Chicago is so two years ago...

[John]

SF is so expensive

It's a little worse than Chicago, but right around NoVa and much less than NY. I'm not looking to live in the REALLY expensive parts. Rent will probably be under 900 inc parking

SF is the 2nd most expensive city in the US behind NY - DC, LA, and SD more comparable to each other though. Everything in SF is more expensive, food, gas, you name it - and say hello to the highest state income tax in the country at 9.3%. While there isn't a lot of violent crime in SF, there is a lot of petty theft and robbery from the bums - so be careful of your areas you want to live in. I haven't perused rental rates lately for SF, but I suspect 900 is on the low end, and parking is very difficult to come by.

Good luck though - I do love SF even if it is uber-liberal.