Ask HN: Suggestions on a place to stay while in the Bay area?

Hey guys, I will be in flying in to San Francisco over my winter break from university (Dec 15 - end of January). I am a first year computer science student from the midwest and I am considering transferring to a public uni. in Cali. I'm still looking for a place to stay as of right now, and I am not really familiar with the area. I am really learning about any new technology and start up culture, though I have been focusing mainly on web development(namely: Python+Django, HTML5, javascript). If you guys have any suggestions on places that would be hacker friendly (e: close to hot tech meet up location or something) I would appreciating hearing your opinion. I am mainly looking to network on this venture, but I will also be exploring the city to see if transferring out there will be my next move or not. Any suggestions (whether location or places/events I should go to) would be wonderful. Thanks!