24th St (the street with all the cars on it in the Street View image) is the main north/south arterial route, so be prepared for traffic noise. That location is about ten blocks up the hill (north) of Besalu bakery and the new QFC grocery store; another few blocks south gets you to Market St, the main east/west drag.
The building looks like a typical 1970s relatively small apartment building -- there are a lot of those in that general area. Remember that we're way up north here, so if you like sun, get windows on the south side of a building and vice versa if you don't. Many apartments here are heated by electric baseboard or in-wall heaters, because they don't cost very much and electricity used to be ridiculously cheap. It's still pretty cheap compared to the rest of the country, but the City-owned utilities have been jacking up the electricity, water, sewer, and trash rates over the last ten years in part to support political ideologies and the voters haven't stopped them yet, so it'll probably continue (my editorial). Don't forget to ask for a ballpark idea of what the winter electricity bills are, and if there are any other charges (such as for a storage unit).
If there's really no way you can get a cheap ticket and fly out for a few days to cruise the area, I'd try to spend some hours virtually cruising the area on Street View. Figure that you'll probably have only one parking space assigned in the apartment building, and you might have to pay extra for that, so if you're planning on getting around by bus, use the Metro website and Google to figure out what routes you'd use to commute and for other frequent trips.
We're in a phase of low vacancies/increasing rents right now, so don't count on the current rent staying the same after the end of the initial lease term. However, at least by then you'll know the area a lot better. Good luck with your search!
