Stephanie’s Guide to Piedmont Ave

There are several bus lines within a 5 minute walk of the house. The C bus and the 12 bus have stops two blocks from our house at Piedmont Ave / Pleasant Valley Ave. For getting into San Francisco, the C line offers weekday commuter service to SF in the morning (goes to the Salesforce Transbay Terminal right downtown), and service back to Piedmont Ave in the evening. The 12 line picks up on the block as the C and can take you to downtown Oakland, as well as towards Berkeley (the Berkeley direction will also take you to Ashby BART). Fares are $2.25 for local busses or $5.50 for transbay service

BART is the easiest way to get around the Bay Area past Oakland. The closest stops to the suite are MacArthur and Rockridge, and both are a brisk 20 minute walk. The C line also stops at MacArthur BART during commuting hours. The 51A or 51B can take you to Rockridge BART, and picks up about a 5-minute walk from the suite, and the 12 can take you to Ashby BART and picks up a 1-minute walk from the suite.

The quickest way to out yourself as a tourist is to refer to San Francisco as San Fran or Frisco. Locals usually say SF or just “the city.”

Weather in the Bay Area can change pretty rapidly, especially in San Francisco, where microclimates are a very real thing. The East Bay tends to be warmer than in SF, but it will usually get cool at night. If you’re planning on being out after the sun goes down, bring a sweater or light jacket!