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In life we all have to choose our priorities. In pursuit of Quality of Life we move around the country, the metro area and the city. Probably the most difficult thing about about leaving one place and moving to another is adapting to the different attitudes, standards and expectations of that place. One of the most rewarding things about moving to another area is discovering that some of the things that were "impossible" to live with or do in your old area are now possible. The scales typically balance and the different traits of the individual doing the measuring determine what defines a balance. There is no universal standard, only what YOU have always accepted to be the case.
That said one of the worst things about living in a place with a high cost of housing is to listen to every conversation become one about real estate. It is an incredibly boring, repetitive topic. Yes, houses are expensive to purchase in San Francisco. Yes, renting an apartment here can be expensive (in truth the $$$ is less hassle when renting than the process). This is a fact that will not be changing any time soon.
One of the great things about living in a place like San Francisco is that your house is not nearly as important as it is in other places. The weather will keep you cooped up only on the rarest of occasions, winter, spring, summer or fall.
The square footage of your home may be less than you're used to but the space will be well-designed. I've been in a million houses and most newer, suburban construction features a good 400-500 square feet of completely wasted space. A living space in SF is typically old enough to have been built for a dense, non-car oriented lifestyle, remodeled several times to accommodate a more crowded city life and ultimately it will be tailored to the particulars of living in this city. You cannot take a living space out of SF and put it in Las Vegas or likewise. There is simply no fair comparison of apples and oranges..
In the city, especially the more crowded, dense cities of the world the streets and businesses are public spaces. If you want to laze about you need not do it in your home or your private backyard with your private view. We city dwellers laze about together, outside or inside, rubbing shoulders with whomever else has made the same locale their destination, for whatever reasons. This is part of the essence of city life.
To own a home need not be the greatest ambition in life. To own a home in one of the most popular 50 square miles of real estate in the world is not an attainable goal for most people. To live in San Francisco without owning a home here is often the key to quality of life.
Rather than skimp and save your way to a 600k house in SF (probably nothing special) you can rent a bigger place for 2500/month and spend that extra cash on a house somewhere else where you visit. It can be a sprawling ranch home in warm climates, a condo in Queens or pied-a-terre in Mexico. It can be a humble forest property 3 hours drive in rural California, or a ski lodge in Tahoe. Your 2nd home can be your pride of ownership, your security and your escape.
Another option is to accept that life is transitory and owning your house is really not necessary at all. For security purposes it's hard to beat SF. There is probably nowhere in the US with better renters protection. If you can find your dream apartment here and move in you might stay for 50 years. You can paint the walls, build shelves, even renovate the bathroom or kitchen counters. You would never do these things in most places because your residency would not be protected. Here, in San Francisco it is. Why? Because we as a city of people have decided that our quality of life can be enhanced by such protections. Sure, it can be harder to make a fortune as a landlord. So what?
But most important is that the city and life is not just about your home. You are not where you live. You are who you ARE. What you do, produce, create and offer. How you share your smile, your stories, your life with those around you.
For many, San Francisco presents an exceptional career opportunity. A person willing to work hard here can do very, very well. 120k salaries are there for the skilled, educated, the hard working. Those with 35k incomes can easily sleep, drink, eat, traverse and be merry in SF. What a hard worker does with those extra dollars is their own choice but not one born of necessity.
But what of families, you say. Well, what of them. Are two adults so different from one? They may need a bigger apartment, hence the "2br" model. The double incomes are far larger than the price increase from 1br to 2br. The same is true of 3br, typically a stand alone (well, next to) house. Your average SF 3br house is a great and comfortable living space for a family of 4 or fewer.
And this is not a suburban family, this is a city family. The children live in the city too, they are not prisoners of the home and backyard. They are safe, in a familiar landscape in which they have grown up, around neighbors who know them and keep an eye on them, as would happen in any civilized culture.
But what of the crime, they say. There is crime everywhere and to be a victim of auto theft is not only unlikely but hardly a tragedy of epic proportions. Oh no, they say, someone broke the window on my car. It happens, welcome to life, why are you so upset? Consider it a "street tax" and get on with your day. If it happens frequently consider that maybe YOU need to think harder about where you park your car, what you drive or what you leave visible on the seat... or try leaving the door unlocked. Or sell your car, you know you don't need it.
Which brings us to parking, the bane of all city dwellers. Solution: don't do it. There is no need for an automobile in San Francisco and the fewer people who have them the less need there will be for them. Join the party and get walking, get a Muni pass and get a house and a job near one another. It was the way of humanity, even in cities, for eternity until less than 100 years ago. I'm sure we can find our way back if we try.
But I need to get out! To breathe the fresh, clean air, see the undistorted stars in the sky! Yes, you probably do. Rent a car. It's cheaper to rent a car for a week than it is to rent a garage to park it in for a month. But I'm tired and drunk and need to get home! Take a taxi! The average distance from where you are and where you need to go is typically less than $10 by taxi, if more than $25 you, friend, are once again the problem and need to think ahead a little better.
And oh, won't you think of the children! Yes, we think of them often, we were all once children, you know. The city is a fantastic place for a small child if not perfect. The same is true for everywhere. The best children see that there is the world they know and there is the rest of the world, too. Take your kids from the suburbs to the city or from the city to the suburbs and you will educate them well. Talk to them at dinner, introduce them to different people and choices in life. They will be equipped to make the right decisions. Allow them to leave and see the world on their own when they become adults, even if it is "expensive" they will find a way. There is no reason they can't leave the city at 18 to get started in life the way many leave the suburbs and small towns to get started in the city. But most often they will not have to as a lifetime growing up in the city will bring them rich connections and opportunities that they can leverage when getting started on their own road. To grow up in the city can be very rewarding and a distinct advantage in later life.
And such it is in the city, for every problem a simple and elegant solution. A life without home repairs, car insurance and parking is a simpler life. A life where I can retreat to my sanctuary at home for tv watching, sleep and general hiding-from-the-world whilst having a rich world of human society literally at my doorstep. Where I can choose to start a family and raise them in the real world, with its occasional grime and frequent beauty.
So please, let's not discuss how much your mortgage is or how ridiculous rents are. I suppose it is simply different here than it was where you were from or it is different here now than it was when you were here before. Such is the nature of things, accept them and respond accordingly. If your ambition is a castle and a status symbol car, by all means, pursue that here. If you cannot achieve it realize that you must move on or change, otherwise this city is not for you. And that is ok.
Good luck and send postcards, really, because we love to hear about the idyllic, relaxing life we are giving up by being here. It gives us something to look forward to should we ever need to move on ourselves.
Amen. Everybody seems to Bash California because of the housing prices as if owning a home is the end all of life. As I said before you can live in a average home/condo/townhouse etc and enjoy everything else California has to offer or you can go move to your state of choice with giant cheap real estate and 1/1000th of what CA has to offer. NYC, The Bay Area, LA, SD, Miami, etc etc are expensive for a reason. If the houses here were as cheap as in Austin Texas it would be like living in Tokyo.
Amen. Everybody seems to Bash California because of the housing prices as if owning a home is the end all of life. As I said before you can live in a average home/condo/townhouse etc and enjoy everything else California has to offer or you can go move to your state of choice with giant cheap real estate and 1/1000th of what CA has to offer. NYC, The Bay Area, LA, SD, Miami, etc etc are expensive for a reason. If the houses here were as cheap as in Austin Texas it would be like living in Tokyo.
Yep. And like Japan, we are surrounded by water, and therefore have no room to expand... hence the high prices and lack of available housing. No offense to anyone, but I'd rather rent forever in San Francisco than own a giant home in Iowa - no use in owning a home where I have no loved ones nearby, and nothing to do! Maybe if I were a hermit-type or older & retired, but as a young single person it would be a stupid move.
Brilliant post Northern California. You summed it up quite nicely. Your writings and observations should be tagged onto every "it's so expensive to live in San Francisco" thread. Indeed.
I think part of the problem is that is doesn't have to be this expensive but our messed up govt and public policies make it so. Just look at all the bridge tolls they constantly jack up. The land use policies and tax policies that artificially jack up the price of housing. Development fees, impact fees, prop 13, urban growth boundaries, restrictions to development, ect...... You have people at the MTC trying to levy a $.10/gallon tax, or as they call it "fee" to get around voter approval, on Bay Area motorists so they can waste more money. Doesn't it bother anyone else that our roads are so crappy yet we pay a ton of different taxes and fees that are suppose to go to making them better but rarely does? And after the last real estate boom people believe their tiny house is worth way more than it actually is. Incomes and the "desirability" didn't double since 2000 so why do people think their homes are worth double despite the fact they aren't selling as much anymore? The Bay Area is great but it is so overpriced for what it is........
The point, sav858, is to get past the cost of living complaining and focus on something else for a change. Whining on a message board won't reduce corruption in government.
How can you just "get past" the cost of living when it's such a huge factor in people's lives? Only someone who is very well off or secure financially and who does not know how the other half actually live would make such a ridiculous statement. Yes lets not worry about paying the rent/mortgage, having enough gas in the car to get to work, or putting food on the table so we can focus on how pretty the SF skyline is or how great the food is in that restaurant I can't afford to eat at.
And it's not necessarily corruption that is the problem, but people keep electing these idiot politicians that keep jacking up taxes and fees and people here still buy into the notion that throwing more money will help the problem.
How can you just "get past" the cost of living when it's such a huge factor in people's lives? Only someone who is very well off or secure financially and who does not know how the other half actually live would make such a ridiculous statement. Yes lets not worry about paying the rent/mortgage, having enough gas in the car to get to work, or putting food on the table so we can focus on how pretty the SF skyline is or how great the food is in that restaurant I can't afford to eat at.
And it's not necessarily corruption that is the problem, but people keep electing these idiot politicians that keep jacking up taxes and fees and people here still buy into the notion that throwing more money will help the problem.
I personally would be for a hike in taxes if there were enough programs in place to help the homeless (food, shelters, etc...). I'd love to see a raise in taxes if they made it illegal to pan-handle or sleep on the streets - the choice being go to a shelter or jail. Believe me, it'd make life more pleasant here.
I know how the other half lives. Friends of mine in Minneapolis are buying condos for less than I pay in rent, but they live in Minneapolis and I live here. Life is too short to not live in your #1 choice IMO.
I make a decent living, but I doubt I'll ever own (at least on my own) in SF. I'm fine with that (right now). Who knows what the future will bring, but right now I just don't see myself being happy any where else.
You get what you pay for - IMO SF is a bargin.
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Maybe if I were a hermit-type or older & retired, but as a young single person it would be a stupid move.
