Live in San Francisco

Add to My List Check Off

Known as “The City by the Bay”, San Francisco is famous in story and song. Once the bawdy bastion of fortune seekers hoping to cash in on early California riches, San Francisco has grown to become the financial center of Northern California as well as the hub of the San Francisco Bay Area which encompasses the neighboring cities of Oakland and San Jose. The metropolitan area maintains a total population of just less than 8 million. The city proper and its nearly 1 million inhabitants is a melting pot of many different cultures, lifestyles, political viewpoints and religions. Built on ocean close hilly terrain with diverse neighborhoods all the while sporting eclectic architecture, San Francisco seemingly offers something for everyone. The mix of residential areas range from the Financial District and Union Square to the gay oriented Castro along with the mansions of Nob Hill and the family oriented enclaves found in Noe Valley and Bernal Heights, . The city is a tourist magnet with such iconic must-visit sites as Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, The Golden Gate Bridge and North Beach. As a resulting benefit residents can avail themselves of voluminous opportunities for shopping, great restaurants and entertainment along with other attractions within walking distance of many neighborhoods. More than 100 languages are spoken in homes in San Francisco making it the 5th most linguistically diverse city in the USA. Besides English, conversations in Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish and Vietnamese are happening simultaneously with those in Portuguese, Punjabi, Swahili and Yiddish. English is still the language of business as in virtually every city in the USA. Those seeking residency in San Francisco are subject to the same regulations as anywhere else in the USA with no barriers for US residents and a complicated system of visa entitlement managed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service. The cost of living in San Francisco is definitely in the upper range. Housing is especially expensive, rivaling some of the priciest markets in the USA with utilities, food, transportation and healthcare costs only slightly above average. The public transportation availability is thought to be the best on the USA’s west coast with over 30% of the residents using the system for their needs. The various forms of transport include a throwback streetcar-cable car system with its origins dating to 19th century. The system is completed by an efficient combination of light rail, subways, ferries and buses. With such a convenient public transportation system car ownership is not a necessity but car ownership is convenient for trips outside the city limits. Your goal to Live in San Francisco can be realized by first adding this dream to your bucket list and then whittling away at the necessary details to make it happen. You’ll never have to leave your heart in San Francisco if you make this iconic city your home.

Write a Review

No Ratings Yet

Flag as inappropriate ›