I spent most of last year traveling and I'm now considering where I want to live for the next year. I'm doing a trial run by staying with a friend in San Francisco for the next month (starting today). The vast majority of my friends reside in the Bay Area, and most of those are south of SF. However, I hate driving with a fiery passion and figured SF would be a good compromise.

Among places I'm deciding between include:
New York City, South Bay, San Francisco, Taipei

I had an apartment in Manhattan in the last year and I enjoyed the public transit, but I don't have nearly as many friends there. I have family in Taipei and the food/transit is even better than New York.