If you live in East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley...) you will get much better weather. Even the difference between Sunset/Richmond Districts is often -10 degrees cooler than Embarcadero area so choose wisely.
It ALL depends where you live. The City (SF) has micro climates that vary greatly even within City limits. Go inland, south or north, and the summers are the same as S. Cal (even hotter in some spots). The coast is not like S. Cal though. Cold water, fog, and ripping cold wind in the summer! Yes, it is much colder than NYC in the summer. Colder than any city in the lower 48 probably. Its very pleasant in the winter. jay
<<having experienced both nyc and sf, do you maintain that sf is colder and damper than the city? really??? i though sf weather would be hands down nicer than nyc.>> It appears none of us have been able to dissuade you from living in SF. This summer while we will be playing golf in NY in shorts and T-shirts, you will have three layers of clothing to keep warm while you stroll by the SF bay!
You guys have neglected to mention the throngs of homeless people asking for money on every corner or the sweet smell of urine that blankets the city. If it's bad now, what will happen if Tommy Ammiano is elected mayor? Still, you could find a decent neighborhood without these problems. Either live on a hill which the homeless people don't like to climb or the Marina, where I never noticed these problems quite as much. West coast hours are the best to trade, you only get up an hour or two earlier and yet have the entire afternoon free. It doesn't feel like a real job. If your thinking of San Francisco because it provides a city lifestyle, it also exists in SoCal just not as big. Parts of Santa Monica, Venice, West LA, Koreatown and San Diego's Gas Lamp distict has that to an extent although not as intense. LA is, despite being the home to Hollywood lifestyle, kind of an early town. I have found difficult to find a decent restaurant open after 10:00 without having to travel. The cost of living is generally cheaper in the South.
I am a native of the SF East Bay, where it is much warmer than in the City due to the Berkeley/Oakland Hills that keep the fog out of the Diablo Valley. I also spent 10 years in NYC, and another 4 years in Fairfield County Connecticut, not too mention a brief stint as a financial futures trader for an asset-allocator in downtown LA. Bottomline: The San Francisco Bay Area beats everywhere else, hands-down. If you like lots of SMOG, TONS OF TRAFFIC and CONGESTION, head for Los Angeles!
I've lived in East Bay nearly all my life. During college, living in Sacramento, Daly City, and San Francisco (Richmond & Financial Dist.) I have determined that the Tri-Valley area is the best place in Nor Cal by far. Mild winters, great summers, mountains etc.
I love trading in the San Francisco... our new office in the Mills Tower building, (formerly where the PSX is but only the PCX remains) is convenient and I love the weather.....and the food!.... I have no problems trading here and I commute in from Santa Cruz every day! J-
Grew up in LA...Hate it. I live in the South Bay of SF. Love it. My lungs have recovered but took over 10 years. We ave a future group starting is SF.....Do you have any contacts looking for a office to trade future from??????
this is incorrect. unless you consider the mission a great neigborhood. i live in potrero hill in a 500 sq. foot studio for 1350/month. my girl and i are planning on moving back to southeast florida as soon as i get my trading to a consistent, profitable level. its just crazy here. its a nice area, but the people suck. most are angry -- caught up in the hard job of living here. its ridiculously expensive for what you get, and i would not recommend it to anyone really as a permanent place to live. i have lived in many places throughout the u.s. and there are much better places to live. if you make 200k / year here, then yes, it probably wouldn't be a bad experience at all its all relative....