What $2,000 rents 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? Today’s price: $2,000.

Few need to hear this, but a monthly sum of $2,000 isn’t that much by the standards of modern market rents in San Francisco. As such, terms like “cozy studio”—and everything that implies to watchful renters—start cropping up at this price point. In this case it’s a second-floor, one-bath studio in NoPa advertising “hardwood floors, a separate remodeled kitchen with new counter top, new sink, and new stainless steel appliance” as well as proximity to Golden Gate Park. The ad doesn’t specify square footage to tell us how “cozy” the place really is. Sadly, the landlord also says “nopa” to pets. Alas.

The byword in Glen Park is “peaceful” rather than cozy, as in a “peaceful studio near BART” that looks like a one-bath garden in-law on Roanoke Street. That is indeed just a few blocks from the fetching Glen Park BART Station. The studio is just 400 square feet for $2,000/month, advertising “eco-bamboo floors, recessed lighting”; a redwood deck with meditation bench; and additional proximity to Glen Park Canyon, a “nature preserve with creek, hawks, willows, owls, and wildflowers.” The back to nature vibe doesn’t extend as far as allowing pets, though.

Rather than the au natural vibe, the Cubix building on Harrison Street in SoMa prefers a downright mechanical aesthetic with its Tetris-like facade. While the ad doesn’t specify the square footage here (“not huge, but sleek” is as close as we get), Cubix sports some of the smallest one-bath microstudio homes on the rental market, some in past listings as small as 300 square feet. That’ll still run you $1,920/month here, with polished concrete floors, “sunny eastern exposure with private terrace” and access to the building roof deck. Here’s a choice amenity: “Owner will consider smaller pets” to go with the smaller home.

Those who desire a little more space can head south to Oceanview, where a one-bed, one-bath, 600 square foot apartment on Plymouth Avenue runs $1,995/month. “Ground floor apartment has backyard and garage parking for one car” on top of one of those odd full-unit tile floors you only occasionally see in obscure SF apartments like this one. And that’s virtually the entirety of the ad, excepting a line welcoming cats.

We finish with a “historic pet-friendly building” on Pine Street, a one-bath studio for $1,995/month featuring a tightly packed loft design. Though the ad says it’s Lower Nob Hill, it’s actually on the west side of Van Ness in the Western Addition, closer to Japantown than the aforementioned hill. Never take your eyes off these listings for a second.