Moved to the Bay for 1 year from out of state, moved back. My review of it. (Los Angeles: crime, townhome)

[Avondalist]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

I also presume you don't have an outdoors job

If you're working outdoors in the Bay Area you probably can't afford the rents.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by Avondalist

If you're working outdoors in the Bay Area you probably can't afford the rents.

Cops work outdoors and can afford the rent barely, so can general contractors. Not everyone who works outdoors spins signs

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by Nightmare Paint

Show me a 3 Bedroom Condo in the Bay Area at 400K and I'll show you a Flying Labrador Retriever.

Everything the light touches, is overpriced because of hipster yuppies my son

[426HemiCA]

[quote= That's exactly what we need to be doing: dense, multifamily development near public transit. Only we need to build it denser than that. 20 story buildings, 30 story buildings..[/QUOTE]

Going for that nice Chicago/Philly Look.... That will be great.

[TheGreatCurve]

Originally Posted by 426HemiCA

Going for that nice Chicago/Philly Look.... That will be great.

It would be awesome. The Manhattan look with 50-70 story buildings would be even better.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by Nightmare Paint

Show me a 3 Bedroom Condo in the Bay Area at 400K and I'll show you a Flying Labrador Retriever.

You have to build the supply in order to reduce the prices. Again, I'm suggesting huge buildings full of market rate three bedroom condos. Put them in south San Jose, near the light rail and out of the approach path for the airport.

With 15 high rises planned in downtown San Jose, Silicon Valley appears to be the only region doing something about the lack of housing. We definitely do not need single family homes -- those should be banned -- but we could build many more dense residential buildings.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Nightmare Paint

So like I said, show me a 3 Bedroom place in the Bay Area for 400K.

You can find some for sale in Concord and Martinez although there are a lot less to choose from than say 6 months to a year ago.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by AZJD

And even if you can afford it, I can't wrap my head around actually paying that. It's like spending $60,000 on a 1986 Honda Accord.

^^^^ This ^^^^

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

...Retiring here is not even a consideration unless we hit some incredible unexpected windfall...

The Bay Area isn't fun for retirees -- even for retirees with no mortgage. The high cost of real estate permeates everything, and the traffic is oppressive. Retirees get stuck in hour-long traffic jams, too, even if they are just trying to get to a doctor's appointment.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Really?? Where is all that water coming from? They don't do that in New Mexico, that's for sure, except at public pools! In another 10 years, those private pools are going to be empty. Quite possibly the public ones, too.

It turns out a swimming pool's water "use" (evaporation) is less than a grass lawn's "consumption". It seems odd, but square-foot compared to square-foot, a swimming pool is more water efficient to operate than a grass lawn on an ongoing basis.