Tom writes:
I'd love to hear from anyone who lives in the area and has advice on a
few things:

1. The best clubs or schools to rent from. Airport proximity to the
city is important to me.

I don't know enough to debate who is "best", but I rent from the
undisputed "biggest", West Valley Flying club (www.wvfc.org). They
rent planes out of four airports in the area (Palo Alto, San Carlos,
Hayward, and South County). West Valley has lots of instructors, lots
of planes, and nice insurance coverage. Their downsides: waaaaay to
much bureaucracy (large clubitis), and relatively high rental prices.

There are tons of airports in the Bay area -- in adition to the ones
listed above, there is also SFO (big planes only, unless you like
steep landing fees, Oakland (never flown there, so I can't really say
what it is like), San Jose (free for landing, but the FBOs have a
hefty ramp fee, I hear...), Half Moon Bay (beautiful location on the
oceanfront) and Reid Hillview (on the far side of San Jose). Sadly
there is no GA airport super convenient to downtown SF, but all of
these airports are near major highways. (I live in Mountain View, so
PAO is pretty darn close.)

A good guide to KPAO can be found he
http://www.dr-amy.com/rich/flying/kpao.html

2. Recommended instructors for an IFR rating.

There are loads of instructors around. West Valley appears to
currently have 80 or 90 instructors listed. I have not yet started my
IFR, so I can't say who is particularly good or bad for that training.

3. What are conditions generally like for VFR flying in the Bay Area?

From my limited experience: it depends on where you are flying. South
bay: summer is clear skies getting a bit breezy mid-afternoon, with no
rain ever. Winter days are either overcast and rainy or clear (the
closer you get to mid-winter the more overcast days you get). San
Francisco airport: fog, year round (at least, fog every time I want to
fly up there, it seems. :-) ). The Pacific coast: overcast more days
than you like in the summer (often burns off mid-afternoon), easier to
get out to in the fall/winter. Inland/central valley: beautiful and
clear most of the year, gets some clouds and rain in winter.

4. How's the city tour? I lived in NYC for a while and loved it there.

The Bay Tour is beautiful. I would advise taking an instructor (or
other pilot familiar with it) along for your first try, as dealing
with the complex airspace and the local procedures can be tricky --
may as well make it easier for you. Also be aware that every plane in
the area wants to circle Alcatraz and fly over the Golden Gate Bridge
-- so keep a sharp eye out when near there. Before launching, check
weather at your airport, SFO, OAK, SJC, Salinas _and_ Half Moon Bay --
you may find dramatically different weather at all of those airports
at any given time...

Chris