jlevey

Hi

At the end of April Im travelling to San Francisco with my husband and one year old son. My husband is working out there for the first week so we'll be based in Union square and then the second week we will be all together and can stay anywhere (nothing booked yet).

I'm looking for help and advice on how best to get a feel for the city with a very active one year old (who doesn't like sitting for long periods) and also residential areas to visit as we may be moving to San Francisco at the end of the year. I'd also like to tag on a trip to Yosemite as I've always wanted to visit it and want to make the most of travelling so far! I'll hire a car for this as I believe it's a four/five hour drive.

I've never travelled so far with my son before so I've no idea how to handle a jet lagged child and also I don't have much experience travelling around the states. I'll also be on my own so I want to plan as much as possible before hand. (I know it's late notice to book things but we only decided to go this morning!!)

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated,

Many Thanks
Jacqui

nytraveler

If you are thinking of moving there - and want to do some serious neighborhood searching - you should head to some of the web sites that profile neighborhoods for people moving: housing costs, quality of school systems, safety, transportation to where your husband will be working.

Before deciding which neighborhoods to have a look at you will need to know:

Location your husband will work - good transit to and fro will help focus on places that are practical

What his income will be - SF is not cheap and you will need to balance his income with desired housing (do you want to start in a city apartment - or a small house in what may be a fairly distant suburb) in specific neighborhoods

If you have an idea of these and list them, there are several people here who know SF neighborhoods will and can suggest places to start

Michael

http://priceonomics.com/the-san-fran...ent-explosion/

sf7307

Where are you coming from (an urban environment, a small town, mid-west, south, east??). I'm just looking for a point of reference, so I can compare San Francisco to your city if possible.

San Francisco is a city of neighborhoods. Noone just lives in "San Francisco", they live in "the Marina", or "Pacific Hights". "SOMA", "West Portal" "Noe Valley" etc. Each of the neighborhoods has a very distinct feel (and price point for housing). There are kids in all of them, but fewer in the downtown (financial district/Embarcadero) and SOMA (South of Market) areas.

There are areas within the city limits but farther from downtown that are mostly single-family homes.

Then of course there are the suburbs - north, east and south. All different.

You might be shocked by the cost of housing in San Francisco (unless you're coming from London or New York, in which case you might not be so shocked).

As for what you can do while you're here as a tourist, you could take your son to Golden Gate Park, or down along the Embarcadero/Fisherman's Wharf. W alk along the Marina Green, or Chrissy Field to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. You could walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Despite it's gargantuan hills, San Francisco is also a walker's city - and you can push a stroller anywhere that's relatively flat (which includes Union Square (until it starts to go uphill).

Gardyloo

Judging from the OP's spelling ("travelling") and mentioning jetlag, I'm guessing she's coming from overseas, maybe the UK or Australia/NZ.

Babies are usually less prone to jetlag than adults, but hopping in a car for a drive to Yosemite is something I wouldn't do right away, particularly if (as I suspect) it would be on the wrong side of the road.

I would recommend the OP look at the SF-Oakland board on City-Data - http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-francisco-oakland/ - where the sorts of questions she raises are everyday stuff.

And to jlevey, welcome to Fodor's!

bkington1858

I' ve been researching San Francisco as well for a trip - not an expert like these folks ! However, I believe I noticed bus tour day trips to Yosemite? Maybe another one that took you down the coast also.

Then you could enjoy the views and your baby without the drive. If I stumble across it again, I will come back and post it for you.

aprillilacs

I assume you are planning to rent, not buy, at least for a while, when you move to San Francisco. If you want to live in the city, a great, family-friendly neighborhood is Noe Valley. Tons of young families and pets, with a very nice central shopping street (24th St), good public transportation to other parts of the city (15 minutes on Muni metro to Financial District, for example), lovely houses, walking distance to Dolores Park and smaller parks for you child to play in, and one of the sunniest parts of the city. Rents run $4,000++ a month for a two-bedroom apartment. Take a look on Craig's List and specify Noe Valley, 2+ bedrooms to get an idea of what kind of place you can get for the rent you would be able to pay.

You might want to look at airbnb or vrbo for lodging in Noe (or another neighborhood, like Bernal Heights, Glen Park, inner Sunset, or the neighborhoods mentioned in sf307's post) the second week of your trip--that would give you an idea of what living in the area might actually be like.

With your son in tow, you'll find Golden Gate Park a wonderful place to hang out--the children's playground there is delightful, with its nearby carousel. The botanical garden is also beautiful for wandering with a stroller, as are other areas of the park. Get a transit map at the Ferry Building (great place to visit) and explore the city via buses and metro--you can go far and wide, and the movement and changing scenes keep toddlers enthralled. A multi-day pass and you're good to go.

As for Yosemite, with a toddler I would not want to drive that far on such a short trip--you will need to stay at least overnight to get anything worthwhile out of it. Why don't you save it for if/when you move here and can make a more leisurely trip?

Michael

15 minutes on Muni metro to Financial District, for example

Double the time, and it will be more accurate.

aprillilacs

Not in my experience, Michael.

sf7307

The J Church is a 30-minute ride from Embarcadero to 30th and Church (end of Noe Valley, before it becomes Glen Park). It's only 14 minutes to Castro and Duboce (not as far as Noe Valley). So it really depends where you're starting and where you're ending up.

suze

I would skip Yosemite or any tourist activities and concentrate on getting to know the neighborhoods of San Francisco if you might be moving here! Rents or housing prices in SF are jaw-droppingly expensive. Many people can't afford the city, but live on the communities you can reach on the various BART lines instead.

Belinda

And the corollary is true as well; many young Silicon Valley workers want to live in SF and their company shuttle buses fill up the commute lane every morning and evening.

jlevey

Hi everyone! Sorry for the tardy response...turns out I haven't got a notifier on when someone replies! I assume there's a tick box I've missed somewhere...anyway...

Thanks so much for all the responses, loads of really useful stuff for me to look into.

As a bit more info about my situation...I'm coming from the uk in a village commutable distance from London (a house with a garden). It means you get larger houses, more green space and more outdoorsy bits to amuse my son. Personally I love being by water, forests etc but not isolated. We've currently lucked out finding a new building development in a village so there's lots of new families here.

My husbands office is in Union square and he has been asked to move out there which was not something on our radar until now! But I always like to grab hold of opportunities when they come around so we both want to explore the possibility but we wouldn't need to make the decision until October.

We currently live about twenty mins from both grannies, have a community centre, nurseries, schools within two mins and have a good support network of friends with young children. If we moved we would rent in the beginning and Id like to find somewhere with lots of young families etc so that I could try and build up a network out there so noe valley sounds ideal!

I know absolutely nothing about San Francisco so for now I'm just going there to get a feel for the place and see if it's somewhere I think my son would be happy growing up. I can head back there later on to explore things in detail I just don't want to visit all the touristy places and think that's what it would be like living there!

What's the minimum time you'd recommend for Yosemite to make it fun...would it be more than two days? May need to wait just so excited to see it ...turns out I'm a little impatient!

Thanks again everyone

janisj

>>.turns out I haven't got a notifier on when someone replies! I assume there's a tick box I've missed somewhere...>What's the minimum time you'd recommend for Yosemite to make it fun...would it be more than two days?

janisj

Oh - just noticed you are traveling in April. Try immediately for a room at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. It books up months in advance - but because it does there are also frequent cancellations so you might luck out. If nothing is available -- then book at Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal. It is just outside the park gates and is the closest place to stay outside of Yosemite Valley. They have a liberal cancellation policy so after booking, you can keep trying for an opening at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls and if you are successful, you can cancel the El Portal booking.

http://www.yosemitepark.com/yosemite-lodge.aspx

http://www.stayyosemiteviewlodge.com

jlevey

Thanks janisj saves time looking for a tick box! And I assume maybe a pipe dream getting to see Yosemite this time!

janisj

we were posting at the same time . . . Not really a pipe dream - April is a FANTASTIC time in Yosemite. The waterfalls will be in full force and there really won't be any crowds (though the hotels will be fully booked -- it is the day trippers that are pretty much missing)

jlevey

Yey!!thanks so much janisj I will get onto it as soon as my son lets me do some proper research without stealing control of the computer very excited!

Gardyloo

Not trying to be a negative nabob, but snow pack in the Sierras this winter is at historic lows, which augurs poorly for the Yosemite waterfalls, even in the spring. (And it augurs terribly for later in the summer, when some of the waterfalls may dry out much earlier than normal, and raises the specter of forest fires a la 2013.)

If you do move to SF, you can visit Yosemite to your heart's content. In April, I'd be far more inclined to do a day trip or two - maybe see the redwoods at Muir Woods, or head for a night or two down to Monterey and Carmel, or see the wildflowers up toward Mendocino on the north coast... plenty of options that are closer and less crowded than Yosemite.

StuDudley

Stuff to do in San Francisco.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm


Noe Valley Voice. It has info about average rental costs.

http://www.noevalleyvoice.com/2015/March/index.html

Stu Dudley