What $3,000 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: $3,000.

↑ The Shipyard development in Hunters Point consistently sells some of the city’s most affordable condos, but how does that translate onto the rental market? Well, this owner is renting a two-bed, two-bath, 900-square-foot Shipyard berth for $3,000/month, parking and pets included. “Great for those working in the Peninsula who want to be ‘in the city,” is the pitch in the ad. So how does it stack up against those who are “in the city” sans quotation marks?

↑ From the Shipyard, head up the freeway to Potrero Hill and Connecticut Street and the same $3,000/month nets a one-bed, one-bath, 660-square-foot cottage instead. Note that this is not the home seen in the curbside photos here but apparently a freestanding structure in the backyard, squeezed up right against the property line by the looks of it. No pets allowed, proximity to the Dogpatch notwithstanding.

↑ Meanwhile, migrating to Lower Pacific Heights means a home with grander ambitions but more limited proportions. This studio on Pine Street fancies itself a taste of “Zen-inspired Feng Shui” and boasts of bamboo floors and extended ceilings. “Our designer knocked down all the walls and raised the ceiling to take best advantage of the huge windows,” says the landlord. The windows don’t necessarily look that big here, but the vertical images do at least play up the ceiling height. The ad promises “very good energy flow,” but note that for $3,000/month the place comes out to just 300 square feet. Pets are fine, but watch where you step.

↑ Any skeptics in the power of Pac Heights Feng Shui may contrast it with a home of similar dimensions in SoMa but a less holistic approach. This studio at the Panoramic is reserved for student and intern housing and normally wouldn’t show up on Comparisons, but it’s such a singular space—the Panoramic is all modular apartments designed by local micro-unit enthusiast Patrick Kennedy—that we couldn’t neglect its example. Well, it certainly is efficient, you’ve got to give it that. The whole crate is $2,995/month.

↑ Newfangled modular homes aren’t every renters micro cup of tea, so for a little history and old school San Francisco charm there’s a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment tucked into the back of a pre-Great Earthquake Victorian in Liberty Hill. Although the ad bills the entire place as 750 feet, it also cautions renters to “note the small bedroom,” (it’s 6.5 by 11 feet, barely bigger than the bathroom). Being in Liberty Hill, it’s of course tantalizingly squeezed between Dolores Park and the Mission proper. The deal is $2,995/month, no word if pets are at liberty too.