apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

A laminated map of the city - I loan one to houseguests and office visitors too.

A walking tour? Precita Eyes offers tours of the murals of the mission that's quite unique.

i second the map, especially one with a very clearly outlined bus map.

i'm a foodie, so gifts usually include something like a tin of cocoa mix from bittersweet (fillmore st. in the city, college ave in rockridge), and/or get them a copy of "the slow food guide to san francisco" (perhaps not the exact title, but an AWESOME book).

if i'm really close to the person (relationship-wise, not distance), i'll also make them the offer of playing tour guide/chauffeur for the day. i have them pick a neighborhood or two, something they're really curious about, and i take them there.

I second gifts of tasty treats, especially if they're locally made. Nothing like the search for good food to get me out and about in a new city. Maps/Bus routes are great as well. I probably wouldn't go the art route, as it's pretty tricky to get someone's taste unless you know the person pretty well.

i would do some tasty local treats, like Cowgirl Creamery cheese, Boccalone salami http://www.boccalone.com, Point Reyes blue, and a nice bottle of local wine, a Zinfandel or something from Anderson Valley... Lazy Creek Vineyards or Navarro vineyards.

or maybe just a gift certificate to the Berkeley Bowl or Rainbow Grocery.

Not for Tourists (NFT) Guides are great for lots of cities.

http://notfortourists.com/sanfrancisco.aspx

I have to admit that I'm slightly jealous of anyone moving to the Bay area.

I never did the Precita Eyes tour but I think I put in enough walking time to cover pretty much all the murals! I had shin splints after the first 3 days I lived in SF.

I agree with all of the comments above. A good laminated map is essential.

After that, definitely a list of all my favorite places which, yes, would be food centric!

Everyone loves wine country recommendations because there are so many places to choose from.

So, maybe a Zagat guide or Slow Food guide with all the places circled with sticky notes for special highlights.

I love the idea of a basket with local goodies. Cheeses, lavender, chocolate, gift certificates, wine (of course).

And super awesome idea samantha playing chaffeur for the day. I was fortunate to have had friends like that. Across the bridge, to Mt. Tam, to Dolores Park to the Haight, all on the first day.

Sigh...snow here.

My partner's thesis advisor lived in SF for years. So when we moved out here after graduating, he gave us an annotated guidebook. He circled things he liked in the index and wrote notes about his favorites. It's actually been useful, and it felt much more personal than some gifts.

Just want to say I adore ranunculus flowers and I never mind getting those for a housewarming gift. J

A list of favorites and a gift card or commuter ticket for a ride on the ferry from the renovated terminal to Sausalito and back with a list of the food/ wine/ book/ coffee/ bread/ cheese /meats /fish and /flower sellers (etc!) at the SF ferry building. It was one of my favorite ways to spend a weekend morning every few months (before I moved away to a land where they call an unsweetened fried ball of dough a bagel and there's no such thing as ethiopian food).

Favs:

Restuarants (Higher Grounds for Crepes, La Med for lebanese/greek, etc)

Coffee shops

Bookstores

Thrift / or "experienced" furnishings stores

"ethnic" markets

Shoe stores (e.g., Rabbat)

Regular events like farmer's markets (Civic Center) and flea markets (Alameda)

Parks (or gardens within the park)

Neighborhood destinations (e.g., Osento for long hot soak, or Japantown for sushi and asian dec)

Where to buy a hammer in a city that doesn't have a 'Po.

Times of day / days of week to stay off the GG or the BB (bridges)

Best streets for getting across town fast. Everyone knows about 19th Ave and Market, but did you know Bush is the fastest way to get to the Bay Bridge from east of VanNess/north of Market? Or Gough is faster than VanNess from Lombard to Market. Or Valencia is faster than Mission, but Dolores is even better. Or Divisidero from Lombard to Noe Valley, not VanNess or Gough? At least in my opinion! :-)

Not SF specific, but a friend gave us a bottle of olive oil, the expensive kind you drizzle on stuff. It was a unique gift we would not have bought ourselves and one we used and enjoyed repeatedly. And we thought of them every time we used it.

Going along with greeps comment, there are plenty of local olive oil, including flavored oils, available at the Ferry Building in SF. The Stonehouse dipping oil is to DIE for!

Bush/Pine streets for going east/west rock my world.

After this thread, I'm going to suggest to CUESA that they figure out a gift certificate system for the Ferry Building farmers' market.

The best gift (housewarming or not) for someone moving to the area is to show them San Francisco, Berkeley Hills, Napa, Marin, Sonoma, and other great areas. Many people who move from elsewhere are used to shutting themselves inside their homes because of weather or tired after work/school, and the bay area is meant to go out & about!

So many suburban transplant people I meet are scared of SF because they drive in on clogged freeways, hate the bridge traffic, refuse to park in a parking garage, and literally drive themselves insane before setting their feet to the pavement and walking around the city. Drive people around, show them BART or ferries or transbay buses, and help them get a foothold here so they know where to simply start exploring for themselves.

You can purchase tickets to the double-decker open-top tour buses around town - they're $20 each, there's the general info about everywhere they go, and you get hop on/off privileges for 48 hours. A week or month-long Muni pass is awesome for someone who lives in the city. Then you get free cable car, F-line, 39-Coit to your heart's content. The day pass is $11, whereas the week pass is only $24 and the month pass is $45.

One of the cheapest, quickest, and most convenient ways to introduce people to SF is to walk around downtown with them during the workday. There are tons of hotel historical exhibits (Palace & Fairmont are awesome!), free museum displays in banks, public open spaces including rooftops - check out the article this week in the Chron. The free cable car museum/powerhouse and free trolley museum are fabulous.

The best way I got to know the city in general was with free walking tours by City Guides. There are 30-50 walking tours per week, 52 weeks a year. www.sfcityguides.com

Take people to your best secrets/insider places/cheap eats/dive bars. And of course, fabulous furniture/design/housewares stores! Perhaps get them a gift certificate to a fabulous place on Fillmore or Union or Brannan or in Berkeley, then take them there.