Bay Area hammered by loss of jobs: Lack of affordable housing strangles hiring

Post by ac29 » Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 6:00 PM UTC

nimbius wrote: post #16

Most of the bay area employees are divided into 3 categories from anecdotal experience: young rockstars that are willing to live in relative squalor for a chance to prove themselves, vested and moneyed elites (CEO's, presidents, VC funded overlords) who are so out of touch with the average employee its best they not show up to the office that frequently, and H1B visa recipients that endure the soul-crushing San Jose…

Post by ng12 » Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 6:02 PM UTC

jostmey wrote: post #232

ng12 wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In SF, a lot of the streets reeked of weed What? Where did you live? I never once had that problem. It's not like the entirety of SF smells like weed 24/7, I think that's a pretty absurd strike to give a city (especially since it's legalized in WA).

It was around 2013 and I stayed at the Holiday Inn civic center. I explored around on foot. I remember wanting to get the fresh ocean air in my room (because of the funky odor in my room) and deciding to close my windows because all I smelled outside was weed (though lots of places smelled of weeed)

Post by noonespecial » Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 6:02 PM UTC

TuringNYC wrote: post #157

robbrit wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fourth category: people who have lived here for a long time, and were able to buy property back before it became unaffordable. These are typically the managers or senior employees. It makes me wonder that as the young rockstars and H1B recipients age, where will they go? They certainly can't afford to buy a house. I imagine as time goes on, companies in the Bay Area will be awash with young junior talent but will s…

>>> A fourth category: people who have lived here for a long time, and were able to buy property back before it became unaffordable. Very well said. So often, some (usually older) person will tell me, "well I know this [choose your civil servant profession] and they get by fine in SF on a 60k salary, so stop your whining." Yep, I'd get by fine with 60k and a TIME MACHINE.

Post by jorblumesea » Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

oaijdsfoaijsf wrote: post #231

bduerst wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also hyperbole. It's closer to ~5K per month for a $1M mortgage with insurance and taxes in the bay today. By the rule of thirds, that's $60K/yr meaning $180K+/yr salary is necessary. This is for suburban living in a remodeled 70's ranch home, not in an urban area.

But a $180k gross income is not particularly unusual in the Bay. I mean, that's still in junior engineer territory at one of the BigCos (Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.).

Post by LeifCarrotson » Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 6:04 PM UTC

whack wrote: post #108

nimbius wrote: post #16

Most of the bay area employees are divided into 3 categories from anecdotal experience: young rockstars that are willing to live in relative squalor for a chance to prove themselves, vested and moneyed elites (CEO's, presidents, VC funded overlords) who are so out of touch with the average employee its best they not show up to the office that frequently, and H1B visa recipients that endure the soul-crushing San Jose…

In which of the above 3 categories would you put the Google/Facebook/Apple employees making 200-300k+ per year? I can't speak towards family living, but as a single person willing to live with roommates, you can find pretty nice places in the heart of Silicon Valley for ~$1000/month. Now add in compensation-packages well over 6 figures, brand-name companies for your resume, networking locally with other great enginee…