Pros and Cons of Living in North Beach - San Francisco

North beach, the neighborhood known as Little Italy, with it's delicious smells, hills, expensive rents, tourist traps, hidden gems and historically beat haunts, that is where I'm living right now and I consider myself lucky. If you're thinking of moving to the area, too, or even traveling through, here's a few things to keep in mind:

Pros:

Walking Distance Of:

Downtown financial district, Union Square shopping area, Galeria Mall etc - all 25-30 minutes

Pier 39 - 20-25 minutes

Bay Street Shopping Center with Safeway, Trader Joe's, Cost Plus, Ross and more - 10-15 minutes

Coit Tower/Pioneer Park - 5-15 minutes
China Town: 5-10 minutes

Views like this:

You might also have a view of:

TransAmerica Building

Coit tower

Bay towards Oakland

Downtown/Financial District

Amount of Cafes
There are plenty of local places to discover your favorite blend of espresso. The Cafes can also include great gelato, sandwiches, breakfast and sometimes wine and beer.

Beauty:
There are a lot of great views, trees, and Washington Square Park to enjoy. Buildings can be colorful and often in Italinate style, which is lovely.

Amount of restaurants 
There are a lot, some of which cater to the tourist, sure, but many that are authentic. And though it's Little Italy there is at least a moderate amount of variety. You can also find Thai food, Sushi and the Taqueria.

Cons

Rent Availability
Renting a room is likely to cost $1000 per month. There don't seem to be a lot of studio options and a one bedroom flat will run at least $2000 per month. Most offerings are subleases with rooms available that get snatched up very quickly.

Prices

Medium to high. Some of it is worthwhile, and other stuff is more of a tourist trap.

Tourists:
There are places that are too riddled with tourists like Mama's Cafe and Tony's Pizza. I don't know that I would wait 2 hours for those places, and I haven't yet. But I would love to try it if they weren't so busy!

Parking

Yeah, good luck. There is not much in the way of street parking. There is a garage on Union, and if you're willing to walk a bit you can park in several garages near Embarcadero or in the Bay St. Center and come on up within 15 minutes.

Difficult to get some places

Golden Gate Park - 45 minutes by public transportation though it's only five miles, which is far too far to walk, especially with the hills in between.

Difficult to get to or from these places late

Mission district.
Sunset District

Anyone else living in North Beach, let me know your pros and cons!

~C.J.