As part of my attempt to help doug move, I will now write up some of my first impressions about the San Francisco bay area, in particular the south bay area where I live and work in.
I have lived here for a little over 3 months now, and I like it. The Bay Area is quite spread out, so when I say bay area, I really mean Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. Palo Alto has a great downtown area - lots of nice restaurants, coffee shops and random boutiques. It reminds me of Ann Arbor, minus the snow, and a much nicer campus in Stanford. Besides the stunning campus, Stanford appears to be quite friendly to (nerdy) visitors, with a good number of free-for-all academic gatherings. I must say the speakers I've heard at Stanford are on average more famous, if not better, than the ones in Ann Arbor. Also, like Ann Arbor, Stanford brings in a good collection of classical musicians. I went to an Organ concert a few weeks ago, and it sounded amazing.
Sunnyvale is not quite as plush as Palo Alto, but that makes rent way cheaper. If you are willing to commute, you can find decent rent in the bay area. In fact, I'm only paying $30 more per month than when I lived in Austin. Granted, I lived in a 1-1 in northwest Austin, but my 3-3 townhouse now has everything I want. I usually take the caltrain to work, and it's working out very well. Even on days that I drive, it only takes about half an hour.
There are many fun things to do in the bay area: beautiful hiking trails, great snow in Tahoe, surfing, wake boarding, sand volleyball, etc. Two negatives about the bay area: potential earthquakes, and very very expensive housing.
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