Has SF Always Been Expensive? (San Francisco, Long Beach: to rent, houses, theater)

[Motion]

I've noticed how many threads talk about how expensive it is to live in San Francisco. I was just wondering if the city was always an expsenive city to live in? What were things like there in the 70's,80's and 90's as far as this?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Motion

I've notice many threads talk about how expensive it is to live in San Francisco. I was just wondering if the city was always an expsenive city to live in? What were things like there in the 70's,80's and 90's as far as this?

SF has long been considered expensive by CA standards (it took until the 21st century for L.A. to run neck and neck with S.F. as CA's most expensive city) but it was nowhere near as expensive in the 70s, 80s, or early 90s.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by majoun

SF has long been considered expensive by CA standards (it took until the 21st century for L.A. to run neck and neck with S.F. as CA's most expensive city) but it was nowhere near as expensive in the 70s, 80s, or early 90s.

when you watch the movie "milk",, you see that gays from all across the country came to settle in SF to be liberated. If it was so expensive then, how could all of them afford to live there? There were also sizeable irish/italian/chinese immigrant communities there. how could they afford to live there?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by wehotex

when you watch the movie "milk",, you see that gays from all across the country came to settle in SF to be liberated. If it was so expensive then, how could all of them afford to live there? There were also sizeable irish/italian/chinese immigrant communities there. how could they afford to live there?

One could say the same thing about NYC.

SF was much cheaper back then than today. While it was the most expensive city in CA back then (when L.A. was a genuinely cheap city, and everywhere else in CA was super-cheap) it was NOTHING compared to today.

FWIW, the gay presence in SF goes back to World War II. Soldiers and sailors bound for the Pacific Theatre who had desires unacceptable to American society back then felt the urge to live out their dreams given that there was a great chance they would be blown up by a Japanese shell, shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft weapons, or their boats sunk by Japanese subs etc.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by majoun

One could say the same thing about NYC.

SF was much cheaper back then than today. While it was the most expensive city in CA back then (when L.A. was a genuinely cheap city, and everywhere else in CA was super-cheap) it was NOTHING compared to today.

FWIW, the gay presence in SF goes back to World War II. Soldiers and sailors bound for the Pacific Theatre who had desires unacceptable to American society back then felt the urge to live out their dreams given that there was a great chance they would be blown up by a Japanese shell, shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft weapons, or their boats sunk by Japanese subs etc.

yeah, thanks for reminding me about the gay presence in and after the ww2 era. It must have been a really good fortune to have bought a house in SF when it was so cheap. btw, what the world is "FWIW"?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by wehotex

yeah, thanks for reminding me about the gay presence in and after the ww2 era. It must have been a really good fortune to have bought a house in SF when it was so cheap. btw, what the world is "FWIW"?

For what it's worth.

[clongirl]

Yes, it's always been more pricey to live there, but not outrageous. Let me put this in perspective. When my husband and I decided in 1995 to start looking for a house (typical full five ((2 bd,kitchen,living room, dining room)) the prices were around 270+. By the time that 1996 rolled around they had jumped to 350k (sound cheap now days, but back then it was outrageous!). Now the same houses, although falling in price are still around 850K.

It used to be possible for someone with a middle-upper middle income to save for something..maybe took a bit longer for the down payment, but it could be done. Many of our friends (of a generation earlier, with several children) all have houses and are happily settled. My family had to leave altogether to be able to not rent for the rest of our lives. Prices quadrupled in San Francisco during that time...

[ImRandy]

I remember looking at houses to rent with a friend of mine in 1995 in Daly City. We looked at this very nice 4/2. We thought the rent was a little high and didn't take it. While we were chatting with the landlord he said if he didn't get somebody moved in within the month he was going to put the house on the market for $200K. As we were walking out my friend turned to me and said that the landlord was crazy, at that price you'd never get your money out of it. I completely agreed with him. Boy were we wrong.

[jman650]

Everything used to be cheaper here in the 90's, and even more so in the 80's. Going to clubs around '95-'96 an average shot of Hennessey or a rum & coke would be about $4 and a Long Island would be around $6, at least at the clubs/parties I was at. Now I can't find a mixed well (meaning bottom shelf) drink for less than $6-$8 and Long Islands/Long Beaches/AMFs are very rarely less than $10-$12.

The difference in price across the board was probably similar to the difference in price of things that we have all experienced nationwide, such as movies in the mid-90s being around $6.50 or $7 (as I recall) and fast food value meals averaging around $3-$3.50 vs. now where we have movies being $10.50 (like at Century Theaters) to $12 (like at Kabuki), or value meals around $5 or $6.

Everything from public transportation (weren't buses only $0.50 for adults in the early 90s?) to bridge toll (still $2 for all bridges in 2000 as I recall, except Golden Gate which was $3) has severely increased since back then and it sucks. Going clubbing before used to only cost about $5-$10 at the door at most clubs in the 90s. Now the average is about $20 and then you need to figure out how to pay for parking and retardedly over-priced drinks. I want the 90s back! lol

[Motion]

I was thinking that SF's expensiveness was related to the dot.com or tech explosion in the area in the mid to late 90's that brought with it many well paid tech workers which led to more gentrification causing home prices to increase.