This kind of apartment is common for the area and reminds me of others in Chicago and Philadelphia, but add in the neighborhood, and this place is like no other.
Just a couple miles from the Pacific Ocean, near two enormous city parks, and in a mixed-purpose neighborhood with all types of shops and restaurants-- a cafe just a few yards from our door! There are also dozens of Asian markets a few blocks over where we can buy our canned jack fruit.
Average rent in San Francisco is $3000 for a one-bedroom and $4500 for a two-bedroom apartment. There are a lot of interesting and successful people in the area along with businesses and services to match. Instead of finding restaurant coupons in our
mailbox welcome package, we found deals offering gourmet meals delivered in 15 minutes, on-demand laundry, in-home doctor's visits, home cleaning, personal shoppers, and other services for people that actually make more money staying a couple extra hours at their IT jobs and letting other
people run their errands. 
We've already been to San Francisco a couple times, so we've gotten most of the touristy stuff out of the way. Our plan is to enjoy the local neighborhood and stay out of our car. The city is only seven miles across, but with stop-signs and lights every block, it takes a long time to drive just a couple miles. It's often much quicker to bike or ride, so we'll be looking to buy some bikes (we left ours in Denver!) and get some transit passes. Plus, do you see the garages in the picture!? If you think
that's small, you should see the interior of the garage that we share with the other two tenants. It takes longer to maneuver out than it does to ride a bike a couple of miles.
that's small, you should see the interior of the garage that we share with the other two tenants. It takes longer to maneuver out than it does to ride a bike a couple of miles.
This is the view from one of the three entry-way doors. The apartment has a unique layout. After entering through a community entrance and going up the stairs, we get to choose which way we want to enter.
Living room from the guest bedroom.
Guest bedroom for anyone that is thinking of visiting!
Bailey enjoying the sun. She likes being able look down at all the action on the street. Hopefully she'll get used to all the people and dogs and stop growling at them before long. This place isn't as sound-proof as others we've stayed.
View through the front window.
The only way to the kitchen is through the guest room. At least most of our guests will be coming from the East Coast, so they'll be up nice and early!
Master bedroom complete with shadow-casting chandelier and pug painting!
The gorgeous view from the kitchen! This window actually lets in great sunlight and doesn't have any neighboring windows across from it, so it's actually a nice bonus. A lot of the apartments in this area only have windows in the front or back and poor sunlight.
Location, location, location! At least that's what the fellow on his cell phone was saying noisily last night outside our window as I was trying to fall asleep. We haven't lived in a big city since Denver, last year, so it will take us a few nights to get used to the noise of the buses, motorcycles, and drunks.
But, speaking of location, we're right by the Presidio! We've already taken a look at the dog park for Bailey and the lake, just two blocks away. The dog park isn't fenced in! I wrote a post during our first visit to California about how well-behaved the dogs are here. This is just another example. Maybe dogs elsewhere act more like animals because they're treated like it. Both the restaurant and brewery we went to on the way here allowed dogs inside. The restaurant even had $3 "doggie bowls" on the menu.
Enough for my first San Francisco post. More to come!
