UCSF Housing, DO NOT LIVE THERE!

hey

thanks for the advice. for those of us interested in going to ucsf, where do you recommend us look for housing then?

Hey Spyris,

What do you think of the housing up in the woods on Parnassus Hill (I think it's called Aldea)?

It's true... Mission Bay is nowhere near the medical center. It is on the other side of SF near SBC ball park. I can easily imagine a 45+ minute commute (especially with SF public transportation/overloaded busses/traffic).

i got offered mission bay housing last year and ultimately i declined, mainly because of the travel time. i plan on living off campus or at home when i start this year.

parnassus campus housing is pretty tough to get into if you're a new student. aldea is reserved for families and couples. there are shared edwardian houses right next to campus but usually, there's a decent waiting list and priority goes to current students (i had the chance to live here too last year but the only available spaces were shared rooms). if you live off campus, the best area is inner sunset.

I have been living at Aldea for about a year now and I am pretty happy with it. It is family housing so might be tough for singles to get. The management has been pretty quick about responding to any problems with the apartment although I haven't really had too many. Never really had problem with the internet either, I have comcast. The only downside is that I can only make cell phone calls standing near a window. You get a parking spot and can purchase an additional one if need be. It only take a few minutes to get to campus via shuttle.

It's a trek to get out to MB, and though it might be kind of nice to be able to hear the occasional Rolling Stones concert blaring through your windows on a Sunday night before classes when they play at PacBell, UC is definitely laughing their way to the bank in getting students to pay up for housing "out" there.

That said, of course the units at Mission bay are brand spankin' new, there IS a free shuttle, and some would venture to call it a 'growing' community- but as previously stated, Craigslist.org is a MUCH better resource in getting local housing updates and info on the neighborhood. For anyone moving to SF, just know that though Noe Valley/Mission are on the other side of town, it IS superduper sunny there almost all the time, rents are decent, and did i mention it's sunny?
Near campus, parking is a pain... and yes, landlords will tack on an additional $150-$200/month just for a parking spot (it might not even be covered,) and even with the local J permit, I see locals tearing our their hair for a spot. And the SF Department of Parking and Traffic is the busiest revenue generator in town for Ol' Gavin Newsom.

Aldea is mostly for families (they are tearing down/or tore down the single units) and the UC sold the building @ turk so they could get people to move to Mission Bay. None of us understood the logic of that. Maybe someone needed to pay out a bonus, so they sold the building.

The Richmond, & even Outer Richmond, are also good options (but of course I'm biased!) - good restaurants in the Richmond, DimSum, Russian cafes and bakeries, tiny local movie theatres, markets, etc.

For those of you living in SF.
How much is the the average cost of rent?
(i.e. a studio apt.)