"Low pay, high SF housing costs equal 1 homeless math teacher"

[jade408]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

This is the biggest issue for COL in the area - it's fine for the kids in their 20's, or even 30's - but if you want a little more, you better be making some good money.

And this largely explains why this region is so transient and young. People come here early in their careers, live it up for a bit, then take off when they realize their chances of having a more "adult" life are pretty much zero. Wash, Rinse, Repeat...

The thing that keeps the nonsense COL going is the somewhat-consistent stream of people coming in ready (and willing) to replace the people leaving. It doesn't hurt that many of them are more well-payed than the ones they replaced, either (although - they're probably not well-payed enough to straight up afford anything on their own).



Of course, this is an expectations issue. We could probably "solve" the problem if we were all willing to live with less, live in smaller places, and/or have less kids (or none at all). But SF is in the US - and when you see people in other parts having (easy) access to those things, it is a little hard to stomach that here.

And I'm a pretty big fan of the Bay Area...

There's a reason I stopped recommending that my friends/family move here about 4 years ago (~early 2013). The COL tipped over the scale of being "worth it" around that time. Pending some major change in the local economy, I don't see this changing anytime soon.

I am ready to move to a bigger place. I live in a studio. But maybe that isn't quite accurate. I want a bit more space, but mostly I want a washing machine in my unit. A one bedroom condo is sufficient. I don't feel like this is a crazy requirement. But apparently it is if you want to live in Oakland somewhere decently walkable with transit options.

This is a basic normal apartment just about everywhere else in the country.

I agree about the Bay. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. Especially if you aspire to having a family. The price / quality of life is pretty sucky.

I recently went to Amsterdam. Quality of life was so high. I was jealous.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

This is the story of someone who has other problems. She was living in Daly City. Not SF. She got evicted.

When a place goes into foreclosure, there is usually a lot of time to find a new place to live. I believe it's 90 days or longer. So, why didn't she? Why didn't she have enough credit or savings to find a new place to live? Bad landlord references? Bad credit? This is about a woman who had a place to rent. Who had no problem living outside of SF. The only reason she's homeless is because for some reason she didn't plan for emergencies, or trashed her references or her credit. This is not about her not being able to afford a place to rent in SF.