[akavi]

...I don't think so? Or at least, it's totally alien to me as someone who's spent ~6 years in SF tech.

1,200 $/mo is more than enough to get a room to yourself in the nice neighborhoods; admittedly, you'll need to put in the time on craigslist to find sublets, "interview" with potential roommates, etc. I can see if you're desperate to find a place in a hurry, an airBnB like this might make sense for a month, but more than that seems insane.

Getting scammed by false promises of equity riches is definitely a thing that happens to people, but it's far from the norm. Again, take a job like that if you need something right away, but spend your time hunting for something better, because the vast majority of programming jobs in SF are nothing like this.

[mmt]

> 1,200 $/mo is more than enough to get a room to yourself in the nice neighborhoods

One of the difficulties potential renters can run into, especially ones from out of town, is that no matter how nice the neighborhood is from a residential standpoint, it might be much less nice from a commuting standpoint (be it work or the coding bootcamp).

Whenever I try it, I find public transit within SF to be remarkably time-consuming, even to travel short distances. That means living outside the city can be both cheaper and result in a shorter (time, not distance) commute, which might seem counter-intuitive.

[ashtonbaker]

I know this isn't for everyone, but I'm just curious - what about cycling? Are the distances large or is it simply a congestion or street layout issue for driving and public transit?

[mmt]

SF is also famous for its hills, especially the steepness of some, which creates an additional barrier to cycling beyond the usual "not for everyone".