Curbed Comparisons: What $2,350 rents you in San Francisco right now

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: $2,350.

↑ How much do caffeine connoisseurs love SoMa’s Sightglass coffee? Enough that some landlords will advertise an apartment’s proximity to a fresh supply of the latest roast right in the headline. This small top-floor studio (one bath, 350 square feet) on Natoma Street wants $2,350/month. The only window view is obstructed, but the roof deck is nice enough, and the lease allows pets. For the curious: The distance to Sightglass’s Seventh Street location is approximately 750 feet.

↑ Speaking of landlords, it seems the old “Call the Tenderloin ‘Lower Nob Hill’” switcheroo never goes out of fashion. Classic neighborhood that it is, the Tenderloin doesn’t need to dress up as anything else, and a top-floor studio (with its own bath) on Post costs $2,350/month. The ad calls it new construction; although the Department of Building Inspection site doesn’t record a permit for a new unit in the building, a lot of work was done on the place in January, including the addition of a deck on the building. Pets are allowed but “breed restrictions apply.” There may not be room for any Neapolitan mastiffs.

↑ Continuing the trend of top-floor spaces, a perch on this two-story place in the Outer Richmond costs $2,300. Heading west ups the room count at this price point to one bedroom, one bath, and the square footage to 650. But perhaps the most pleasing things about this little spot on 42nd Avenue is that it’s pleasing to the eye—neat and pretty compared to most tiny San Francisco apartments for the same price. No pets, but rent covers the utilities.

↑ For renters who prefer to go under rather than over, this in-law apartment in Bernal Heights sits tucked away beneath the deck of a house on Montcalm and rents for $2,300/month. Though many city in-laws appear downright claustrophobic, the atrium-like wealth of windows at the front of the unit (glass doors included) helps open this one quite a bit. Advertised as one bedroom, the ad claims it can “used as a two bedroom.” No mention of pets.

↑ And finally, a loft in a superb corner of the city, just at the upper edge of the Fillmore and within touching distance of Japantown and Lower Pacific Heights. The circa 1869 building on Geary is gorgeous to behold, but the one-bedroom, one-bath apartment itself is mostly new, added on in 2009. Pets are on the outs, and the rent is $2,340.