I'm planning to move to San Francisco bay area within the next 6 months...any advice on what neighborhood to live in? I'm a single female, late 30s, have a dog.

Your dog is what drives my advice. Look in either the Sunset or Richmond district preferably next to Golden Gate Park or the beach. Both locations are great for dog's and the .com frenzy has not fully pumped up the housing cost YET. There are great places for humans and dog's over in the East Bay hills. Communities like Montclair, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Oakland. The East Bay Regional Parks are great for dog's.

Good Ruff.

When I lived in SF, I lived in the Richmond District (west side of town near Golden Gate park) and worked downtown. I liked it fine. The commute was good, and it was safe, and rents were good. The reason rents are good is that there is less demand for the West Side because it is overcast and foggy most days. But if money is a factor, it may be about the best you can do. There are certainly saucier areas in the City, but I'll defer to others on sorting that out.

Good luck. I miss SF now. Maybe I left my heart there or something.

Agree with Richmond District--the closer you are to downtown (what they call Inner Richmond) the pricier it becomes, but it's a good area for dogs. There are lots of little Asian restaurants on Clement and Geary--it's known as the "new Chinatown" and you are close to the park. SF is pretty dog friendly generally. Good luck.

Start looking now to get an idea... a good place to check is craigslist (www.craigslist.org) and the sfspca Web site (they have listings for landlords that allow pets). Be prepared to spend a LOT for rent. Create a dog resume and be diligent about searching. We also used a rental search service (renttech) to find listings. Don't believe it when people tell you it's impossible -- you will find something (and I definitely second the recommendation for East Bay -- not so viable if you're commuting to the peninsula or south bay, but great if you work in SF).
Good luck!