San Francisco - Alison Bing [5]
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COSTS & MONEY
The cost of living in San Francisco is high, though in general you get what you pay for – inventive, fresh cuisine, stimulating cultural events, fine art and strong drink. But many of the best things about San Francisco are gratis: natural beauty, street festivals, park strolls, gallery openings and idle conversation. Others are damn near free, and you’ll only have to part with a few bucks for a steaming bowl of Vietnamese noodles, a vintage fashion statement, tickets to take the N-Judah metro line all the way to the beach, or happy hour in Mission dive bars. With some resourcefulness you can live well beyond your means here, with set-price lunches, same-day or standing-room-only tickets to the theater or opera, and killer sales racks at chi-chi boutiques – see the Eating, Arts and Shopping chapters for details.
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HOW MUCH?
Cup of coffee $1.30 (small American drip coffee)
Gallon of gas $2.79 to $3.45 (find the cheapest gas stations at www.sanfrangasprices.com)
Burrito $5 to $7 (even a cent more is cause for foodie uprisings)
Movie ticket $11 to $13 (look for bargain matinees and double features)
Pint of local microbrew draft beer $3.50 to $5 (plus $1 for SF’s signature sassy bartenders)
Liter of bottled water $1.69 (which locals seldom pay, because SF’s tap water comes from Yosemite and is better than bottled)
Cable-car ride $5 (one-way adult, or $10 all day)
Souvenir T-shirt $12 (comes with mockery by locals gratis)
Spirits & speech Free (offer only good for San Francisco)
Love A bargain at any price (just ask the hippies)
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In case you haven’t already heard from some San Franciscan kvetching about the astronomical price of local real estate, accommodation will be your biggest cost in SF. Hostels and B&Bs are best to keep your rates under $100 – be wary of hotels listed ‘in the theater district’ that are actually deep in the hard heart of the Tenderloin and function as live-in hotels for the city’s transient population. Splashing out for a five-star hotel will get you bay views and kind of an inconvenient perch atop Nob Hill, so opt for a smart boutique hotel if you want to be in the center of the action.
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ADVANCE PLANNING
Two months before you go Book your reservations at Chez Panisse or French Laundry, and start walking – you’ll want to work up an appetite and enough stamina to handle SoMa gallery crawls by day and Mission bar-hopping by night.
Three weeks before you go Book your cruise to Alcatraz and a Chinatown Alleyway Tour or Precita Eyes Mission Mural Tour. Sign up for classes to get into the swing of things at Circus Center Trapeze and get properly sloshed at Cav Wine Bar.
One week before you go Relax: it’s not too late to get tickets for the American Conservatory Theater or San Francisco Symphony matinees, find out who’s playing at SF’s hot music venues at www.sfbg.com and score tickets online at TIX Bay Area. For the pick of this week’s events, check out http://laughingsquid.com/squidlist/events, www.thrillist.com and http://sf.flavorpill.net.
One day before you go See what San Franciscans are buzzing about at www.sfgate.com and www.sfbg.com, find out at www.indybay.org/sf if there’s an upcoming protest worth shouting about, and look into www.somalit.com/newsletter.html for literary events where you can suavely schmooze with your favorite authors. Join SF shenanigans already in progress at http://sfbay.craigslist.org/act, from citywide treasure hunts to cross-dressing cheerleader squads.
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Unless you have places to be and biotech business deals to broker, car rental isn’t usually worth the price and mental taxation. Basic rental starts at around $48 per day without insurance, plus there are gas prices to consider. Metered street parking often runs $4 for a couple of hours (when you can even find it, let alone