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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Do you have dogs in SF? (preferably plural) (ETA)
If so,
What neighborhood do you live in?
Do you rent/own?
Is it a walkable neighborhood?
Do you need to own a car?
I'm asking because we are moving to San Francisco with two dogs. My husband will be working in the financial district and while we don't necessarily want to live downtown or anything- we would still like to look for a walkable neighborhood with good public transit to the FD.
I'm realizing this is very difficult, we're looking for a 1 bedroom- but we're open to a decent sized studio as well. Our budget would be $2100. Is this out there? Having dogs is making this very search very difficult. Although, I wouldn't give them up for anything 
Re: Do you have dogs in SF? (preferably plural) (ETA)
IUI #1 10/12/11 (Bravelle + HCG + Prometrium & acupuncture) = 10/26 BFP! Beta #1=250, Beta #2= 615. 1st u/s 11/8.
leolyns- We are definitely open to other areas of the bay area, not just SF. As long as it's good public transit to SF and in a non-rural area (walkable neighborhood).
We don't have dogs, but have friends with them.
Given he'll be commuting to downtown, you might want to check out Cole Valley (close to GG park, nice neighborhood, and can take the N-Judah downtown). Also, the Inner Sunset (further out along the N-Judah) would be good too.
I haven't checked rental listings lately but Rockridge or Piedmont area of Oakland, Alameda (your husband can drive to West Oakland BART station or Fruitvale or take AC Transit to get to SF or you can drop him off). Further east is Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Concord. Good luck on your search and I'm happy that you're not one of those dog owners who gives up their pets because they move.
IUI #1 10/12/11 (Bravelle + HCG + Prometrium & acupuncture) = 10/26 BFP! Beta #1=250, Beta #2= 615. 1st u/s 11/8.
I suggest you find some kind of temporary housing situation out here first, then take your time to check out all the neighborhoods and settle on a longer term lease. There are SO many options, there is a place for every budget here, it's just about your preferences for the type of neighborhood. Most places in SF have pretty good access to FD. I suggest starting here:
http://nabewise.com/sf
We live in Parkside, own, and find it pretty walkable, though we have cars too.
"Oh come on Gromit, a bit more, you know... alluring!!"
You generally get a lot more for your money if you don't live in the city, and as pp's pointed out, the FD is easily accessible by BART. So I would look in the east bay along the BART lines - you can generally get a bigger place for the same amount of money, and a lot of areas of the east bay have walkable neighborhoods, access to nightlife/restaurants, and are close to some great open space areas for you and the dogs. Just make sure you factor the cost of BART tickets into the rent and make sure the numbers work for you. Don't forget the parking fee at BART if your DH plans to drive to the station.
Specifically I'd look between the hill area of Richmond (city of, not the Richmond district of SF) and the central Berkeley area, then some areas of Oakland and Emeryville. There are several BART stations in these areas, various types of neighborhoods and a good selection of rentals.
One warning though: Based on my previous experiences looking for housing in the Bay Area with a dog, it is tough. A lot of property owners don't allow pets, period. Those who do sometimes only allow cats, or one pet, or have wacky weight restrictions (as if a 15 lb. dog is liable to bark or pee on the carpet any less than 30 lb. dog... Don't get me started.)
No matter how well behaved your dogs are, some people just won't be convinced to allow pets. But some just need a little reassurance that your dogs won't be terrors, and you can provide that by A) Giving them references from previous landlords who can attest to the good behavior and non-destructive nature of your dogs;
Offering a pet deposit, on top of a regular deposit; C) Offering to let them meet the pet in question before a lease is signed. The above steps helped us get the current house we're in (which we ended up buying), when we were competing with many other renters and the homeowners weren't huge dog fans (they're cat people 
)
Pets aside, if it's possible, I also second the idea of finding a short term living situation to start, moving out here, getting to know the area and then committing to something more long term.
Good luck! Oh, and welcome to the bay area!