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Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

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Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#961

Post by gsehhju »

kirse wrote: post #143
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, giving the homeless homes doesn't work. For the economically disadvantaged, of course providing free or low cost housing is helpful and welcome. But for the majority, who have mental illness and/or substance abuse issues, a shelter or home often makes little difference. Witness for example the experiment in Manhattan to provide some homeless men with hotel rooms. They literally go downstairs to poop in…

Unfortunately, giving the homeless homes doesn't work. It does though. Cities like Philadelphia and states like Utah solve it this way and both the homeless per capita + the return-to-homeless rate are nationally very low: Together with our many nonprofit partners, the City provides 11,503 emergency, temporary and permanent “beds.” Last year we helped 970 families and individuals from-homeless-to-housed. Our permanen…

It really depends on the underlying cause of the homelessness. I live in SF, and have spent a considerable amount of time getting a homeless friend lined up with two different housing options - the 16th Street Hotel (SRO), and the Washburn House. Both were fully paid for by SSDI, and in both cases he left voluntarily to live outside, due to mental health reasons.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#962

Post by kgin »

captaincole wrote: post #102

I am living in SF now and this confirms a very clear pattern that I have seen emerging, particularly of tech workers. I would say that >50% of the people I know who were living in the city have left, or are in the process of leaving. Some examples (there are countless): 1) All three of the roommates that I had are choosing to leave either permanently or temporarily. 2) A friend who works for google who is going on a…

Sounds like NYC now as well. All the hard parts without the positive things that made living there worth it.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#963

Post by burfog »

albacur wrote: post #763
burfog wrote: post #710

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SFMoma & DeYoung are not first class museums. They have modern art. New York may beat San Francisco, but it is not particularly good. The winning city, without any doubt, is Washington, D.C. Also beating San Francisco: Houston, TX Huntsville, AL Pearlington, MS Kennedy Space Center, FL Dayton, OH Seattle, WA San Diego, CA Chantilly, VA Ashland, NE Unless you actually go to the same museum again and again, your ow…

I'd also include Los Angeles (Getty and LACMA), Chicago (Art Institute), and Boston (MFA, beating SF by default because it doesn't even really compete in this category).

Getty and LACMA are not good. Los Angeles does however have good museums: the Battleship USS Iowa Museum, Fort MacArthur Museum, Mission San Fernando Rey de España, La Brea Tar Pits, and the California Science Center.

Chicago's Art Institute is not good. Chicago does however have a couple good museums: Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum of Natural History,

Boston's MFA is not good. Boston does however have Fort Warren and the USS Constitution.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#964

Post by kgin »

csomar wrote: post #510
presentation wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhh, maybe US cities haven’t, but here in Tokyo I never smell feces, step on needles, nor are there hordes of homeless people in every major part of the neighborhood, in a city that has affordable housing, a truly phenomenal public transit network, streets that pretty much never have potholes, and endless cultural and culinary amenities, in a place with GDP per capita far lower than SF. And it similarly was the case…

I don't think you are reading the parent poster. Tokyo was probably rubble in 1945 then it re-invented itself into a world-class city. Hong Kong was (probably still is for now) a world class city for the rich and the free and now is on path to become a hell-hole for both. Cities swing through a pendulum of up and down. SF might be going to ruins but it'll be back. It might have to reach rock-bottom first before re-in…

Tokyo absolutely took advantage of that clean slate, but San Francisco's issues don't seem to be related to physical infrastructure.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#965

Post by chiefalchemist »

Bud wrote: post #927
chiefalchemist wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If salaries don't need to reflect local cost of living, it seems that salaries will be subject to change. Fairly soon?

You're assuming that salaries are not also impacted by the immense amount of wealth being generated by the Silicon Valley economy, though. And you're also assuming that housing prices will radically change, which I don't think is guaranteed even in the medium-term.

That's not what this article and others are saying. That is, people are leaving and housing is falling. Also, much of the appeal comes from bars, restaurants, boutiques, and such. Those too are falling off the map.

I'm not assuming anything.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#966

Post by odessacubbage »

sershe wrote: post #928
geebee wrote: post #877

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3) A friend who is moving to Santa Cruz just to be closer to surf while we are remote Yeah? I've lived in SF and Santa Cruz. The quality of surf in Santa Cruz is vastly better, but the crowds are intense and at times pretty angry. I found it was less about localism, more about the anger of a large number of often very talented surfers competing for a scarce resource. I got longer, better rides in SC than I typically…

Unrelated but it cracked me up... I do a bunch of outdoor stuff but really couldn't get into surfing (and downhill skiing) because you have to wait/jostle with people/paddle forever/wait some more until you finally get 1 minute of enjoyment (or more like 10 seconds when you are starting out with surfing). I thought it was the beginner problem because the places where I can be are so few, and I suck at catching waves.…

with skiing at least, that problem goes away almost entirely once you can confidently get down blacks & double blacks. even short of that, congestion is only ever really a problem at the base of the mountain, everywhere else it is rare to even be within vision of ten people at any given time.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#967

Post by gopi »

tanjtanjtanj wrote: post #910
djrogers wrote: post #875

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and spend a weekend somewhere like Big Sur or Yosemite a couple times a year. Bay Area nature is unparalleled. If you've gotta drive 4 hours to get there, it isn't 'Bay Area nature'... There are very few places in this vast and beautiful country that aren't 3-4 hours away from jaw-dropping scenery - in fact I doubt you could find a single one.

Dallas, Texas fits (or nearly fits) this description. Unless I've missed some area of Jaw-Dropping scenery that's more than a single attraction, it's 10+ hours to the natural beauty found in Arkansas or Colorado, and 4+ hours to get to the closest thing to it in Texas.

On the other hand, Dallas is the hub of 2 airlines so well connected. With the rent money you save you could afford to take multiple mini vacations a year!

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#968

Post by josephg »

Mandatum wrote: post #474
x87678r wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My mortgage repayments (including interest) are about $700usd/month. Melbourne is not cheap, there must be more to this story. The average house price in Melbourne is $855,428. A $600k unit, 20% deposit, 25y mortgage, cheap 2% rate is $1.4k or USD 1k. + strata fees

Yeah, this person lives in a shoebox in the outer suburbs. We pay double that for a 1920s apartment (so very spacious, but cheap) in a suburb walking distance from the CBD, right next to a tram line.

No I don’t. I’m not in the sticks - it’s a ~20 minute walk to southern cross station from here. I’m not saying how much I paid but it was noticeably less than $600k. My apartment is small for a 2br (It would be uncomfortable with a family) but I live alone and it’s great. It’s bigger than any studio apartment you’d find in SF for $3k/month.

The numbers work out because I had a decent deposit when I bought - which I should have mentioned above since it certainly brings the repayments down. And (I think) let my mortgage broker negotiate for better rates.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#969

Post by ldiracdelta »

mark-r wrote: post #644
m_ke wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Brooklyn and have seen 2-3 business close a week around me. At this point almost every other storefront is vacant (many of which have been since before the pandemic). My hope is that this will bring down commercial real estate prices down significantly and create an opportunity for a lot more small businesses in a year or so, most of which I assume will be restaurants and other "experience" based shops. The…

My midwestern city is out of bikes too, but it isn't because of a surge in demand. It's because all the bikes were made in China, and supply has slowed to a trickle.

Me and the family bike many weekends on a city bikepath and I can report that there are a lot more bikers than normal these days.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#970

Post by chiph »

The departure of people from the bay area was also discussed about seven months ago. At that time, I used the uhaul.com website to show the difference in renting a 26' truck from Mountain View to Dallas Texas, and the reverse. (U-Haul does dynamic pricing based on availability and demand). It was $4230 to leave California, vs. $846 to enter it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22080410

Looking at U-Haul's website today, that price has remained the same. Maybe there's a upper limit on their rate calculator? Or maybe demand has stayed mostly the same.

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