Hacker News Reader

Comment by bentlegen | Hacker News Reader

This was written in 2010. How do these locations fare today?

I'm surprised he called out the Mission (east of Valencia, which is to say, 95% of the Mission) as being dangerous at night... and didn't do it for "Affordable SOMA". That part of town is infinitely more dangerous at night than even 16/Mission, which is about as bad as that neighborhood gets.

I'd consider anything west of 6th in SOMA to be considerably sketchier than any part of the Mission.

Not sure if this list is supposed to be a guide on where to put your office in SF, or where to live. He calls out west SOMA as "most soulless area to live in SF" - well yeah, it's the financial district, you put your office there, you don't live there.

Besides, that title more rightfully belongs to the Marina district.

I live west of 6th in SOMA. It gets sketchy around 7th and 8th, and near the hall of justice, but otherwise it's fine.

Meanwhile, in the last year there have been multiple assaults, robberies and a few rapes in the part of Mission that you've called safe. YMMV.

I didn't call the Mission safe - please don't be putting words in my mouth. Neither the Mission nor SOMA are good neighborhoods crime-wise, but I'd much rather walk the streets of the Mission if given only one of two choices.

The map bears itself out: http://www.trulia.com/crime/San_Francisco,CA,SoMa/

Somewhat crime-related but non-violent - besides the BART stops general hygiene in the Mission is not bad, whereas most of the main thoroughfares of west SOMA consistent reek of shit and piss.

> "Meanwhile, in the last year there have been multiple assaults, robberies and a few rapes in the part of Mission"

... and there haven't been in SOMA?

In any case, this is all pedantics. San Francisco is overall a crime-ridden city where its monied residents waffle between pretending crime doesn't exist, and mocking people who are concerned about it.

That map has everything from assault to noise complaints. Open up a few of the SOMA listings, and you'll see that (again, other than around the places I mentioned), that the "events" are mostly petty stuff.

Of course no neighborhood is crime-free, but you're blowing the danger of SOMA entirely out of proportion based on your perceptions of aesthetics.

I've helped two companies search for space in San Francisco in the last couple months and the market is TOUGH right now. If you find a good spot, grab it QUICK! It will be gone before you know it. Prices are quickly on the rise ($30-40 per square foot per year, $40+ if you want something prime in downtown or by ferry building).

Palo Alto prices per square foot have gone up ridiculously in the last year as well. Seems to average around $60-80+ per square foot per year. There's hardly any space in downtown PA left unless you're willing to include your arms and legs, too...

New listings show up on Craigslist everyday. Seems you get the best deals there if you can grab a sublease which is what my current company was able to do. Alternatively, another great resource for commercial space searching is: http://www.loopnet.com/

Good luck!

Some of the companies listed working in certain areas has changed. However, the comments on the commute and pricing is still about the same.

I would say he went over the top on describing SOMA. It is still dead.

Pretty well! The mission still has great food but is very competitive for rental space and getting from berkeley to Silicon Valley still sucks ;)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com