San Francisco is a city of neighbourhoods, with a pretty different vibe and lifestyle despite being not too far apart. The neighbourhood you live in will have a profound impact on your experience living here. Manasi and I had the luxury of already living in the Bay Area, and so we spent several weekends just hanging out in a variety of places to see what we liked. Would recommend doing the same, if you have the option. FWIW, We live in the Mission, and love it.
This is a good writeup I found about SF neighborhoods on Reddit. Caveats emptor, that it is just one person’s opinion, and it might be a bit outdated (e.g. she calls the mission up-and-coming, which is definitely not how I’d put it). Pretty solid, nonetheless.
Driving in the city is a pain, and parking is expensive. When I’m in the city I primarily rely on public transportation to get around. E-bikes are another good option, either your own or City Bikes. The broader Bay Area, is a car-dependent suburb like the rest of the US, and access to a car is good for out of town trips. We own a car that we end up driving maybe once a week. My brother gets a rental car when he needs.
A note on public transportation: it is mostly buses, and your experience will vary widely depending on where you live. Mission Street (where I live) has 3 bus routes, each with a six minute frequency at peak. Plus a BART train every 3-4 minutes. Bernal Heights has one bus route, with a 20 minute frequency, which is a lot worse. Owning a car is probably less painful in Bernal than in Misison though.