Author Topic: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!  (Read 7480 times)

Offline arianne

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San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« on: April 12, 2011, 04:06:53 PM »
So...I'm working on a sci-fi tale at the moment, and it's set in San Francisco (why set it in a city I have never been to? No idea. But Muse says San Francisco, and when Muse talks, I do ;D)

I'm hoping that someone who lives in the city or has been there many times can help me out with this. My questions are:

1) which area of San Fran would clubs (night clubs) be likely to be located in?

2) which is an area where the poorer people live (one of the characters is unemployed, where would he be likely to live?)

3) which is an area that you would NEVER walk through after dark, even if someone PAID you, because chances are you would get mugged. And re-mugged. And maybe mugged some more. Like rough neighborhoods are what I'm after.

4) which is a more suburban-y place where you see nice houses with four floors and an attic, and a nice front yard, and driveway and all. I'm hoping for somewhere slightly secluded, too. Don't worry about the price range--the characters are rich, they can afford it :D

5) a nice coffee shop that most people would know and go to (and please not $tarbucks. Please)

6) a mall or shopping area located close to the place where the poorer people live (I know, why would someone build a mall near people who don't have the cash to buy stuff? But just close-ish would be good enough. Maybe biking distance?)

7) and, not really a location question, more of a culture question--is Wiccan/magic type of stuff widely accepted in San Francisco?

I know that's a lot of questions!! It would be cool if you could answer just one; you don't have to answer all of them in one go!!

Deepest thanks in advance to anyone who can help ^^
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Offline meg_evonne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2011, 02:45:07 PM »
well, it sounds like ROAD TRIP time!  Enjoy!  Even if you get this information from someone, it will be sketchy at best. To make it ring true, I really think a visit is in order.  San Fransisco is an incredibly rich and diverse place. It has its own flavor and feel--like DC or New Orleans or Vancouver. The cultural differences alone would be incredibly difficult to write about unless you've at least brushed up against them, i.e. China Town. It's also a 3D city...as much of your description would be looking up at the hills, Coit Tower, etc or looking down on Alcatraz, the bay, the Golden Gate bridge from the nearby hill tops.  Read that to mean that even satellite research isn't going to give you the right San Francisco taste...   Then there are the weather descriptions.... believe me, in San Fransisco it FEELS different minute to minute from location to location!

I wish you well on your research--because the road trip will be a blast!


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Offline Quantus

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2011, 04:12:54 PM »

I grew up in Oakland, but haven't been back for more than a week in 10 years.  So I can help you some, but not with everything. 

In general, San Fransisco is kinda like the Manhattan borough of the metropolitan area, usually just called The Bay Area.  The Phone Books all just say West Contro Costa County.  Lots of ridiculously steep hills, cold fog every morning.  Oakland is the slightly rougher (or maybe just less touristy) part across the Bay Bridge (think Brookland).  It is buoyed by the fact that it blends straight into Berkeley to the north, which is an ultra liberal college town with an above average share of hippies and the occasional nudist out for a walk.  North of that is Richmond, which is the middle class suburban area I grew up in.  Well, technically I grew up in Pinole, the tiny town to the north that hasn't visibly changes in 20+ years and is known for its "timelessness" (which is the nicest way I can put it).  That town ends rather abruptly into hilly graze-lands.  The average resident would be aware of a painful commute from there to any of the main parts of town using either a parking lot of an interstate, or taking the back way around the hills to the Caldecott Tunnel straight into berkely. 

North of SF there is some sparce-ish stuff on the inner side, and hilly park lands between you and the beach, but is more the stereotype california beach town type stuff than anything SF specific.  South of SF I have much less experience with.  Its got the main airport for the area (there is one in Oakland too, but its a pain to get in and out of).  Past that it trickles out into various smaller towns and suburbs along the bay as most large cities tend to do, but I cant tell you much more than that.

If you go to SanFransisco and don't go to the Exploritorium, you've done something wrong that you will regret for the rest of your life.  A giant hands-on museum.  Lots of perception illusions etc.  You know those Plasma Balls you see in Spencers and every mad scientist's lab?  Invented just as a hands-on demonstration for this place.  Loves me that place, and have never heard of somebody having less than a blast there, even when initially forced to go.


1)Was too young when I was there
2)Depends on mobility.  There are some low income places in oakland, some slightly better ones nearer the university, or else a drive or Bart ride (what they call the above ground subway system) from the more fringe areas like richmond. 
3)Downtown Oakland comes to mind.  There are probably some areas in SF proper as well, but too much walking up and down those hils tends to suck quick.
4)Richmond.  Anywhere works for middle class. Country Clubs in East Richmond Heights/Kensington up on the hills, and the Richmond Golf Club to the north, near the water.
5)Couldn't tell you, need a more specific area.  There are tons of little corner coffee shops etc, but no widely famous ones i know of.
6)Definitely Hilltop Mall in Richmond for an actual Mall.  Most other shopping is more street, storefront, or boardwalk type setups. Or you know, the Costco.   
7)As a rule sure.  Like I said, they have nudists casually wagging down the street, so a little wiccan twist isn't going to raise eyebrows. Last time I was there fairy talismans were common wall hangings in the bookstores and such.   That being said, they are not nearly as much the laid back live-and-let-live sort of hippie as you'd expect, especially for a town with such and open and nearly legal pot industry.  Far more often you get the cause-head activist hippies, which are by nature more forceful with their opinions and beliefs.  But it would be more a personal level friction, rather than a group movement of belief.  Unless they think you are going threaten the bunnies with mascara, or sacrifice that poor chicken, or something that set em off.  Then they can get just as idiotically close-minded as any other mass of people.
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Offline Enjorous

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2011, 04:46:34 PM »
1) which area of San Fran would clubs (night clubs) be likely to be located in?

  Don't know off the top of my head
2) which is an area where the poorer people live (one of the characters is unemployed, where would he be likely to live?)

   Tenderloin is pretty rough, smells like urine half of the time. Lot's of porn shops and strip clubs down here.
3) which is an area that you would NEVER walk through after dark, even if someone PAID you, because chances are you would get mugged. And re-mugged. And maybe mugged some more. Like rough neighborhoods are what I'm after.

    See above
4) which is a more suburban-y place where you see nice houses with four floors and an attic, and a nice front yard, and driveway and all. I'm hoping for somewhere slightly secluded, too. Don't worry about the price range--the characters are rich, they can afford it

   Richmond works,
5) a nice coffee shop that most people would know and go to (and please not $tarbucks. Please)

   City Light books, it's one of the most popular private book store with cafe.
6) a mall or shopping area located close to the place where the poorer people live (I know, why would someone build a mall near people who don't have the cash to buy stuff? But just close-ish would be good enough. Maybe biking distance?)

  There are a few of what your talking about near Market Square, which does have a mall bordering on the Tenderloin there are also a few other big department stores like Macy's a few blocks up surrounding Union Square.
7) and, not really a location question, more of a culture question--is Wiccan/magic type of stuff widely accepted in San Francisco?
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Offline arianne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2011, 06:28:08 AM »
As always, I am AMAZED by the great, detailed replies I get here.  ;D Thank you all sooo much!!!

Unfortunately road trip is out of the question as I live on the other side of the globe. So unless I win the lottery or something, I'm not going to be able to get out there anytime soon! :(

Just wanted to ask...is Richmond the type of place where you are likely to have a house that has no other house around it for at least a few miles? In my mind's eye I'm thinking of a house kind of halfway up a hill, and it's a big, "stately" sort of place that might be able to pass for a mini castle, or maybe a private school, something like that?

And about the weather...Quantus mentioned "cold fog every morning". Is it like early morning, five am fog, or like real morning fog that lasts until nine or ten in the morning? And does the fog mean that it tends to rain a lot too?

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!
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Offline Enjorous

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2011, 06:49:43 PM »
Just wanted to ask...is Richmond the type of place where you are likely to have a house that has no other house around it for at least a few miles? In my mind's eye I'm thinking of a house kind of halfway up a hill, and it's a big, "stately" sort of place that might be able to pass for a mini castle, or maybe a private school, something like that?

And about the weather...Quantus mentioned "cold fog every morning". Is it like early morning, five am fog, or like real morning fog that lasts until nine or ten in the morning? And does the fog mean that it tends to rain a lot too?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*deep breath*

Sorry, there isn't a place in the Bay Area (the area including SF, Oakland, San Jose, Freemont, etc.) where those things exist. There are plenty of neighborhoods with very, very, very nice houses that are ginormous, however there isn't enough land in the area for estates of that size. Although Atherton comes close to having "mini castles"

such as

Which is selling for a paltry 6.9 million dollars.

As to the fog, it isn't every morning not by half, especially in the spring summer and parts of fall, unless you're counting high fog (also known as the marine layer) which just looks overcast until it finally burns away. It does tend to rain a lot and when you have low fog it feels very wet and heavy. There's more early morning fog that generally scatters with the sun, but again not as much in the summer time and not nearly as thick.
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Offline arianne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2011, 07:21:11 AM »
Yeah, Muse, you hear that? NO STATELY HOUSES AVALIABLE!!!!

*Muse sighs*

Oh, well, it was a nice image while it lasted ;D

Back to the weather--does this mean that it rains more in the morning and afternoons and less so at night? (You know, if one were to base one's knowledge of San Fran on films and movies, one would believe that it NEVER rains in SF, except when the broken-hearted guy is walking--in slow motion--back home from his (ex) girfriend's house LOL)
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Offline Enjorous

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2011, 07:24:18 PM »
The rainy season is definitely from mid autumn to mid spring. And even then it doesn't rain constantly, it's weather is cool but not at all like that of Seattle. I would take a look at Weather Underground for details on when it is and isn't common to get rain.
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Offline MouseWynne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2011, 11:06:10 AM »
I usually don't post in this thread but thought I'd add a bit more info -

1. Clubs/night clubs - North Beach area has the largest concentration of clubs and restaurants.
2. On the Pennsula south of San Francisco proper, Daly City, South San Francisco, San Bruno (where
the gas pipeline exploded).  In San Francisco, the Mission district and the area south of Market street
although that's becoming "Gentrified".
3. In SF itself, See 2 - Although I knew a guy who got mugged on Fisherman's Wharf. Suggest Googling
San Francisco Crime Maps for better information.
4. Marina District, Pacific Heights - although the lots in both of those areas are quite small.
Or San Bruno, Daly City and South SF also work.
5. I second City Lights Bookstore -
6. There are several shopping centers but SF doesn't really lend itself to malls.
7. Wiccan/Magic is quite common in S.F as are a number of non-Main stream religions

I'd Suggest also Googling San Francisco and looking at the combined Satellite/street map views
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Offline arianne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2011, 12:59:21 PM »
I was just wondering, is it bad to set a story in a place you've never been to? And then I remembered that when JB set Harry Dresden down in Storm Front, he had never been to Chicago... ;D

Just curious though, is San Fran (in your minds, as people who have actually been there) an ideal spot atmosphere-wise for SF/fantasy, creepy-crawlies etc?

In my mind San Francisco is always dark, and the only thing you can see is the HUGE bridge and tons and tons of lights from the city buildings.  :)

Not very accurate, I know. Seeing as how it's not always dark and all. (duh, Muse).
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Offline MouseWynne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2011, 09:00:23 AM »
Is San Francisco a good place to set an SF/Fantasy story?

You did know the San Francisco was the location for Star Fleet HQ in Star Trek, didn't you?

It's also the setting for Seananne McGuire's October Daye stories...

So yes - it's not always dark there but it's got loads of "atmosphere" even when the sun shines.

Again - Google is your friend -check San Francisco images...
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Offline Quantus

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2011, 03:15:40 PM »
Well, in terms of history San Fransisco has one of the more layered pasts of any area in the US, a lot of which is still preserved today.  From indian era stuff when California was one of the most culturally diverse areas in all of north america, to the Spanish era with the mission settlement, to various wars leading to becomming a US state, then teh explosion that was the Gold Rush, to the massive immigration from various pacific rim areas in the early 1900s to the Pasific front of WW2.

Not to mention various geographic plot fodder from the bay itself, the area's seismological/volcanic activity, gold deposits, and proximity to the Redwood Forests which hold both the worlds largest tree (the General Sherman Tree) and the worlds tallest tree (the Hyperion, part of the Grove of Titans along with teh Del Norte Titan, the Lost Monarch and other record breaking trees. "The location was described by author Richard Preston as "the bottom of a hidden notch-like valley near a glade." The exact location within the park has not been revealed for fear that excessive traffic will damage the grove."
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Offline arianne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2011, 03:33:49 PM »
Ah. Google maps. Street view.

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Offline meg_evonne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2011, 05:02:16 PM »
My brother has a photograph of one neat home with gargoyles... I'll see if I can find out where it was located for you. Really cool.
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Offline arianne

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Re: San Francisco sci-fi...location help needed!!
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2011, 06:28:58 AM »
Cool. Would love to see it!

Wonder if the owners would mind me "borrowing" their house? ;D
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