What it’s actually like living in San Francisco

i've lived in san francisco for almost nine years can you believe that i can't believe it that's almost a freaking decade when i moved here back in 2012 i was wide-eyed and ready for a change i'm moving from a small town in the middle of nowhere in wisconsin oh boy did i get that since i've lived here for so long i thought i'd share some of my thoughts around what it's been like living here over the years has san francisco changed hasn't stayed the same we'll talk weather because weather is important housing making friends culture career and in general what to do first things first it's san francisco or sf or the city but it is not san fran it's just it's just not it's also not frisco if you use either of these terms with a local they will stare you down and judge i'm kidding but also i'm not if you're moving to san francisco get the program and if you're coming to visit and want to get that local experience don't worry i got you you now know what's up now that that's out of the way let's jump into it starting with weather i believe the weather has both changed and hasn't over the years from what i remember from my first few years of living here we used to get a ton of rain and i remember this vividly because i would take the bus to school and have all of my art supplies and projects and it would be pouring down and i would be scrambling to get it all there without being drenched more recently we have clearly been in a drought it's pretty bad [Music] on the rare occasion it does rain in our rainy season which is during the winter months i get caught in it because i don't even think to look at the weather but besides that sf weather has still pretty much remained the same which is to say you can pretty much wear whatever you want all year round as long as you bring layers also no humidity which is completely opposite of wisconsin and my hair has done so much better out here our hottest months are in august and september which i love as a september baby housing has been pretty consistently challenging over the nine years since it's been consistently expensive only recently did prices finally start to drop since there were lots of people leaving sf during the pandemic which shifted the market since things are opening back up again i predict the prices may start to go back up but we'll see i'm actually going to be making a whole other video about my experience finding my four different san francisco apartments over the last nine years once it's up i'll link the video in the description but hey while we're on this topic if you're here for this type of content make sure to also subscribe to stay up to date when i post new videos to my channel how about friends i think one of the most challenging parts of moving in general is making new friends but i think for young adults living in san francisco there are so many ways to make friends when i moved here i was still in school so a lot of people i was hanging out with initially were my art school friends i also did a few tech internships and especially with my internship at yelp i made so many friends with the other interns i'd say a lot of people make friends with their co-workers here but there's also a ton of sports leagues both competitive and not where people meet when it's not coveted times there's also so many meetups and events to meet people at and then of course there's tons of bars each neighborhood has its own going-out scene and it's a good time for culture i think it's been pretty consistent the city tends to lean left politically speaking tech and entrepreneurship has made a large impact on the city's energy and there's lots of amazing neighborhoods which cultivate their own awesome spirit some of my favorites to call out would be the mission japan town hayes valley coal valley pack heights russian hill the castro the hate and the marina make sure to do your research on neighborhoods before visiting or moving here so you learn how to spend your time depending on what you're looking for i found san francisco to be very careers focused place that has not changed and i'm still living in it as i film this video moving here made such a huge positive impact on my career and i'm so grateful for just everything i've learned that being said being in a hyper-focused career city also has its challenges you can feel competitive it can feel like you're not doing enough or you're consistently comparing yourself to someone who's freaking killing it and they're significantly younger than you that all to say i think it's about how you decide to show up and navigate these challenges i've learned a lot from the process and i'm so proud with how far i've come in my career and life to close things out let's talk about a few more things that people do in san francisco for fun when i first moved here i didn't know anyone but what i did know is that i loved playing basketball so that's what i did i played a lot of basketball when i first moved here i was in six leagues at one point i think i only did that once though cause that that was a lot but anyway there are so many great places to play basketball in the city i've even written a whole article around where the best places to play basketball are in sf which i will link in the description below in general though sports leagues are pretty big there's lots of people playing soccer and volleyball and it's a great way to work out and make friends besides that there's so much good food i don't even really know where to start so many unique flavors and experiences and anyway if you need any recommendations at all about where to eat or drink drop me a comment with what you're looking for and i'll do my best to get back to you with some recommendations sf is also a huge park city there are so many wonderful parks i've pretty consistently spent a lot of time at dolores park it's probably my favorite park here on the weekends it gets packed with people who are out for a good picnic and just an overall grade five golden gate park is also very popular and also very huge another great park is alamo square that's where the famous painted ladies can be seen anyway parks have always been a big thing here and they are here to stay and i think that's going to wrap up what it's been like living in san francisco nine years later if you don't know me i'm alexa and on this channel i usually make videos about design careers in tech and what it's like living in san francisco but i just dropped some big news in a previous video which is i just i bought a house and it's in san diego so anyway i'm headed that way now i love sf but i'm now super excited for this new adventure and i'm going to be taking my knowledge of design and career with me so if you're interested in any of this i'd love for you to be a subscriber and follow along as i make new videos so i hope to see you in that next video [Music] bye [Music] you

Channel: Hello, I'm Alexa

Views: 29,925

Keywords: travel, travel blogger, traveler, solo traveling, traveling tips, adventure, traveling, travel hacks, travel video, travel channel, travel tips, travel around the world, travel alone, travel adventure, travel cheap, local, local experiences, Hello I’m Alexa, sf, san francisco, living in san francisco, san francisco vlog, living in SF, san fran, frisco, visiting san francisco, visit sf, what to do in sf, what to do in san francisco, local experience san francisco

Id: 3IxowBCshqc

Length: 6min 17sec (377 seconds)

Published: Mon May 17 2021