HackerHome Hopping, Part I: Dogpatch!

So this review is actually for a girl's bed in the Dogpatch/Mission Bay HackerHome. It's where I wanted to stay originally but it was full; however Vic is awesome and managed to get me a space a few days before I left for SF from Palm Springs.

This was my first time staying in a Hacker-oriented Airbnb space, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd heard stories about minimal space and whatnot. However, as soon as I arrived, I realized that Vic's network of HackerHomes is clean, comfortable, safe, and full of community, with ample spaces for privacy and rest, cooking, eating, and bathing. In fact, my experience at Dogpatch was so enjoyable that I wanted to visit the other homes and meet other awesome people, thus beginning my HackerHome Hop.

First, the people. I am rather shy by nature, and the first day I was there I was drawn into an interesting conversation about mixed-reality games. The next evening I had an amazing conversation with Alex the on-site host that week; in a few hours he had got me caught up on so much of what has been going on in the visual design world since I've been in grad school. Alex gave me some networking tips that were invaluable, and were things I never would have thought to try myself. The other guests were friendly and welcome as well, and also I appreciated that if you were in the mood to work quietly, people are equally accepting and will nod hello and leave you to it. I never thought I would be looking forward to coming home to a group of strangers, but here, that's exactly how I felt.

The house itself is nice. It's a three-level loft in Dogpatch, just south of ATT Park. So there was a quick muni train ride to get there, and the stop was just outside the building's door. The neighborhood is safe and the building is secure. It's quiet at night, and there's an amazing view from the roof.

I like the variety of people there — a google employee, a game designer, a few startup workers, an architect, a Ph.D student in biology...it didn't have that inbred, "Wizards Only" feel of some of the hacker spaces I've seen. So much of hacking crosses so many disciplines, and the HackerHome allows for that and let me meet a wide range of interesting people. Overall, thanks to Vic and the people at Dogpatch, it was probably the best first hackerspace experience I could have had. Thanks!

Next stop: the San Mateo HackerHome!