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Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a plac

Man this housing advice is really pretentious -- only live in Mountain View or SF with an internship salary? Good luck unless you have a trustfund. Get a place in Berkeley or the nicer places in Oakland and you'll have a great experience and can BART into the city in 15 minutes.

gailees 14y ago
yeah, it definitely seems like some of these early posts speak from very limited experience.
nickbarnwell 14y ago
It's just as easy to find a two bedroom or one BR+den apartment for 2-2.5k/mo and split it with another intern (or two) and come out well ahead. I know tens of people who did this successfully last summer virtually without issue. The big companies provide generous housing stipends, if not corporate housing, and allocating 20% of your essentially untaxed salary towards housing is well worth it to be a few blocks from work and in the heart of the tech community.
AlexeyMK 14y ago
[author of said advice] Sounds like you've got some experience with this - are there any particular places you'd recommend? When I was an intern in SF (2011), I lived in Glen Park, which was a half/hour bike ride/couple of BART stops away from work, and I ended up paying slightly over $1,100. I had friends that went and found more distant housing, but we didn't see them all that much/they didn't get nearly as much out of the summer as we did, beyond their company. A lot (most?) internship salaries include a $1,000 housing stipend, so it ends up being not all that crazy; neither of my internships had more than 25% of income go to housing. Can you speak to your experience in particular? I haven't met a lot of people who followed your strategy, but I'd love to incorporate the perspective of somebody who did.
- nextstep 14y ago
  The price of housing in SF has changed since 2011.
  - chunsaker 14y ago
    ...Dramatically.
  - BadCRC 14y ago
    I was able to find a FURNISHED bedroom from $1450/mth in the heart of the Mission. Prices has gone up but it seems like people have gotten worse at finding places or switched to using airbnb more (which is way more expensive).
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  I could recommend several of the peninsula cities near the Caltrain corridor, Sunnyvale, Menlo Park, San Carlos come readily to mind. (in addition to Mountain View and Palo Alto) if you are near the Train station you can pop into SF, or stops with easy shuttle service to Facebook and Google. East bay near BART is also good if your internship is in the city.
- kemiller 14y ago
  Two good bets for a young person in the East Bay: Temescal. Macarthur BART has lots of trains to the city and assuming you're going somewhere near a station (like Twitter or Google SF) it's ~ 20 minutes. Strong hipster vibe, and an explosion of restaurants, bike shops, funky secondhand stores, etc. in the last 10 years. Neighborhood is still rough in patches, but rapidly improving. Stay to the North and East of Macarthur BART and you're fine. Downtown Berkeley. Safe Neighborhood. Lots of young people about, plenty of restaurants. Things tend to close up earlier than in the city. Commute is slightly longer than to Temescal, but the Richmond trains tend to be emptier and so you almost always get a seat. If you work at Google SF or anywhere downtown, look into the AC Transit Transbay Buses. They are slightly more expensive than BART ($4.20 a ride, last I checked) but you get free Wifi, great views, clean, comfortable coach seats, and nonstop service. That opens up a LOT more territory, albeit mostly away from the concentrations of culture. But all that said, you're right, SF is the place to be if you can afford it. Don't try to save money as an intern. What you earn during that time is a drop in the bucket, ultimately, and you're only young once. But if you have a crew of people you want to live with, the Easy Bay can be a great bet, and you can spend what you save on trips out of town.
- jlees 14y ago
  I'm a tech person who rents out a furnished spare room (including to interns in the past) for $1000 in Mountain View, after looking at the going rates; from my experience, your advice isn't too far off. It's just a case of supply and demand, there aren't many people like me in the local area. (Note: We rent via Airbnb rather than their "sublets" specific program, which you call out explicitly.) If interns team up they can maybe get a short term lease at one of the many south bay housing complexes (Archstone, Avalon, Prometheus, Irvine Company). Most are horrible landlords and several charge ridiculous, but understandable, rent increases if you are shorter term - however, if you're prepared to share and lay out on furniture, it could be a saving over the course of a summer. Plus, could get lucky and find a relocating person or off-season intern to hand off to at the end of summer.
deleted 14y ago
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rdouble 14y ago
The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas of Oakland are a few orders of magnitude more dangerous than the rest of the Bay Area. I used to live in an "affordable" part of Berkeley and had to spend about an hour each way getting to work with walking on both sides + BART. Berkeley and parts of Oakland like Rockridge have their charms, but I do not recommend them if you have the option of living closer to work.
- dr_doom 14y ago
  Is Oakland really that bad? I really want the most affordable place I can find. I'm not too scared of crime, I have guns and grew up in a lower class neighborhood, but am worried about theft when I'm not home. edit: I would basically like to live in a neighborhood like Pilsen in Chicago. Affordable, working class, mexican, and close to transit. Any recommendations?
  - jbkring 14y ago
    Oakland is like any other city. There are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. Some of the safer ones are: Temescal, Adam's Point, Grand Lake/Cleveland Heights, Piedmont & Rockridge (not technically Oakland).
    - cpeterso 14y ago
      Rockridge is definitely part of Oakland, but Piedmont is a separate city. Piedmont seceded from Oakland in 1907 and is completely surrounded by Oakland. I've never heard of any other city engulfed within another.
      - drbaskin 14y ago
        This property of Piedmont is not even unique within the Bay Area! Fremont (the fourth-largest city in the Bay Area) has an enclave of its own, Newark, which is its own city yet completely surrounded by Fremont.
jbkring 14y ago
Agreed. But more than pretentious, it's downright inaccurate. I work in SOMA and live in Grand Lake (Oakland), and I have a shorter commute than most of my San Francisco-dwelling colleagues.
throwaway41 14y ago
Are you sure? I interned in the bay area in summer 2012, and found that my salary was more than sufficient to cover rent in MTV. I received no housing stipend, and rented a reasonably nice place with 2 other interns which was $1200/month each (which I considered absolutely extortionate, not sure if others would agree). Given that my salary was in the $5000/month range, this was, off the top of my head, about 1/4 of my monthly salary, which is to me totally fine. I don't deny that you can get cheaper outside of SF/MTV (and indeed SF can be much more expensive; my comment is only for MTV), but I dont think that $1200 is 'trust fund' money.
- Me1000 14y ago
  You're correct, I spent two summers interning the San Francisco. The salary most companies pay (at least for engineering interns) is enough to live comfortably in the city... It's just a bit harder to find a place that will sign a 3 month lease, but it certainly isn't out of the question.
dionidium 14y ago
Yes. This is hilarious: "If you don’t mind living further away from one of the central locations, you’ll be able to pay half as much for rent for a nicer place than you could afford otherwise (see heat map). Saving money is great and all..." For lots of people, saving money isn't "great and all." It's required. Especially if you happen to be an intern living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
chunsaker 14y ago
Redwood City FTW? We've had two of our interns find good housing there, near the Caltrain.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
jim-greer 14y ago
Finding a place in SF this summer is way worse than usual because of the America's Cup. It lasts from July-Sept and people are renting houses for $10k/week. Don't thank me, thank Larry Ellison.
vecinu 14y ago
Current intern in SF at the moment... 34% of my salary is going to rent and I get to live in the heart of SF, in SoMa. The place is gorgeous and the location is safe. It just takes some effort to find a good place.

gailees 14y ago

yeah, it definitely seems like some of these early posts speak from very limited experience.

nickbarnwell 14y ago

It's just as easy to find a two bedroom or one BR+den apartment for 2-2.5k/mo and split it with another intern (or two) and come out well ahead. I know tens of people who did this successfully last summer virtually without issue. The big companies provide generous housing stipends, if not corporate housing, and allocating 20% of your essentially untaxed salary towards housing is well worth it to be a few blocks from work and in the heart of the tech community.

AlexeyMK 14y ago

[author of said advice] Sounds like you've got some experience with this - are there any particular places you'd recommend? When I was an intern in SF (2011), I lived in Glen Park, which was a half/hour bike ride/couple of BART stops away from work, and I ended up paying slightly over $1,100. I had friends that went and found more distant housing, but we didn't see them all that much/they didn't get nearly as much out of the summer as we did, beyond their company. A lot (most?) internship salaries include a $1,000 housing stipend, so it ends up being not all that crazy; neither of my internships had more than 25% of income go to housing. Can you speak to your experience in particular? I haven't met a lot of people who followed your strategy, but I'd love to incorporate the perspective of somebody who did.

nextstep 14y ago
The price of housing in SF has changed since 2011.
- chunsaker 14y ago
  ...Dramatically.
- BadCRC 14y ago
  I was able to find a FURNISHED bedroom from $1450/mth in the heart of the Mission. Prices has gone up but it seems like people have gotten worse at finding places or switched to using airbnb more (which is way more expensive).
ChuckMcM 14y ago
I could recommend several of the peninsula cities near the Caltrain corridor, Sunnyvale, Menlo Park, San Carlos come readily to mind. (in addition to Mountain View and Palo Alto) if you are near the Train station you can pop into SF, or stops with easy shuttle service to Facebook and Google. East bay near BART is also good if your internship is in the city.
kemiller 14y ago
Two good bets for a young person in the East Bay: Temescal. Macarthur BART has lots of trains to the city and assuming you're going somewhere near a station (like Twitter or Google SF) it's ~ 20 minutes. Strong hipster vibe, and an explosion of restaurants, bike shops, funky secondhand stores, etc. in the last 10 years. Neighborhood is still rough in patches, but rapidly improving. Stay to the North and East of Macarthur BART and you're fine. Downtown Berkeley. Safe Neighborhood. Lots of young people about, plenty of restaurants. Things tend to close up earlier than in the city. Commute is slightly longer than to Temescal, but the Richmond trains tend to be emptier and so you almost always get a seat. If you work at Google SF or anywhere downtown, look into the AC Transit Transbay Buses. They are slightly more expensive than BART ($4.20 a ride, last I checked) but you get free Wifi, great views, clean, comfortable coach seats, and nonstop service. That opens up a LOT more territory, albeit mostly away from the concentrations of culture. But all that said, you're right, SF is the place to be if you can afford it. Don't try to save money as an intern. What you earn during that time is a drop in the bucket, ultimately, and you're only young once. But if you have a crew of people you want to live with, the Easy Bay can be a great bet, and you can spend what you save on trips out of town.
jlees 14y ago
I'm a tech person who rents out a furnished spare room (including to interns in the past) for $1000 in Mountain View, after looking at the going rates; from my experience, your advice isn't too far off. It's just a case of supply and demand, there aren't many people like me in the local area. (Note: We rent via Airbnb rather than their "sublets" specific program, which you call out explicitly.) If interns team up they can maybe get a short term lease at one of the many south bay housing complexes (Archstone, Avalon, Prometheus, Irvine Company). Most are horrible landlords and several charge ridiculous, but understandable, rent increases if you are shorter term - however, if you're prepared to share and lay out on furniture, it could be a saving over the course of a summer. Plus, could get lucky and find a relocating person or off-season intern to hand off to at the end of summer.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

rdouble 14y ago

The housing advice in the article is correct - those are the ideal areas. However, it fails to mention the extreme costs and competitive nature of finding a place in those areas. Living in Berkeley is not a good choice if your internship is in the South Bay. Even if your job is accessible by BART, Berkeley near a BART station is not inexpensive. The nice areas of Oakland are similarly expensive and the not-nice areas of Oakland are a few orders of magnitude more dangerous than the rest of the Bay Area. I used to live in an "affordable" part of Berkeley and had to spend about an hour each way getting to work with walking on both sides + BART. Berkeley and parts of Oakland like Rockridge have their charms, but I do not recommend them if you have the option of living closer to work.

dr_doom 14y ago
Is Oakland really that bad? I really want the most affordable place I can find. I'm not too scared of crime, I have guns and grew up in a lower class neighborhood, but am worried about theft when I'm not home. edit: I would basically like to live in a neighborhood like Pilsen in Chicago. Affordable, working class, mexican, and close to transit. Any recommendations?
- jbkring 14y ago
  Oakland is like any other city. There are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. Some of the safer ones are: Temescal, Adam's Point, Grand Lake/Cleveland Heights, Piedmont & Rockridge (not technically Oakland).
  - cpeterso 14y ago
    Rockridge is definitely part of Oakland, but Piedmont is a separate city. Piedmont seceded from Oakland in 1907 and is completely surrounded by Oakland. I've never heard of any other city engulfed within another.
    - drbaskin 14y ago
      This property of Piedmont is not even unique within the Bay Area! Fremont (the fourth-largest city in the Bay Area) has an enclave of its own, Newark, which is its own city yet completely surrounded by Fremont.

jbkring 14y ago

Agreed. But more than pretentious, it's downright inaccurate. I work in SOMA and live in Grand Lake (Oakland), and I have a shorter commute than most of my San Francisco-dwelling colleagues.

throwaway41 14y ago

Are you sure? I interned in the bay area in summer 2012, and found that my salary was more than sufficient to cover rent in MTV. I received no housing stipend, and rented a reasonably nice place with 2 other interns which was $1200/month each (which I considered absolutely extortionate, not sure if others would agree). Given that my salary was in the $5000/month range, this was, off the top of my head, about 1/4 of my monthly salary, which is to me totally fine. I don't deny that you can get cheaper outside of SF/MTV (and indeed SF can be much more expensive; my comment is only for MTV), but I dont think that $1200 is 'trust fund' money.

Me1000 14y ago
You're correct, I spent two summers interning the San Francisco. The salary most companies pay (at least for engineering interns) is enough to live comfortably in the city... It's just a bit harder to find a place that will sign a 3 month lease, but it certainly isn't out of the question.

dionidium 14y ago

Yes. This is hilarious: "If you don’t mind living further away from one of the central locations, you’ll be able to pay half as much for rent for a nicer place than you could afford otherwise (see heat map). Saving money is great and all..." For lots of people, saving money isn't "great and all." It's required. Especially if you happen to be an intern living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

chunsaker 14y ago

Redwood City FTW? We've had two of our interns find good housing there, near the Caltrain.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

jim-greer 14y ago

Finding a place in SF this summer is way worse than usual because of the America's Cup. It lasts from July-Sept and people are renting houses for $10k/week. Don't thank me, thank Larry Ellison.

vecinu 14y ago

Current intern in SF at the moment... 34% of my salary is going to rent and I get to live in the heart of SF, in SoMa. The place is gorgeous and the location is safe. It just takes some effort to find a good place.