Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 640 posts

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#421

Post by bluGill »

blululu wrote: post #172
barry-cotter wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, think on the margin. If there’s suddenly a lot of new luxury apartments then those looking for something cheaper have less competition from the deep pocketed. If they build so many luxury apartments that prices for them break that’s also a victory condition.

It's not so simple. The newer buildings were constructed at a much higher cost than the old ones and they are priced accordingly (and with less flexibility to go down in price). In spite of the price tag and the 'luxury' appellation, they really are not that nice (they tend to be small and the gym/pool that comes with the apartment is closed during Covid. Consequently there is a subtle structural shortage on apartmen…

New housing is always for the richer. Those who want a deal go for older ones. However when there isn't enough construction those who are willing to pay for new go for used as well driving all costs up.

That said, housing can be profitably built cheaper, but why would any sane developer make a low price house when there is more profit in luxury housing. SF has refused to allow enough construction to meet demand, and this has resulted in only luxury being built.

Cities with less growth than SF are building more than SF, and as a result all housing is cheaper.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#422

Post by Daishiman »

porknubbins wrote: post #418
gmadsen wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry but this is wrong. Food scenes require diverse cultures. Small town USA doesn't have 50+ ethnic groups making restaurants downtown

By this metric food scenes can only exist in 2-3 cities in the US (or world for that matter). I think food scenes that do one or two things well are totally worthwhile and a huge improvement over bland suburban chains.

Effectively, there's never more than a dozen cities, tops, in any country in the world where you can get close to top-level food quality, and even so that applies only for a few genres of food.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#423

Post by xvilka »

almost_usual wrote: post #274
notherthrowaway wrote: post #154

I think people are asking the wrong questions. We know that people moving back in with their parents is up about 3 million due to COVID [1]. It would follow that studio apartments are the mostly likely to be rented by those same young people, thus the demand has dried up. The question we aren't asking is, what happens when the economy recovers and these people move out of their parent's homes? Will they go back to th…

Who are you talking about? Tech workers or people who don’t work in tech? Everyone I know in the service industry left. I doubt they ever come back. COVID was the nail in the coffin for most bars, restaurants, and clubs in SF that were already struggling. The city isn’t going to be the same after this.

Even if all of them go bust this year, there will be new ones once population return and will need entertainment. The nature of entertainment might change a bit, but it will be still there.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#424

Post by rcpt »

geebee wrote: post #238
xyhopguy wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

agreed -- portland is right there with very similar recreational activities and literally 25% the rent. why rent a 1b1b in SF when you can rent a mansion right on washington park for the same price?

That's a fair question, and the answer will depend on what people emphasize in life. I'll venture a firm answer for SF: Though SF is no New York, it is notably more urban than Portland. San Francisco is physically more strikingly beautiful than Portland, with magnificent views of the bay and ocean from the hills. Portland is surrounded by beautiful forests and parks, but so is SF - you can get from downtown SF into t…

Portland is right by Hood River if you kitesurf (which, despite 17 years of regular surfing and only 2 months of kiting, I've decided is objectively better)

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#425

Post by scollet »

Kalium wrote: post #319
whimsicalism wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that building solidarity around the distortionary/gentrifying effects of the tech boom, to at least show that you are cognizant of the problems people are facing goes a long, long way.

I stopped trying that after it was turned into a series of direct and personal accusations of how I am the evil techie gentrifier. My experience has been the opposite of yours - showing awareness comes with the expectation that you accept blame . Your mileage may vary.

Tech worker majority in SVBA have a choice to live 2 hours outside of the metro.

Everyone else typically does not.

The expectation is apt.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#426

Post by helm33 »

InTheArena wrote: post #245
PascLeRasc wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to other big tech-hub cities, I'd think SF would be one of the better ones to spend the pandemic in. There's great parks like Dolores, Lands End, etc, and they'll still be comfortable to be in during this winter. Is there more to it than that?

Go to denver/boulder. You get snow on occasion, but it's gone the next day, and the whole state is a park. Plus Skiing, 300 days of sunshine, and while the housing has become much more expensive, it's still way less then California.

Colorado is horrible. Denver gets 10 feet of snow every winter. Austin is way better.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#427

Post by awacs »

I'm curious what folks here feel about the serendipity factor? I've been remote for 4 years and love it (in the NY suburbs area), but there definitely isn't that "random creativity" as being in the office, as the valley has been trying desperately to analyze and recreate artificially.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#428

Post by rcpt »

gmadsen wrote: post #417
rcpt wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true that you can't buy a whole jackfruit at the grocery store in most of the US but I've always been able to find good restaurants of some variety with minimal effort. It's real hard to justify SF prices based on food options.

depends on your priorities. I would rather have nice restaurants than a nice apartment or house. I've lived in a culturally devoid suburb, where the options are fast food, or chain restaurants, and it affected my quality of life substantially.

Not everything outside SF is a "culturally devoid suburb"

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#429

Post by WillPostForFood »

01100011 wrote: post #390
bgorman wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please report back in February after experiencing a -40 day :)

In the north central US, you have to stay indoors for a while because it's too cold. In the sunbelt, you have to stay indoors for a while because it's too hot. In CA, you have to stay indoors for a while because of the poor air quality. Take your pic. CA folks seem to think the rest of the world is an inhospitable wasteland. Sure, CA is a bit more mild, but it's not perfect.

In CA, you have to stay indoors for a while because of the poor air quality.

Maybe once or twice per decade is the AQ so bad in CA you have to stay indoors. As opposed to weeks or months every winter (depending on your tolerance - I hate cold).

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#430

Post by throwmeaway_pls »

justchilly wrote: post #359
justaguyhere wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

therefore I’m moving for a year or so until things fully reopen Do you see an end to this pandemic in the next year or so? A good percentage of people are still refusing to wear masks, we aren't anywhere closer to a vaccine etc. I am trying to be optimistic, but the situation isn't improving from any direction and we are already 10 months in :(

Wearing masks won't make this end any sooner. Reducing transmission rates flattens the curve meaning smaller spikes but likely longer presence of corona virus.

Unfortunately when rationality and ideology conflict, ideology tends to win.
Post reply on HN