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Housing in the Bay Area

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Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#321

Post by avar »

abalone wrote: post #310
avar wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Neither of the cities you mention have experienced > the sudden, massive surge in demand that SF has > in recent memory. They haven't? According to what? I just looked this up for Milan real quick: SF had 350k people in 1900, and 800k in 2010[1], a growth of ~2.3x. Milan had 550k people in 1900 and 1.3 million in 2010[2], a growth of ~2.35x. I don't understand how you think SF is the exception in this example. Both…

First, you are looking at the wrong time scale. Second, population growth is not the same as demand. In just a few years SF has experienced a massive surge in demand, i.e. the price new residents are willing to pay for housing.

Well of course population growth isn't the same as demand, that's the point!

What davidw was observing was that there's plenty of cities that do better at satisfying the demand for housing than San Francisco does.

You can have a growing population in the same area while demand goes down, if you're building enough new housing to offset the demand. The examples davidw and I have been citing here show cities that have faced similar population growth that have built up rather than succumbing to SF's housing problems.

I think your claim that it's apples to oranges is invalid. Yes SF has been a boomtown, but plenty of cities all over the world have been boomtowns without the same issues.

The issue is that SF has been a boomtown AND hasn't gotten its act together when it comes to building up density. That's what makes it a special case, and that's why both the demand for housing housing prices are ridiculous there.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#322

Post by pc86 »

ascetone wrote: post #317
jevinskie wrote: post #160

There is so much pressure, career-wise, to move to either the Bay Area, the West Coast in general, or a major urban hub. I honestly like living in a semi-rural part of the Midwest. I like seeing fields and forests while driving to work. If I want to get out to some wilderness, I can do so in 15-30 minutes. I travel in a car that, I feel, offers me freedom. To boot, I have a nice, reserved spot in the garage below my…

Seconded. Quality of life is second to none. Pros: * I live the heart of downtown in a major Canadian city * Rent is $1025/mo, plus $100 for underground heated parkin. (Hey it's Canada) * Work is across the street (it's not abused) * Wilderness is only 15-20 minutes away * Montreal/Boston are only 12 hours away Cons: * I'm a "devops lead" and making $70k/yr I've come to the realization it'll take six figures plus to…

That seems like a very low salary for any technical lead position. Are the wages in Canada generally that low? Most lead positions in the US regardless of geographic area start in the low six figures.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#323

Post by HemanHeartYou »

ccarter84 wrote: post #291
grappler wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have intelligence and programming ability, and a desire to further my career. I want a good high paying job in the epicenter of my chosen industry. I do not want to move to a city where I can't afford to buy a good home within walking distance of my workplace. The world should provide this for me.

Well put. You forgot to add that you'd also like a pony and an unlimited supply of Häagen-Dazs.

i agree, how dare he want things? how selfish of him.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#325

Post by pyrophane »

elliotec wrote: post #109
nostrebored wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow the city with the highest average salary/cost of living usually goes unmentioned... Seattle has two huge tech companies, a lot of mid sized tech companies, and a growing startup scene... and it's not that far away from the bay.

I'm calling BS. Where's your source that Seattle has the highest average salary to cost of living?

Good instinct. The housing prices, while still pretty good, are going up fast, and unless you work for MS or Amamzon, I'm not sure the salaries are really that amazing.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#326

Post by atom-morgan »

jevinskie wrote: post #160

There is so much pressure, career-wise, to move to either the Bay Area, the West Coast in general, or a major urban hub. I honestly like living in a semi-rural part of the Midwest. I like seeing fields and forests while driving to work. If I want to get out to some wilderness, I can do so in 15-30 minutes. I travel in a car that, I feel, offers me freedom. To boot, I have a nice, reserved spot in the garage below my…

I'd like to do this. Unfortunately tech sells itself as remote-friendly when very little of it is.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#328

Post by raldi »

akanet wrote: post #14

People should actually call in! Over at the SFBARF, we have a thread of people reporting on how long it took to call their representatives: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sfbarentersfed/7G4Kr... . I managed to talk to someone at both of my representatives' offices within a minute, without any sort of delay. It's very easy, please do call in if you support this measure! Also, when you do call in, post here af…

My call to my assembly rep's office lasted 22 seconds; my call to my state senator took just 17.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#329

Post by maxsilver »

Jgrubb wrote: post #316
danjayh wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With you all the way. I have 11 acres, horses, a goat, cats, a dog, and I live 15 minutes from downtown and 17 minutes from work. This is in a mid-sized midwest city (Grand Rapids, MI). While I realize that I could achieve a substantial pay raise on one of the coasts, a similarly sized plot there would cost millions. I paid under 200k 5 years ago with a 1500sf house on it, and it's still probably only worth the mid 2…

I know I found a Rails shop there in a search years ago, but generally speaking is there a tech career scene in GR? If so, are there any trends as far as the tech that companies are using that you can tell? I've got 3 acres with dogs and chickens here in NJ, but we have no family for a 10 hour radius and my wife's family is in Livingston county (don't want to be too close). Thanks in advance.

> generally speaking is there a tech career scene in GR?

Not really.

There's plenty of tech work in GR, if your just looking for a job you probably won't have any problems. And there's plenty of social / networking events. GR definitely punches above it's weight for the region -- but not enough to compare to a real market.

Grand Rapids is closer to a small town than a major city, so despite our best efforts, there isn't really a scene that's comparable to anything like what I've seen in Minneapolis or Portland or Austin or even Milwaukee.

Of course, those places are larger and cost more. Low cost of living is great, (cheap housing even with good schools, lots of space, easy commutes, no crime, silly amounts of lawn and garden) but it has its own drawbacks (very low wages, worthless public transit, everything's suburban, greatly reduced career opportunities, etc)

I would personally prefer an urban lifestyle, and that's impossible to have in Michigan, which is frustrating to me. But if you want a suburban lifestyle in a ranch house with a huge yard, Grand Rapids is perfect for that. There's tons of those properties around for about $200k.

Re: Housing in the Bay Area

#330

Post by akanet »

raldi wrote: post #328
akanet wrote: post #14

People should actually call in! Over at the SFBARF, we have a thread of people reporting on how long it took to call their representatives: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sfbarentersfed/7G4Kr... . I managed to talk to someone at both of my representatives' offices within a minute, without any sort of delay. It's very easy, please do call in if you support this measure! Also, when you do call in, post here af…

My call to my assembly rep's office lasted 22 seconds; my call to my state senator took just 17.

Nice!
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