Welcome back 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. Our price: $4,300/month.
↑ Since we're still in a patriotic mood from the holiday, we'll start on Liberty Street, the most emancipated avenue in the Mission, and a two-bedroom flat in this stately Victorian on the corner of Valencia for $4,250/month. It's 800 feet throughout, in what they call a boxcar (or "railroad style," in the case of this ad) layout: long and narrow from front to back. The floors, cabinets, and counters are new, but they saved the old clawfoot tub in the single bathroom. The Mission just doesn't seem to be a very pet-friendly place these days, and this lease continues the tradition.
↑ The Vics are the Mission's storied past, but buildings like 2007's 566 South Van Ness are the future. Here you can occupy a two-bed, two-bath chunk for $4,295/month. Although the exterior does pay occasional homage to Mission houses of old, inside it's all light palettes, smooth lines, and—alas—track lighting. The building is right between 16th and 17th, two blocks from Mission Street itself. No pets here, either. (Doggone it.)
↑ Do you need a lot of space for what you're paying? Here's a three-bed, two-bath, 1,250-square-foot flat on Los Palmos Drive that's the biggest and widest of our comparisons, going for $4,250/month. It comes with granite floors and showers and 360-degree views. This one's compass seems to be a bit muddled, since it advertises itself as Twin Peaks but is clearly right in the middle of the Sunnyside neighborhood, a few blocks from Glen Park BART and Miraloma Park. It's a doozy in either case, although it's also strike three for dog and cat owners.
↑ The top floor of this blue number in Cole Valley is yours for $4,300/month, a two bedroom deal with nearly 1,100 feet in a circa 1946 building. Both beds have French doors leading to a little Juliet balcony. And the house is only a block or two from the Greenbelt and Tank Hill Park. (Being Cole Valley, it's also in shouting distance from the Haight and edges of Golden Gate Park). Still no luck for pet owners, though. It's a dog-eat-dog market today.
↑ Finally, we have a condo in Potrero Hill with a potentially puzzling command of pop culture. The two bed flat on top of the Midcentury Pennsylvania Avenue building dates to 1962, which is maybe why it advertises "Mad Men-era" style and suggests "bringing Betty over for a makeup cocktail." Yes, this is getting a little weird, but the place itself isn't bad, with exposed beam and plank ceiling and some retro colors in the kitchen, It's $4,300/month, but wouldn't you know it, no pets allowed here, either. This must be why Don Draper never got a dog either.