urban setting
- maxlamb 7y ago
  |bohemian artist communities Do bohemian artist communities still exist in San Francisco? How can they afford to live there?
  - asdff 7y ago
    *65 year old bohemian artist communities that bought their property in 1972
  - Noos 7y ago
    trust fund kids with their MFAs playing at being bohemians, more likely. These days a lot of people who would have been bohemians are drawing porn of cartoon characters on Patreon to pay the bills. Art is a rich man's game now.
selimthegrim 7y ago
The ferry terminal with 12 bike spots (like downtown Oakland BART station which has 8) and no current ferry service to Pier 41? Why doesn't Stripe fork over some $$$ for that if they're so serious?

thordenmark 7y ago

North of the GG Bridge has great restaurants and plenty to do. More tech companies should move up there, I don't understand why they usually go south of SF. Also, real estate can be found that are still within a range middle class can afford.

derekdahmer 7y ago
Marin is over an hour away by bus from SF, with no train or BART. Basically to work in Marin you have to live in Marin, so any company that moved there wouldn't be taking advantage of the SF/South Bay labor market.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  Marin is over an hour away by bus from SF, with no train or BART. Basically to work in Marin you have to live in Marin, so any company that moved there wouldn't be taking advantage of the SF/South Bay labor market. You're looking at closer to three hours depending on where you're coming from. There is a ferry from Larkspur but transit connectivity and parking are limited. The Tiburon and Sausalito ferries are worse.
inferiorhuman 7y ago
North of the GG Bridge has great restaurants and plenty to do. Thanks, I needed the laugh. Also, real estate can be found that are still within a range middle class can afford. Compared to what? A tear down in (an OK part of) San Rafael went for around $800,000 a few months ago. Marin is consistently one of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area and there's relatively little public transit and bridge toll to contend with. Marin is also strongly anti-development.
dmode 7y ago
Marin is inaccessible for people who live in South Bay. They will lose out on a lot of senior talent

kennydude 7y ago

Maybe someone as large as Stripe can help bring money into the area and fix some of those problems?

refurb 7y ago

Meh. I’ve worked there as well and I think SSF has a lot of potential and it’s clear why: - SSF has been welcoming new housing (see multistory apartments going up along highway) - SSF has been welcoming businesses. The new biotech clusters are truly shocking, I’d guess another 5 million sq ft of office/lab space is new or under way. Genentech just submitted a plan to double their foot print. - it has a decent commercial strip, obviously nothing compared to SF, but how could it be - it has both a Caltrain and BART station, but your point is true about the locations not being ideal If you’re a 20-something looking for cool restaurants and an ideal car-less life, then yeah, SF is better, but for the remaining 80% of the population, SSF offers a lot.

dehrmann 7y ago

> Transit is also poor as both BART and Caltrain are in awkward locations. How many cities have Both Bart and Caltrain?