What $2,000 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: $2,000.

↑ Note that the giant yellow Victorian at 862 Shotwell is not what’s on offer in this ad for a one-bath studio in the Mission for $1,995/month. Rather, the number five unit is “tucked towards the back of the lot with separate entrance.” At least the new tenant can get some curb appeal by proxy, and the little place in back is big enough to fit the claw tub in the bathroom. No pets, we’re afraid.

↑ Spotting the studio apartment on offer in this Lower Nob Hill building at 720 Jones from the street may take a second, as its distinctive windows don’t appear on any of the top floors. Rather, they’re the more sedate street-level face of the old building. Here, a 383-square-foot, one-bath home halfway between the hill and the Tenderloin rents for $1,895/month, and gratefully takes after its southern-lying neighbors by permitting cats and dogs in the lease.

↑ Speaking old buildings, the SoMa area around 81 Ninth Street has seen many ups and many downs since it first appeared on the block in 1912. Now, suddenly, it finds itself with trendy neighbors; the Twitter building and all of its hip amenities and hangers-on are just up the block. Though small, this one-bed, one-bath apartment is the only of the five homes at this price point that qualifies as a single bed home instead of a studio. The $1,895/month rent covers utilities but not pets.

↑ Now here’s a Noe Valley landlord not afraid to be frank: “This charming garden studio in the heart of Noe Valley does not have granite countertops, or modern appliances.” Rather, the major selling point here is “charm,” as well as the ceilings, access to the aforementioned garden, and of course being in Noe Valley to begin with for $1,850/month. Not only are no pets allowed, though, but this place takes the prohibitions one step further: “Single person only, no couples.”

↑ The ad for this Pacific Heights one-bath “micro-studio” imposes no such limitations, although if it’s really as micro as all that then maybe none are needed. There’s no specific mention of precisely how small of a space we’re talking here, but probably nobody employs the phrase “micro-studio” unless they feel they really need it. At least the living room bay provides space for an itty-bitty dining area, and it is in Pac Heights after all, a couple of blocks from Alta Plaza Park.