Thanks again for all the responses guys, sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to you!
@goldielocks: Definitely will chat to people at work, but for now I'm not there, and will have to just see once I arrive.
@electriceagle: Will definitely have a look into writing a list trawler, thanks for the idea ;). Is it expected then that upon seeing a room and place that seems reasonable, I should immediately say "Yep, I wanna live here. Here's some money"? That is, there's not a "Well, I'm seeing another place later, this does seem nice but we'll see"? Never done any renting before, so maybe this is the way everywhere! Thanks for the Bayview tips, I'll definitely keep a look out.
@dragoncar: Perhaps my opinion will change a bit once I've lived there for the first month, but at the moment I would like to be in San Francisco. If I decide against this, I'll definitely revisit your advice though, thank you :)
@SFdude: Don't worry, I leave on the 28th August, I have a place until 1st October, so I'm just looking ahead to figure out my plans.
@mustachianism_is_aredpill: Lots of 2nd street-ers! I may come to find that 2nd street is a massive hub of everything everywhere, so many will, but until then, I'll pretend it's coincidence ;). What you say is what I've come to realise about lots of the advice I've been given, and why I seem to be dismissing a lot of it.
I think a part of this is that I do want a city life, I've just turned 21, moving from the UK to the US, finished university, and about to start my first job and my 'adult life', and a lot of that to me sounds like city life is my preferred idea. I think that's made me disregard lots of living far out advice, which is annoying and I'm sorry to anyone I have done that to, it wasn't until now that I realised I was doing it :).
Thanks everyone for all the advice, I'll keep up my search for some ideas, and hopefully by the time October 1st comes around, I'll be able to let you all know it's turned out brilliantly :D