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Curbed Comparisons: What $2,250 rents you in San Francisco right now

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Five view of San Francisco's rental market, including the good, the bad, and occasionally the ugly

Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Is one person's studio another person's townhouse? Let's find out.Today's price: $2,250.

↑ "Lower Nob Hill" is the most elastic of all geographical locales in San Francisco, touching anywhere from the Tenderloin to Chinatown to Nob Hill itself. In this case, the 418-foot studio at 704 Bush Street renting for $2,195/month lands a couple of blocks from Union Square but also a few from Chinatown's Dragon Gate, in an old four story building (1916) right at Bush and Powell. The ad dubs it "perfect for students," although we have to wonder who could afford nearly $2,200/month in their college days. In any case, it is perfect for pets, which is a relief after batting almost zero on that front during Tuesday's Comparisons.

↑ Reaching out for more slightly obscure borderline spots in San Francisco, here's an apartment crouched right on the line between the Sunset and Forest Hill at 10th Avenue and Ortega. It's $2,150/month for three rooms—note that that's three rooms total, not three bedrooms—and the view from the curb is pretty stark, but at least the inside boasts a few built-ins and a proper bedroom instead of just a studio for the same price. Pets are "negotiable," which always sounds like a challenge to us.

↑ No mysteries about this one, it's planted firmly in the Richmond at Geary and 11th Avenue. This studio clocks in at 500 feet on the dot in a "beautifully painted 56-unit steel concrete building" (which you have to admit is a pretty singular phrase). It's a long, thin unit that terminates at bay windows, and it's up on the sixth floor, so you do have a bit of a view of the Presidio. No dogs allowed, but they're good on cats, and the offer is $2,250/month, an even $4.50/square foot.

↑ If you're looking for two bedrooms at this price point, it can be done, if you range south to the Excelsior and a little orange cottage on Pope and Morse (which is a few blocks from Mission and Geneva). The exterior gives us a little bit of vertigo—is the camera tilted, or the street crooked, or is just the whole house leaning?—but inside it's the most bang for your buck in terms of both square footage and number of rooms, and that counts for something. The price: $2,200/month.

↑ And, as always when you're studio shopping, the Tenderloin is calling, this time with a place on O'Farrell that's $2,195/month for 444 feet. The ad specifies that it's "close enough to your office to hit with a rock, but don't." We like landlords who discourage workplace rock throwing; it suggests community spirit. Pets are fine in this one, because you can always count on the Tenderloin for some things.