Have opportunity to move from DC to San Francisco, is this a step up?

Question

I am a graphic designer in DC getting interviewed for a job in SF, but I have my reservations about moving based on some comments on this site. I have a few questions:

Is traffic worse than DC or better, because DC is RE-GAD-DAMN-DICULOUS.

How much should I be making to be living nicely and be able to afford a good $1300-1500 apt, including $300 car payment, insurance, etc? In DC I am struggling but getting by, if I'm moving I want to make sure it's an upgrade in cash flow and not be living paycheck to paycheck.

Being a graphic artist, is there a big art community there?

How bad is the Jack London Sq. area? That's where the job would be. And I'd be working at different hours, sometimes starting at 5am, sometimes getting off at 11pm. And how is the BART?

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

There's a thriving arts community in San Francisco, as it has always been a city defined by creative industries and thinking outside the box. However, it is a very expensive place to live. In fact, it is second only to New York City in cost of living.



As far as driving is concerned, San Francisco supposedly has the second worse traffic in the nation...right behind its Californian brother Los Angeles.



However, since the study is conducted by Texas A&M, and (surprise, surprise) no Texas city even made it on the bloody list -- I'd take those estimates with a grain of salt.



http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/01/pf/traffic_worse/



I've always found Jack London Square to be one of the nicer areas in Oakland. It's home to one of the Bay Area's best jazz clubs: Yoshi's. It should be a decent place to work.



There's a ferry service to/from San Francisco's Financial District for commuters. First boat leaves San Francisco at 6:30 AM, and last boat leaves Jack London Square at 9:55 PM.



BART trains operate roughly 21 hours a day (with a complete shutdown from 1 AM to 4 AM). However, getting to the 12th Street BART station from Jack London Sqaure requires a bus connection to AC Transit #72.



Transit information and Jack London Sqaure businesses:



http://www.mtc.ca.gov/



http://www.jacklondonsquare.com/index.php

Answer 2

If you can accept the fact that on ANY GIVEN DAY a cataclysmic earthquake can decimate the San Francisco Bay Area, and that geological science has NO WAY of predicting when?!!!

Plus it's incredibly expensive here.

Answer 3

jack london sq is in oakland not san francisco/