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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

#411

Post by scurvy »

kzhahou wrote: post #229
geebee wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The french quarter in new orleans is also probably less safe than modern buildings, but I wouldn't want to see it torn down just because rents would be cheaper. SF does need to build, badly, but I'm wary of the term NIMBY-ism. It is descriptive, but I think it invites false equivalence. There are degrees of NIMBY. I actually think that some of the burbs, like walnut creek or mountain view (especially the latter) have…

SF has a lot of beautiful historic architecture, but also absolutely endless rows of bland, ugly, and tightly packed 2-story houses ("houses"). You could build over a quarter of the city and lose nothing.

But no one wants to live in the Sunset. You can build out there all you want. The weather is crummy and it takes an hour to get downtown on the bus.

That's why it's mostly brothels and growhouses (exaggeration).

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

#412

Post by scurvy »

richard_mcp wrote: post #268
geebee wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The french quarter in new orleans is also probably less safe than modern buildings, but I wouldn't want to see it torn down just because rents would be cheaper. SF does need to build, badly, but I'm wary of the term NIMBY-ism. It is descriptive, but I think it invites false equivalence. There are degrees of NIMBY. I actually think that some of the burbs, like walnut creek or mountain view (especially the latter) have…

I assume you're concerned about floods in New Orleans. The French Quarter is actually pretty safe compared to a lot of other nearby areas. It was build on the old flood plains and so it's on higher ground than a lot of the city and surrounding Parishes.

Sadly, the fermosan termites will take out the French Quarter before any flood does.

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

#413

Post by thinkingkong »

derefr wrote: post #284
jimminy wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that everything closed so early blew me away, when I moved there. Compared to the middle of nowhere WV it made zero sense. Even the grocery stores closed by midnight in SF. In WV, you can find food at most places until 12-1am 7 days a week. And the major local grocery is a Walmart, which is open 24 hours. Last Easter I had no clue nothing would be open, and didn't prepare for that. So I just had some crap pi…

Everything closing at 9PM is pretty much par for the course here in Vancouver, another city with the skyrocketing cost-of-living thing going on. I wonder if there's a correlation. Maybe everyone is rich enough to pay delivery services or maids or something to get their shopping done while they're at work, so there's no demand for 24-hour businesses? Then again, another thing with Vancouver (that I think I've heard sa…

Where are you going? Seriously. Put a little effort in.

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

#414

Post by scurvy »

msoad wrote: post #360
mahyarm wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not move to oakland or similar? Rent is like half in the nice areas, and even less in the not so nice areas.

Because I don't want to commute. 2 hours a day worths more than $2000/mo to me. -----

You can always drink on the ferries.

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

#415

Post by ssalazar »

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 simply little advantage to living right in the heart of a major city.

This is a very personal opinion, and can vary depending on one's interests and stage of life. Young single people benefit from being "where the action is" as they are near other young people doing the same thing and can pursue various social and romantic interests. People who aren't interested in those things for whatever reason have much less to gain from living in the heart of a major city.

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

#416

Post by steveax »

pilom wrote: post #333
qntty wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry if this is off-topic (and maybe a bit personal), but as a recent graduate, I'm not sure what I would do with all that extra money. What do you (or most people) generally spend it on? I make less than that, but if I didn't have student loans, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides leave it in the bank.

$18,000 per year in your 401k, $5500 in an IRA, $3350 in an HSA. That's $26,850 right off the bat. All tax free. Then max out your student loans and save up for the down payment on a house. Then date and find a spouse with a similar mindset about money. You'll be able to retire (literally never do work you don't want to do ever again) in 15-20 years easily if you keep your spending under control.

If you max out your 401k contribution ($18,000 if you're under 50) you can also contribute to an IRA (Roth or traditional) but your contribution will not reduce your taxable income.

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

#417

Post by scurvy »

msoad wrote: post #235

I live in a high rise in SF and pay $4400 for a one bedroom. Although it sounds expensive but it's like $800 more than the least expensive place we could find near this place but it's a well built apartment with lots of amenities. I thought about moving out of SF but I don't have any social connection outside of San Francisco. Plus weather is very nice here and there are lots of diverse cultural events happening in S…

Why do tech people insist on living in luxury, brand-new hotels err high rise buildings in SF? Do they think that's what it is to "make it?" There are much, much nicer places to live in SF rather than SOMA or Market St. Most of the city doesn't live there; you should branch out and see more of the city rather than just living super close to work.

Crazy to think, but these other neighborhoods are nicer and cheaper to live in. Don't fall prey to paying the "tech tax" of SOMA.

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

#418

Post by whitenoice »

kec wrote: post #393
whitenoice wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Up-voted, Are average SF rents that high? Boston is probably less than half that cost, with salaries comparable to the west coast and similar cultural events and excellent public and private schools. Weather is not that great though. Genuinely asking - So what makes SF so worth it, that it justifies its high cost of living? in comparison to other top class states, is it just the weather?

Thing is, salaries aren't comparable. My first job out in the bay area paid almost twice what I was offered by companies in the Metro Boston area.

Tech companies in downtown, cambridge pay pretty well. If your talking about metro west then I'm not sure. Twice would be too much, I highly doubt bay area pays 200k base on average.

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

#419

Post by jdminhbg »

scurvy wrote: post #411
kzhahou wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SF has a lot of beautiful historic architecture, but also absolutely endless rows of bland, ugly, and tightly packed 2-story houses ("houses"). You could build over a quarter of the city and lose nothing.

But no one wants to live in the Sunset. You can build out there all you want. The weather is crummy and it takes an hour to get downtown on the bus. That's why it's mostly brothels and growhouses (exaggeration).

A quick Zillow perusal showing 2BRs going for around $3.5-4k per month would seem to suggest that plenty of people are willing to live there (not me though).

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

#420

Post by thinkingkong »

scurvy wrote: post #414
msoad wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I don't want to commute. 2 hours a day worths more than $2000/mo to me. -----

You can always drink on the ferries.

Totally offtopic: most appropriate comment considering your handle.
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