off: going to california

[Doug Pearson]

Hi Allan,

been a while ...

On Thu, 26 Oct 2000 07:35:18 -0500, "Allan T. Grohe, Jr."
<grodog at EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:
>I'm packing up my apartment, life, and fiancee, and moving to the
>Sunnyvale, CA, area

Oof, I'm sorry.  Moving out of Sunnyvale and up to the northern Bay Area
(first San Francisco, now Oakland) was the best thing I'd done since moving
*to* the Bay Area.  The South Bay scares me, but at least you'll be able to
listen to KFJC 89.7FM, the second-best radio station in the USA.

>(southern San Francisco bay region) for around
>the beginning of December.  I'd like to pick your brains about the
>greater SanFran area, including:
>
>- good music stores to sate my HW/PTree/BSYBE fix

I think most of the good ones have been mentioned, although I think that
the two "boutique" stores, Mod Lang (Berkeley) and Aquarius (San Francisco)
were missed.  Those two are good for specific underground genres (techno,
indierock, britpop, lounge/exotica, prog, metal, and yes, space/psych & 60s
reissues), but not so much for "general"/Top-40 browsing.

>- good places to look to live (I'll be in temp housing for 2 months)
>  that are not insanely expensive (I'm already planning on $2000/month
>  for rent, but I don't like it!)

That figure sounds about right, unfortunately, unless you don't mind the
commute from Stockton.  <gratuitous gloat>You DON'T want to know what I pay
for my huge, rent-controlled 2-1/2 (at least) bedroom flat in Oakland with
a lease going back to '92 or so</gratuitous gloat>.

>- what do first time movers to SF, CA need to know/do (car emissions?
>  registrations? licenses? etc.)?

I don't recall the exact details (it's been over 12 years since I moved out
here, and bought a car in CA), but your car WILL have to pass CA emissions
standards, and you WILL have to take a written test to get a CA driver's
license.

>- I'll probably move out in part, then moving my fiancee out next
>  year; what are the types of clothes I need there for winter (vs.
>  in Kansas City, which gets fairly cold)

Bring a raincoat!  In the South Bay you won't see much temperature
variation (and you'll love how non-humid it is in the summer, even during
the one week per year when the mercury breaks 100degreesF), but if you come
up to San Francisco on a warm summer's day, DON'T FORGET to bring a sweater
AND jacket (layers!) if you're staying past 5PM or so ... it can get
bone-chillingly cold on summer evenings when the fog rolls in and permeates
your clothing and skin.  But temperatures below freezing are extremely rare.

>Any thoughts/advice would be vastly appreciated!

I hope you like it in this corner of the world.  Unfortunately, the recent
economic boom in the area has been devastatingly BAD for culture & the
arts, as well as for ordinary working people.  You'll experience traffic
jams the likes of which you've never experienced in KC, and at least you
already know about the unbelievable rents.  But you'll also have
opportunities to eat delicious foods from all over the world, see cool
movies/bands/art exhibits that would never make it to KC, and encounter
some pretty interesting people ...

Good luck!

        -Doug
         ceres at sirius.com