San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the United States. It is the centerpiece of the San Francisco Bay Area that also includes Oakland. Berkeley. San Jose. and the area known as Silicon Valley. One of the best things about renting or buying in San Francisco or the Bay Area in general is the access you have to a very diverse selection of outdoor destinations along with other sites and attractions. To the north of San Francisco is beautiful Marin County. featuring great views of the fog rolling into San Francisco through the Golden Gate Bridge along with great hills, quaint towns and pleasant beaches. Renting and apartment or buying a home in San Francisco gives you easy access to the economic powerhouse of Silicon Valley that boasts companies like Cisco, Google, Hewlett Packard, Yahoo. and Apple.

Buying a home or renting an apartment in San Francisco gives you access to many many weekend getaways. Within 120 miles to the south of San Francisco is Santa Cruz. Monterey. and Carmel. Traveling east you can stop buy the governor's mansion in Sacramento on your 3 hour trip to Lake Tahoe for some skiing during the winter or hiking during the summer, and gambling all year round. If Lake Tahoe is not your style, you can drive less than an hour from San Francisco to get into the heart of wine country in both Sonoma County and Napa Valley. You can drink wine, eat cheese, or just take in the scenery. Be careful, as it gets pretty hot during the summer months. (PlumpJack is HotPads' favorite winery.)

Renting an apartment or buying a home in San Francisco isn't all about outdoor activities though. There are also countless of neighborhood festivals, a great arts scene, and lots of professional sports.

Renting or buying in San Francisco, CA.

San Francisco is known for its tight housing market with rent and for sale prices higher than most other metro areas in the country. As with any other city, you need to conduct a extensive housing search. However, in San Francisco it is important to move quickly when you find a house or apartment that you like as nice places tend to go off the market quickly.

San Francisco Professional Sports Teams

MLB: San Francisco Giants, Cross Bay Rivals: Oakland Athletics

NBA: There is no NBA Team in San Francisco, but Oakland has the Golden State Warriors

NFL: San Francisco Forty-Niners, Cross Bay Rivals: Oakland Raiders