Best products from r/AskSF

It's closed at the moment from the storm, but Land's End has a really beautiful trail, connecting 32nd Ave to Sutro Baths. There's a tiny beach you can hike down to, too.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/56303913/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/2357223948/
It's easy to tie in the Legion of Honor into this, too. Go there, walk the trail, then have a beer at Park Chalet. (If you're into beer, let me know. I'm literally a professional.) EDIT: Actually: here's pretty much that walk: https://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/sets/72157604221361358/

There're also some lesser-known trails in Golden Gate Park that offer some quiet and privacy, marked in gray on Google Maps. There's a big rock pile I always thought was fun to climb right inside the park at 25th Ave in the Richmond; I'd go from there and up to the lake.

Mountain Lake Park is neat- when my mom worked swing on the Golden Gate Bridge, my dad would drop her off then drop me & the dog off at 8th & Lake. There's a dog run in there we'd hang out at for a while, then take the trails back behind the lake and over to the PHSH, which used to be a lot more interesting. From there we'd either go up through the Presidio, maybe to Baker Beach and out to 25th Ave. Or, I'd take the "trails" inside Park Presidio through to Geary or maybe Golden Gate Park and head back toward 25th through there. (EDIT: Hit Little Vietnam for bahn mi beforehand- 6th at Clement.)

(Why yes, I did grow up in the Richmond, how did you know?)

Buena Vista Park is cool, plus it connects to so much- Corona Heights, the Haight, Castro… I'd say only if you have a bit of street smarts, though- plenty of burned out hippies living in there. Not actually dangerous, I wouldn't think, but I'd pay more attention in there.

You can get pretty close to the base of Sutro Tower, too. Can't really do much when you're there, but it's neat to see up close, at least. Just get to Dellbrook Ave & La Avanzada St. Here's a fun way to get there from UCSF (probably can't get quite that close to the tower, though).

Glen Canyon is pretty cool, plus it's (one of?) the only place in SF with the natural waterway still intact.

Left field at AT&T Park is open on non-game days during the season.

Go to Green Apple's local book section and pick up a couple books like this. (And then go to Mountain Lake Park.)

Go walk down this hill.

All I can think of at the moment. Feel free to ask for more, or PM me. I love showing off my hometown to people!

EDIT: Come to think of it, Green Apple itself is worth exploring on its own, as is Amoeba Records on Haight.

EDIT AGAIN: How could I forget Treasure Island? There's a couple of baseball fields, as well as a couple wineries. Treasure Island Bar & Grill (Called "Ti-BAG" by the locals) is a small-town bar that was super friendly to me when I ducked in during a horrendous night of traffic on the Bridge. You can also wander Yerba Buena Island a bit, including access to roads directly above each end of the YBI tunnel.

EDIT AGAIN AGAIN: Tank Hill! You can pretty much drive right up to this one, so it's a good place to like, bring a burrito to eat and watch sunset reflect off of downtown. It's like a junior Twin Peaks. Also, all this could be said of Kite Hill, as well.

There's also Turtle Hill ("Grand View Park") in the Sunset, which has a view west.

Who reviews night clubs?

If you go to a great show, you tell your friends how much fun the artist was. You’ll come to like the venue and will promote it via word of mouth.

You’d want to slam a venue where you get robbed, though, so you’ll hit the Yelp page for that.

Audio kicks ass, don’t worry. Worst part might be that it’s a little smaller unless you like that. Great sound system. It’s connected to Bergerac, a bar that’ll have some artists too.

Here’s a bunch of text—keep in mind I like tech-house a lot:

1015 Folsom is utterly huge and definitely gets lit. 20k sq. ft, three to five rooms (depending), 1400 person capacity. The go to! Dirtybird and Desert Hearts events are dope.

Public Works is also really big. (Sue me I like big venues!) Has a smaller loft you (sometimes?) pay separately for. Big events go down in a big room with a balcony. Good stuff.

Great Northern is pretty big and is a great time. One big room.

Temple is on the list of 100 best nightclubs in the world 2018 and is great if you’re into EDM (the EDC kinda stuff... crowd pleasing but cheesy for my more tech-house tastes). They do have house & hip-hop downstairs (three rooms total). One odd thing: it’s looonnggg. Very rectangular. Putting this here in the hierarchy because lots of folks enjoy it.

The Midway is an art gallery by day but a music venue by night. Huge room that was SO HOT when I went. Smaller room that was almost too cold. Not a bad time. It’s out of the way in Dogpatch I believe (southeast SF by the water).

Mezzanine is a good time. Dirtybird Quarterly <3. Just don’t see the very best artists booked here usually, otherwise fun. RIP soon Mez :((((

Halcyon is like Audio. Maybe a little bigger. Seems to book smaller artists like Audio often does. <insert Audio into hierarchy alongside this one>

Love & Propaganda is all crowd-pleasing “open format” (Top 40 / hip-hop, & electronic remixes of the aforementioned). Younger crowd.

Monarch has upstairs (even on Sunday nights!), plus a larger basement for Fri/Sat events some (most?) weekends. Nothing wrong with it. Great to have some house on a Sunday at least! Don’t end up there otherwise.

The Roc in Fisherman’s Wharf was way lame. Hip hop. Crowd hated dancing. Stood around. Bad layout unless you bought the big table.

Haven’t been to DNA Lounge! Classic, long-running events. Nerdy SF owner documents his financial troubles on his blog. Poor guy. Get there before it closes.

Haven’t been to F8 but I believe it’s a small venue where they’ll do a lot of trance.

City Nights is 18 and up. “Shitty Nights” the locals say. If you’re in your mid-twenties, you’ll be a grandpa there across their couple big rooms and balcony. No thanks!

After hours: 150 San Bruno near Great Northern if you can get on their list is aight for 2-6am fun. Nightclub, not after-hours vibes. Couple other spots I was invited to once but not on their lists.

The Endup is a non-underground after hours spot (no drinks 2-6). Good when you just have to keep going.

Find the good stuff here:

https://19hz.info/eventlisting_BayArea.php

See who’s playing on a given night. Hit YouTube and search “[artist name] set.” Listen and consider who you like most / compare to above venue list I gave ya, pregame, rideshare, and you’ll have a great time.

Oh, and when you see expensive events on 19hz, those places are usually big venues that host all kinds of talent.

WAS THIS NOT ENOUGH INFO FOR YOU while I’m on mobile? :p

Soooo....... everywhere can be a great time. I only avoid The Roc (lame crowd, meh hip-hop), L&P (same music every time, crowd kinda scared to dance), City Nights (for kids), Temple (cheesy music but otherwise fine and again people love it). Just keep your wallet in your front pocket and don’t get too turnt, ya know? And don’t be a woman in public (sorry ladies, life’s hard and men can SUCK sometimes).

Hit 1015, Public Works, Great Northern, and go have the time of your life my friend. ✌️


Edit - re-read your post... YES GO TO THE SHOW!!! You’ll love it if you’re into the music! You should DM me the event, I might end up there. Oh and you’re a woman so: City Nights had the most aggressive guys I’ve seen. I haven’t seen aggressive guys at Audio.

Another edit: I forgot Hawthorne. It wasn’t litty when I went once.

Also you gotta have earplugs if you go out more than a couple times a year! Keep ‘em on my keychain, use them on BART and in loud bars and at shows:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015WJQ7A/

1. Power of Now. Changed my life. Read with an open mind. Let the spaghetti stick to the wall where it will. Not all of it will stick. But some will.
   
   
2. How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty. Opens your eyes to common social traps.
   
   
3. The Empty Boat: Encounters with Nothingness. This one's hard to get through, because ego, but worth the slog. Read #1 first.
   
   I wish you well. Know that you're not alone. I understand the feeling. Also recommend therapy, ideally someone of the same gender. There are certain gender-specific issues that are best understood/empathized with by a therapist of the same gender.

> Is there a good resource for finding out where the fog is in San Francisco?

Look out the window?

Sorry for the snarky joke. :)

Besides weather forecasts, the prevailing weather patterns in San Francisco are actually pretty interesting.

There is no coincidence that the ancient location of the main Indian village (in what is now San Francisco) is in the Mission District, which is the warmest and sunniest part of the City.

Pam Pierce wrote an interesting book about the microclimates of SF.

The bottom line is that fog is cool air, and cool air likes to sink. Therefore the fog zones all are the lowest pathways for air flow. The Golden Gate is the biggest of these. Also, the low point in the ridgeline near Daly City tends to collect the fog. The converse is that areas protected by high points tend not to be foggy, so therefore the areas with airflow blocked by Twin Peaks tend to be sunny.

Start here: https://www.amazon.com/Francisco-Street-Secrets-David-Eames/dp/0935182756. It's a history of SF from the view of it's citizens that have had our streets named after them. It's a fascinating book!

The "bad" sections of town are the Tenderloin and Bay View/Hunter's Point 'hoods. They're "bad" because they house poor residents and the area are prone to drug and human trafficking, as well as violence.

The "Muni Metro" subway is nice, but it's starting to show its age. Each station has different colored walls and floors to distinguish one from the other. They've finished boring out the main tunnel for the new "Central Subway" under Stockton Street, and how they're (block by block) ripping up the street and inserting the infrastructure around the tunnel.

It almost never snows in SF. I've lived here 20 years and I've seen it once (it evaporated before it touched the ground at Haight Street and Market Street, and this was at night!) and a friend "out in the Avenues" had a sleet / snow storm that laid out a couple of inches a few years ago. Other than those "freak" occurrences the Winter months are (WERE!) usually raining and overcast. However with the ongoing drought in California our Winter's have been pretty dry lately.

The "High Class" 'hoods are Pacific Heights and Sea Cliff.

The last two I cannot answer as they're too subjective. What's expensive to me wouldn't be to another, and "coolest" is far more subjective than just $ or $$$!

One of the biggest issues facing the city now is "Techies". These are well paid, IT-related, young professionals that are moving into the city and rents have been skyrocketing. SF is a very NIMBY city so for years now no one wanted to allow high density building in their 'hoods. Hence a shortage of rental units. We also have some very Renter-centic laws in the city that have owners of apartment buildings just not renting them out and having to deal with those laws.

That should be enough for you to get started on your research. Let me know if anything else comes up.

Personal Note: One of my favorite books is Altered Carbon (https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Takeshi-Kovacs-Novels/dp/0345457684/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474925617&sr=1-1&keywords=altered+carbon). It's a sci-fi novel based in SF that's intelligent, very well written and trippy as hell. The author does a great job basing it in SF, but not falling into the trap of "over explaining" the details/scenery to "prove a point". (I hope that makes sense.) It was a joy to read because of that. I could "tell" where they were by what he was describing!

Gift cards are great, but might I recommend a couple books on exploring San Francisco? The city is very walkable and has a rich history; my enjoyment of SF grew exponentially when I started planning these day adventures around the city. I've personally used Stairway Walks in San Francisco and Cool Grey City of Love, but there are quite a few similar books on Amazon.

Following up...

There are awesome things to see everywhere in San Francisco (depending on your definition of "awesome"). If you're planning on visiting Alcatraz, get tickets as soon as possible. They sell out far in advance.

If you like awesome scenery, the walk at Land's End is nice, especially if it's not too foggy.

Get a copy of the Stairway Walks in San Francisco if you like that sort of thing.

The free SF City Guide walks are great and give you lots of different views of the city.

Salon founder David Talbot chronicles the cultural history of San Francisco and from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when figures such as Harvey Milk, Janis Joplin, Jim Jones, and Bill Walsh helped usher from backwater city to thriving metropolis.

http://www.amazon.com/Season-Witch-Enchantment-Terror-Deliverance-ebook/dp/B005C6FDFY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Cool, Gray City of Love brings together an exuberant combination of personal insight, deeply researched history, in-depth reporting, and lyrical prose to create an unparalleled portrait of San Francisco. Each of its 49 chapters explores a specific site or intersection in the city, from the mighty Golden Gate Bridge to the raunchy Tenderloin to the soaring sea cliffs at Land's End.

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Gray-City-Love-Francisco-ebook/dp/B00D78R550/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1451757678&sr=1-1&keywords=cool+grey+city+of+love

Not a book, but this American Experiance episode is fantastic.

In 1957, decades before Steve Jobs dreamed up Apple or Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, a group of eight brilliant young men defected from the Shockley Semiconductor Company in order to start their own transistor business. Their leader was 29-year-old Robert Noyce, a physicist with a brilliant mind and the affability of a born salesman who would co-invent the microchip -- an essential component of nearly all modern electronics today, including computers, motor vehicles, cell phones and household appliances.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/

Also, not related to San Francisco directly, but focusing on California and the west, if you want to understand why California is the way it is today, this is on the list of essential reading material.

http://www.amazon.com/Cadillac-Desert-American-Disappearing-Revised/dp/0140178244

If you don't want to have to rely on someone to rescue you, you may want to get a battery jumpstarter like this. I am not really a fan of Black & Decker power tools, but their car jumpstarters are actually pretty decent. I have been using the one in the link for years and it's been great (I really like the built in air compressor, very useful for inflating tires/air mattresses/bikes). It's a big and heavy unit that you can even jump trucks with, so you may not need something that big. Jumper cables are much cheaper, but then you will have to find another car to borrow some juice, which may not be very idea if you tend to go to remote places or parked the car in spots that are hard to reach.

Chico bag sling is amazing

Let me count the ways- 1) super strong- wont bust on you 2) awesome customer service on the off chance it dies after a year they'll replace it 3) folds up super small and you can wear it on your belt buckle- we take them everywhere! 4) distributes weight for heavy carrying

Sorry to hear, recently went through the recruiting process. You can read this book, super helpful and should finish in a day or two

https://www.amazon.com/2-Hour-Job-Search-Technology-Faster/dp/1607741709

Update your resume first thing, format: task, people, result. Can help review if you DM me

Create a spreadsheet of people you can reach out to, get names on Linkedin, guess email format (i.e.: firstname.lastname@firmname.com), send cold email:

"Hello [name],

My name is [name], I am a [your Marketing job title]. I am interested in getting into [job applying to] with a strong interest in [firm name]. Would you have 15 / 30' to chat about your work in the next 2 weeks? Would love to hop on a call / buy you a coffee to learn more about your experience recruiting or any advice you might have.

Understand your schedule can get busy but would really appreciate any of your time.

Look forward to chat soon"

50 - 80% of the time people will respond, especially alum from school / anyone have something similar to your background

90% of those should convert to first round interview

Do 2 - 3 months of this talking to 30 - 60 companies should land you any job you like

People here laugh at us, but we have all our kitchen cabinets secured with latches and our bookshelves and washer/dryer secured with earthquake straps like these: https://www.amazon.com/Quakehold-4162-15-Inch-Furniture-Antique/dp/B000FJP24U

It probably won't help during The Big One™, but for any minor quakes (have lived through three already in the City), they can help prevent damage.

I've been running the IQ Air Health Pro Plus for years (I'm slightly allergic to cats, but I have a cat).


I turned it on Thursday night (11/8) and have been breathing easy since.


I also have a Honeywell 50250 that I give out as a loaner from time to time or for spot purifying in a bedroom.

The first option isn't so affordable, but the second one is great for most folks.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco. It's 49 different short stories about the history of San Francisco by Gary Kamiya who writes a history column for The Chronicle.

You could get this.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Plush-BART-train-toy-mocked-coveted-transit-13431903.php

Maybe a comic set in SF, like (Vol. 1) Deadly Class.

https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Class-1-Reagan-Youth/dp/1632150034

Throw in an Its-It and you're good to go.

Which brand of liners are you using? I use these, which are only 15 cents apiece if you buy in bulk:

https://www.amazon.com/BioBag-Compostable-ASTMD6400-Certified-Biodegradable/dp/B009NMSPOE/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1527104906&sr=8-1&keywords=biobag%2B3%2Bgallon%2Bfood%2Bscrap%2Bbags&th=1

.. and the perform pretty well. The liner rarely dissolves or breaks on me, and to minimize the risk of spillage I usually just twist them close and toss them out while they're still in the bin. Granted, I don't usually put super-liquidy stuff in there. Anything thinner than oatmeal I just put in the garbage disposal.

The bin needs a wipe down every couple weeks or so, but that's it.

If you want to do some reading, I have a few recommendations:

FoundSF and their links page

Outside Lands — focuses on the western neighborhoods

Cool Gray City of Love by Gary Kamiya

The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld by Herbert Asbury

City for Sale: The Transformation of San Francisco by Chester Hartman — fairly dry political history, but it provides a lot of valuable context for the ongoing fights over housing and development.

Ocean Beach was the first place that came to my mind too.

Take yourself on a stairway walk.
https://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Walks-Francisco-Adah-Bakalinsky/dp/0899976379

The city offers a ton of places to go and decompress.

Check out Stairway Walks in San Francisco for a different view of SF.