Does the Bay Area have the worst "rat race" vibe after the East Coast? (San Jose: 2014, houses)

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by xenxes

I feel like there's still microbubbles all over the Bay area (not just SF), much like there are microclimates.

What you're discussing sounds more like San Jose, where everyone is White/Asian working in tech, all the younger families are trying to pool together $1.5m cash to buy that little townhouse down the street and send their kids to private school, while climbing the neverending tech corporate rung. But even within tech there are different vibes, i.e. the "softer" science companies, i.e. social, still seem a lot more laid back than the hard tech companies.

On the other hand, there are still chill people, say those that are grandfathered into Pacifica, or rich money in Sausalito, not everyone is in that race.

That being said, definitely agree that the general vibe is that the overall area and city is getting more "corporate" and less liberal (on business-fronts), despite the casual appearance and a face full of uncouth beard, underneath each apparent hipster is really a cutt-throat capitalist.

That doesn't sound like San Jose at all, $1.5M to buy a townhouse is first way too expensive for a place where you send your kids to private school. In fact it is probably way too much for a townhouse in a good school district in San Jose, this ins't SF or Palo Alto. What you're describing is basically San Francisco, over $1000/sqft, and people complaining about the school lottery, and White and Asian is SF.
San Jose on the other hand is way way less expensive than that, for places where people don't care about the school district it is about $400/sqft, San Jose is also not just Asian and White like SF, the city is way more diverse than SF, it is about 1/3 Hispanic, 1/3 Asian and 28% non-Hispanic white.

OP should ignore ignorant posts like the above. The truth is that the Bay Area is not all like SF, not everyone works in the Financial District in the neverending rat-race to afford the $3600/mo rent on their SoMA apartments. Go to the East Bay or the South Bay, and you will find people can actually afford more than just scrounging for the rent and trying to get promoted to get out of the rent trap.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

CEOs at 25, millionaires by 28. $120K is the new $50K in SF. Lawyer or accountant, teacher or police officer? Nobody cares. Selling a company as a college drop out? Everything.

People are so SO competitive and ambitious here, like nothing I've ever seen outside of the Northeast. Why? Because you cannot just coast in your job here, as you're always disposable and replaceable. Competition is fierce as is the cost of living.

I've never been around so many people that are so obsessed with money and success (it's not necessarily a bad thing) and yet it's fascinating because they market themselves as these work-to-live granola liberals (I'm liberal, just to clarify). I think SF is becoming more and more like NYC in its mentality, especially with all the Northeasterners who move here.

Thoughts?

Maybe that is true in SF, but in the rest of the Bay Area there isn't a huge set of people flocking there to fill every job. The economy right now is booming so much that companies are trying all sort of things to keep people from leaving their jobs (admittedly falling short of the more important things), the high cost of living is keeping a lot of experienced people from moving to the Bay Area. Outside of SF the competition is not that crazy, in fact it is really the companies competing for talent.

As for CEOs at 25, only if you found your own company, and you can make up whatever title you want.
Millionaires at 28, very few an far between, not everyone is Mark Zuckerberg, and honestly only really TechCrunch cares about that stuff, you really think the guy walking down the street give a care?

Why do you think people should really care about you, that sounds very self-centered, your employer does because they don't want you to quit, but some guy you run into at Starbucks, doesn't care if you're a millionaire or just trying to get started in your career.

"I've never been around so many people that are so obsessed with money and success (it's not necessarily a bad thing) and yet it's fascinating because they market themselves as these work-to-live granola liberals (I'm liberal, just to clarify). I think SF is becoming more and more like NYC in its mentality, especially with all the Northeasterners who move here."

That's probably true of SF, since driven people like to be there, it is the next Manhattan, but the rest of the Bay Area, not at all, they don't care. SF people call the rest of us "Bridge and Tunnel" as if it is an insult, it is their culture, but honestly you will find if you go to Walnut Creek, El Cerrito, Hayward, Belmont, or San Jose, no one really cares about your status symbols, and they are not really impressed because you live in SF.

I should say it is also not all of SF, a lot of people in SF act like the outer Sunset and outer Richmond are not even SF, so it doesn't give you any status to live out there, at least until recently that meant that there were still some affordable rents out there, it also meant that there were a lot less status-seeking people there, that may have changed in the last year or two, but anecdotal evidence says otherwise.

[Bisaro TMF]

^^^^^ Not to mention most people in the Bay Area suburbs moved there from San Francisco and cities surrounding it. It's weird when people think people in Contra Costa County or outer Alameda Co etc are some weird brand of rural hick when in reality they are ex city transplants. Not everybody wants to keep living in a tiny apartment in the city with no yard for the kids. Also it's nice to have some quiet sometimes and not walk out onto a sidewalk that was freshly pee'd on.

[UAE50]

Originally Posted by dmode

You do realize that Bay Area has the highest concentration of billionaires and millionaires than anywhere in the world. Bay Area has nearly 60 billionaires with a population of only 8 million. While NYC has 66 with a population of 20 million

NYC's population is 8,405,837, not 20 million. And NYC has over 100 billionaires, not 66.

Billionaire boom: Where the money is now - Sep. 16, 2014

Bay Area's population is larger, it's 8,469,854.

But the vast majority of people in either city aren't rich. If OP hangs around the glamorous areas on the Peninsula or Manhattan, then I sure, there is a severe rat race and everyone is rich, but the average person in either city is middle-class and will never never be any sort of millionaire or billionaire. You just don't pay them attention because they're boring.

[tjasse]

IMO some of the above posts are weird. The greater bay area seems more 'rat race' than SF does. Like down in Cupertino and Palo Alto. That's where the VCs, tiger moms, and people worried about their mortgage live. SF is like cross dressing stoned burning man weirdos who day-drink in the park, even the rich tech people.

[CBB_bear]

To be honest, most of the burners I know are yuppies who are pretty well off. The tickets cost $390, and then you have to have the means to travel and bring all your gear into the desert (not to mention all the stuff you need to assemble projects), and take a week off work. That is a big deal to a lot of working class people.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by CBB_bear

To be honest, most of the burners I know are yuppies who are pretty well off. The tickets cost $390, and then you have to have the means to travel and bring all your gear into the desert (not to mention all the stuff you need to assemble projects), and take a week off work. That is a big deal to a lot of working class people.

100% spot on!

[Fiona8484]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

CEOs at 25, millionaires by 28. $120K is the new $50K in SF. Lawyer or accountant, teacher or police officer? Nobody cares. Selling a company as a college drop out? Everything.

People are so SO competitive and ambitious here, like nothing I've ever seen outside of the Northeast. Why? Because you cannot just coast in your job here, as you're always disposable and replaceable. Competition is fierce as is the cost of living.

I've never been around so many people that are so obsessed with money and success (it's not necessarily a bad thing) and yet it's fascinating because they market themselves as these work-to-live granola liberals (I'm liberal, just to clarify). I think SF is becoming more and more like NYC in its mentality, especially with all the Northeasterners who move here.

Thoughts?

I have had some very similar thoughts about people in this area.

Regarding the marketing ones self as a "work to live granola liberal"" when obsessed with $, those people make me crazy. At least on Wall Street people own their greed, they don't go the limousine liberal route.

[dmode]

Originally Posted by UAE50

NYC's population is 8,405,837, not 20 million. And NYC has over 100 billionaires, not 66.

Billionaire boom: Where the money is now - Sep. 16, 2014

Bay Area's population is larger, it's 8,469,854.

But the vast majority of people in either city aren't rich. If OP hangs around the glamorous areas on the Peninsula or Manhattan, then I sure, there is a severe rat race and everyone is rich, but the average person in either city is middle-class and will never never be any sort of millionaire or billionaire. You just don't pay them attention because they're boring.

No, that's incorrect. Even the entire state of New York doesn't have 100 billionaires. It has only 88, compared to 111 in CA. Read Forbes analysis here: California Leads All States (And All But 2 Countries) With 111 Billionaires - Forbes

And I was referring to NY metro area population for an apples to apples MSA comparison with Bay Area

[Bonez765]

Originally Posted by NYinCA2014

I have had some very similar thoughts about people in this area.

Regarding the marketing ones self as a "work to live granola liberal"" when obsessed with $, those people make me crazy. At least on Wall Street people own their greed, they don't go the limousine liberal route.

Lol on your location title. Spot on for the Bay.