20 Oct North of the Panhandle

A couple of months back, I moved North of the Panhandle. To my understanding, it’s a part of town that has undergone some relatively recent gentrification, and had many people in their twenties and thirties make it their home, giving the area life in ways it didn’t have before. Being here really has changed the game in terms of the social side of my exchange experience. I lived in a very suburban-feeling part of town, with a family and a few other students for the first six months I was here. They are beautiful people, and staying with them was great for a while, but being 29 and having not lived with my parents for about ten years, the arrangement was definitely going to tire before too long. When the opportunity to spend the rest of my time in here in a funky, old house in a cool neighborhood, with a group of people my own age fell into my lap, there was simply no way I could turn it down.

I’ve definitely had a lot more fun since making the move, and the past couple of moths here have felt much more fulfilling on a social level. NoPa (what the locals have dubbed it) is great. Life in this part of town centers around Divisadero. This street has a lot of character, brought about by the fact that while gentrification has seen the introduction of many new and interesting bars and restaurants, and a great variety at that, it’s held on to many of the elements through which it founds its identity before the younger crowd started flooding in. It’s also great location-wise, being a short bus ride from the Castro or Mission districts. It is significantly further from campus than my old place, but the extra travel time is a small price to pay for the benefits that being in this new place brings.

Moving can be a huge hassle, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who’s here for only a semester. If you’re staying an entire year, however, and are not entirely satisfied with the first place you’ve found to stay, keep your ears open and your eyes peeled. The pressure to find somewhere to live when first arriving can easily lead to less-than-ideal circumstances, but if you’ve got the time to keep paying attention, you might get lucky. Like I said, it can be a game changer.