
Ask HN: Thinking of moving to The Bay Area, what should I do during a visit? - alecbenzer
I&#x27;m somewhat idly considering moving to the bay from NYC. I spent two weeks in Mountain View when I was at Google and a weekend in SF, but that&#x27;s it. Flying out to SF for a week -- suggestions for things to do that are less touristy and give more of a sense of what it&#x27;s like actually living in SF&#x2F;The Bay? Broad strokes, I&#x27;m interested in:<p>* Seeing if I&#x27;m okay with the ways The Bay is different than NYC
* Experiencing some more of the &quot;tech culture&quot; that&#x27;s less prominent in NYC<p>Obviously I know there&#x27;s only so much you can really expose yourself to in just a week, but any suggestions would be appreciated! :)
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chipuni
The biggest difference between NYC and San Francisco is transportation.

Pick three tech companies at random: one large, one medium, and one small.
Make sure that at least two of them are on the Peninsula (say, San Mateo or
Mountain View.)

First, try to get to them by public transportation.

Then, another day, rent a car and try to get to them by car.

Good luck as you decide whether to come to the Bay Area!

~~~
alecbenzer
Yeah from what I've heard living outside of SF without a car is pretty hard.
Does pretty much everyone drive? Is biking common?

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gwbas1c
Yes, and yes.

Some people figure out how to make do with only public transportation and a
bike, but that severely limits where you can live.

Most people drive, and those who bike or use public transportation either have
a car, or live in a household where they can use a car. (1-car couples, or
borrow a roommate's car.)

Case in point: I took a job in San Francisco, where they told me that they
were moving to Menlo Park, but a few blocks from the Caltrain station. At the
time, I lived a few blocks from the Palo Alto train station. For my first
month, I took the train into the city and biked to the office, which worked
about 95% of the time. (I drove when it rained, or when I had to go somewhere
after work.)

Later, when they moved to Menlo Park, it was a short 10-minute bikeride, so I
continued to ride my bike, except when it rained, or I needed to go somewhere
after work, or when I was recovering from surgery. When I met my wife, I
started biking through Stanford to sleep at her place after work.

BUT: My wife and I had to move further away, and then my job moved further
away, and I was no longer able to bike.

I should note that, when we were in San Francisco, we had a lot of people who
were very committed to living in the city and only working where they could
bike / walk / train to. We lost all of these people when we moved to Menlo
Park. The only bike/train people who we kept were the company founders, who
sucked it up and started driving once we could no longer fit in the offices
near the train stations.

~~~
chipuni
@gwbas1c is missing the OTHER half of the equation...

Though everyone in the Bay Area needs (access to) a car, driving in the Bay
Area is No Fun.

There's stop and stop traffic on every major highway. Parking in San Francisco
is very expensive and hard to find.

You need to be flexible to get around the Bay Area, willing to try different
solutions.

