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San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

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Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#11

Post by api »

mcguire wrote: post #7
paavokoya wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having grown up in Portland, it's remarkable how quickly the housing prices have skyrocketed in less than 5 years.

When did San Francisco become the hot property? I know that the last time I was out there, about 2005, tech was still in the valley and SF proper was relatively low rent, bad neighborhoods, and no tech presence. Does this industry (to the extent that you can call AirBNB, Uber, and Twitter the same industry) really act like a flock of grackles or starlings, descending on a place, eating everything, and moving on?

It seems to be full of people who want to be near art and "cool" people. Unfortunately tech doesn't find a way to pay those creators of culture anything. If anything, the focus is on finding ways to make everything free. So tech moves in, enjoys the presence of creative culture they refuse to fund, but ultimately inflates real estate so much they drive that creative culture away. Rinse and repeat.

If art and culture are so valuable to us why are those who create these things so poor? Why do people cringe at buying an album for $9 but then spend $11 on a coffee and a biscuit?

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#12

Post by arcanus »

simook wrote: post #2

Portland resident here. What this article doesn't cover, is now locals are victim of gentrification. Rent prices are almost 2x, out of state buyers are throwing all cash offers on houses, and overall housing supply is low... I'm sure the commercial market is just as bad. Interesting times.

Austinite here. Analogous situation happening here, massive gentrification and home building, but still a sellers market.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#13

Post by rco8786 »

mcguire wrote: post #7
paavokoya wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having grown up in Portland, it's remarkable how quickly the housing prices have skyrocketed in less than 5 years.

When did San Francisco become the hot property? I know that the last time I was out there, about 2005, tech was still in the valley and SF proper was relatively low rent, bad neighborhoods, and no tech presence. Does this industry (to the extent that you can call AirBNB, Uber, and Twitter the same industry) really act like a flock of grackles or starlings, descending on a place, eating everything, and moving on?

It's part of a nationwide(global?) urban renewal. Millenials and their successors are more likely to want to live in urban areas and stay single longer than their older counterparts.

This is causing rents to increase noticeably in nearly every major urban area. Couple that with relatively high pay for tech sector jobs that like to hire these younger folks and you get it even worse in SF, Seattle, etc.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#14

Post by leesalminen »

cmurf wrote: post #10
simook wrote: post #2

Portland resident here. What this article doesn't cover, is now locals are victim of gentrification. Rent prices are almost 2x, out of state buyers are throwing all cash offers on houses, and overall housing supply is low... I'm sure the commercial market is just as bad. Interesting times.

Same in Denver. Realtor told me 1/4 of properties don't make the MLS, they're bought with cash before they can get listed.

Boulder as well. A buddy of mine had a hell of a time getting a condo with a mortgage. They were all bought up in cash within a day or 2.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#15

Post by Chlorus »

paavokoya wrote: post #3
simook wrote: post #2

Portland resident here. What this article doesn't cover, is now locals are victim of gentrification. Rent prices are almost 2x, out of state buyers are throwing all cash offers on houses, and overall housing supply is low... I'm sure the commercial market is just as bad. Interesting times.

Having grown up in Portland, it's remarkable how quickly the housing prices have skyrocketed in less than 5 years.

And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the urban growth boundary or increasingly restrictive land-use regulations.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#16

Post by guyzero »

mcguire wrote: post #7
paavokoya wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having grown up in Portland, it's remarkable how quickly the housing prices have skyrocketed in less than 5 years.

When did San Francisco become the hot property? I know that the last time I was out there, about 2005, tech was still in the valley and SF proper was relatively low rent, bad neighborhoods, and no tech presence. Does this industry (to the extent that you can call AirBNB, Uber, and Twitter the same industry) really act like a flock of grackles or starlings, descending on a place, eating everything, and moving on?

Seriously that was 11 years ago. Yes, a lot of things changed in 11 years.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#17

Post by nostrademons »

mcguire wrote: post #7
paavokoya wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having grown up in Portland, it's remarkable how quickly the housing prices have skyrocketed in less than 5 years.

When did San Francisco become the hot property? I know that the last time I was out there, about 2005, tech was still in the valley and SF proper was relatively low rent, bad neighborhoods, and no tech presence. Does this industry (to the extent that you can call AirBNB, Uber, and Twitter the same industry) really act like a flock of grackles or starlings, descending on a place, eating everything, and moving on?

Early adopters started moving in 2006 (remember the YScraper?). It really accelerated around 2010, when the economy started recovering. Prices started rising in earnest in the second half of 2011.

I know a number of people here who are praying for a tech crash so they can afford housing again.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#18

Post by TYPE_FASTER »

Apocryphon wrote: post #9

"They’ve increased 38 percent in Seattle, 12 percent in Austin and 6 percent in Phoenix." The article names the usual suspects for engineer emigrants (Austin, Portland, strangely no mention of NYC or Raleigh RTP), but why are people moving to Phoenix? Isn't living in the less sexy areas of South Bay (Sunnyvale, Milpitas, South San Jose) pretty much on par with urban life in Phoenix?

http://www.zillow.com/phoenix-az/home-values/

http://www.zillow.com/sunnyvale-ca/home-values/

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#19

Post by TYPE_FASTER »

simook wrote: post #2

Portland resident here. What this article doesn't cover, is now locals are victim of gentrification. Rent prices are almost 2x, out of state buyers are throwing all cash offers on houses, and overall housing supply is low... I'm sure the commercial market is just as bad. Interesting times.

Same in Boston, especially South Boston and the Seaport area.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#20

Post by davidw »

100k wrote: post #6

Lots of people want to live in an urban setting. Build more urban neighborhoods, everywhere.

This is the answer. Deregulate housing/small businesse spaces/offices and let the market do its work. It's crazy the amount of regulation there is that pretty much dictates single family detached homes for large swaths of the country. Here in Bend, for instance, you must have a driveway with not one, but two parking spots. Land of the free indeed...

http://marketurbanism.com/

Also, this book, although it's pretty high level: http://amzn.to/1qsn2RD

I think this is one of the most important issues in this day and age. It's happening everywhere, and things need to change.

Edit: downvoters, care to actually state your opinions? I'm hardly a libertarian, and neither is Matt Yglesias, author of the aforementioned book. I don't think 'free markets' are the answer to all the world's problems. But I do think a more liberalized market would help housing a lot. These areas need more supply, and if you don't want LA style sprawl, the best way to do that is via density. And the best way to accomplish that is probably by letting the market work, within reason: I don't suppose I'd be in favor of allowing an outdoor thrash metal venue in the midst of an otherwise quiet neighborhood, but there are a lot of things you could add to make places more livable and walkable without cars.

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