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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

#121

Post by [deleted] »

dionidium wrote: post #45
sliverstorm wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So consider a nice, quaint neighborhood. Person A lives there. Person B wants to live there too, because it is so nice. Ok, let's say we double supply. All the houses are now either twice as high, or half as big, or maybe the trees were cut down and the bushes ripped out to make room. There's twice as many people & everything therein. Is it still the same nice neighborhood?

You're right, of course, but this sentiment amounts to little more than stomping your feet and wishing the world were different. As long as there is high demand, you can either build more or expect higher prices and more sprawl. I get that people don't like those choices, but that's what's on the table.

[deleted]

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

#122

Post by [deleted] »

bogomipz wrote: post #89
Gratsby wrote: post #54

I pay about that for rent - it's the most I've ever paid for housing by a long shot, and it regularly freaks me out. I just can't get used to it. The thing that gets me is that I'm barely paying the property taxes on the place I rent. The landlord isn't gouging me. It's just the way it is here. Housing is so expensive because everyone wants to be here, and for good reason. This is the most thriving technical communit…

Really - "This is the most thriving technical community in the entire world"? I'm calling BS. Have you been to New York City recently? Rents for a 1 bedroom are nowhere near that. Lets talk about that community - there are meetups? Wow. You can go to a meetup on any night of the week in New York or Austin. Besides that explain "the community"? Oh you go out and drink craft beers after work? You can do that anywhere.…

[deleted]

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

#123

Post by hellameta »

bogomipz wrote: post #89
Gratsby wrote: post #54

I pay about that for rent - it's the most I've ever paid for housing by a long shot, and it regularly freaks me out. I just can't get used to it. The thing that gets me is that I'm barely paying the property taxes on the place I rent. The landlord isn't gouging me. It's just the way it is here. Housing is so expensive because everyone wants to be here, and for good reason. This is the most thriving technical communit…

Really - "This is the most thriving technical community in the entire world"? I'm calling BS. Have you been to New York City recently? Rents for a 1 bedroom are nowhere near that. Lets talk about that community - there are meetups? Wow. You can go to a meetup on any night of the week in New York or Austin. Besides that explain "the community"? Oh you go out and drink craft beers after work? You can do that anywhere.…

> People like you perpetuate some myth that you have to pay $4500 a month if you want to work in tech. Nonsense.

This is a little harsh and I doubt what the OP was saying. If someone interprets it like you suggested that is their problem. I don't see the implication that you NEED to live in SV to work in tech.

I don't think anyone claims that you can't find thriving tech communities outside of SV, but the reality that OP put forth is undeniably true. SV is where the most money is. SV is where most of the talent goes. SV churns out its own home grown talent through 2 of the best schools in the world. Did the automative industry all move to NY & Austin? No. They moved to SV (not exclusively, but I'm sure you've seen the map of automative companies moving in to SV).

Hollywood isn't the only place you can make movies and SV isn't the only place you can make software or start software based companies... but how are you going to deny that they are the most thriving communities in the world respectively?

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

#124

Post by jperras »

dv0rak wrote: post #107

Fuck. And I thought paying $1k a month in Toronto was too much. I've been looking for work in cheaper cities like Hamilton or London literally because what I make versus what it takes to survive don't sit well with me - and never have.

As someone who lives in Toronto proper, $1k/month is ridiculously cheap unless you live in a basement apartment with possibly a roommate, depending on location.

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

#125

Post by msutherl »

tryitnow wrote: post #110

Yes, rents are high, but if you invest even a little bit of time you can find a fine residence in the Bay Area for a lot less than $4,500. I rent a two bedroom house in Oakland for $2,200. My commute is not too much longer than it would be if I live in certain parts of San Francisco. There's simply little advantage to living right in the heart of a major city. You have to ask yourself: "Instead of renting in a high-p…

There's a lot of room for expansion to the South as well – I pay $1,300 in Bayview.

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

#126

Post by polytap »

lettergram wrote: post #118
whack wrote: post #111

It's hard to overstate the impact this is going to have on San Francisco, long-term. As Technology becomes the most important industry in America, a well-governed San Francisco could have positioned itself as the next NYC. The hub where all of tech gathers, the same way all of finance gathered in Wall St. Replace the 70 year old 2-storey homes with Manhattan style apartment buildings, and rent in San Francisco would…

I have to say... I'm already nervous in my 3 story building when there is a earthquake. I'd be even more nervous around buildings, when I know the ground is basically sand.

Taller, flexible buildings are much better at distributing shock waves.

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

#127

Post by TranquilMarmot »

bogomipz wrote: post #89
Gratsby wrote: post #54

I pay about that for rent - it's the most I've ever paid for housing by a long shot, and it regularly freaks me out. I just can't get used to it. The thing that gets me is that I'm barely paying the property taxes on the place I rent. The landlord isn't gouging me. It's just the way it is here. Housing is so expensive because everyone wants to be here, and for good reason. This is the most thriving technical communit…

Really - "This is the most thriving technical community in the entire world"? I'm calling BS. Have you been to New York City recently? Rents for a 1 bedroom are nowhere near that. Lets talk about that community - there are meetups? Wow. You can go to a meetup on any night of the week in New York or Austin. Besides that explain "the community"? Oh you go out and drink craft beers after work? You can do that anywhere.…

I don't agree with the amount of vitriol in your comment, but I agree with the overall sentiment.

I feel like tech workers in San Francisco are fully bought-in to the "this is the best and only place to be if you're in tech" idea. So much so that they can't quite see that the grass is just as green on the other side, so to speak. You have to be fully bought-in to it, there's no other way you would be able to justify the cost of living there.

I'm curious about the different lifestyles- I live in Seattle and there's startups and meetups and hacker spaces all over the damn place, with decent public transportation, awesome coffee and beer and restaurants and anything else you could want. Maybe not as many conferences, but they're a quick flight away if you really want to go.

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

#128

Post by kyledrake »

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.

Also a Portland resident.

Portland now has the fastest growing real estate price increases in the country: http://content.kgw.com/photo/2016/03/29/s%20and%20p%20home%2...

This increase is not being matched by increasing salaries (they're increasing, but not at the same rate): http://koin.com/2016/03/31/report-portland-wages-not-keeping...

There are potential implications of this. Not just for people living here already, but for workers that may or may not be able to maintain mortgages at these rates if there's a contraction in the "tech" sector. I don't know how many people are weighing these decisions on a 10+ year timeline.

At the end of the day, I'm not sure how much of this is sustainable wealth. Portland got burned pretty badly in the 2000 crash, and really badly in the 2008 crash (at one point the unemployment rate was around 14%). History suggests it's a legitimate concern.

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

#129

Post by asfakeaccount »

lettergram wrote: post #118
whack wrote: post #111

It's hard to overstate the impact this is going to have on San Francisco, long-term. As Technology becomes the most important industry in America, a well-governed San Francisco could have positioned itself as the next NYC. The hub where all of tech gathers, the same way all of finance gathered in Wall St. Replace the 70 year old 2-storey homes with Manhattan style apartment buildings, and rent in San Francisco would…

I have to say... I'm already nervous in my 3 story building when there is a earthquake. I'd be even more nervous around buildings, when I know the ground is basically sand.

Modern mid rise and skyscrapers are actually safer in earthquakes than the Victoria homes of San Francisco. If our housing consisted of modern housing our city would suffer way less damages than what will happen today if the big one hits.

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

#130

Post by sfotoatx »

Lots of naysayers on HN, but I left SF last year and moved to Austin. I have zero regrets.

In SF, my 1 bedroom, 650 square foot apartment in SOMA went from $2,600 to $3,200 over 3 years.

In Austin, my salary went down $10k to $120k/yr. My 2 bedroom, 1,100 square foot apartment is $1,150/mo.

The tech scene here isn't as vibrant as SF, but there's still plenty of great meet ups.

All in all, yes there are some things I miss about SF, but the benefit of having way more cash month to month outweigh the negatives.

Edit: Clarity.

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