$4 toast and the ruin of San Francisco

No doubt that housing is ridiculous in the SF Bay Area, 1600 sq. ft houses in my neck of the woods go for nearly $1M; its all about the weather and proximity to things, in other words, location, location, location. SF is 4 hours from the snow (Tahoe); seaside, and has a temperate climate where the low is around 40 in the winter and 70s-90s in the summer. Its a wonderful climate; very hard to leave.

 

My uncle just sold a nice house, but nothing too special, in Fremont for $1.3 million. It was on the market for less than a week.

 

One of my nieces and her husband just sold their house in Mill Valley (they moved into one they built in Ross, he's big in finance) without even putting it on the market. They just told a few friends and it was sold in less than a week.

 

The creative class is rising up!

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/12/20/bus-blocked-again-in-tech-boom-backlash/

Google, Apple and other big companies supply shuttle buses for their workers who live in San Francisco and work at the headquarters much farther south. Today in San Francisco and Oakland, protesters briefly blocked those buses. “We’re here to send a message to the rich tech companies that their business has ramifications and consequences,” one protester said.

 

Was there a few years ago and a friend remarked "I feel like I can't afford to breathe." I do wonder what jacks the prices up so much to those insane levels? Real estate I can sort of understand, especially if there's not sufficient land to build out from the city center.

But supply and demand doesn't explain $4 toast.

I disagree that tech companies are to blame, per se. But I don't see why people will pay these prices. I don't care how much money I've got, I'm not going to blow it by paying more for a certain product than I think it's worth.

 

A friend of mine, who is a big name in national sports, interviewed for an ASE job at the Chronicle a few years ago. He turned it down because, even with a decent salary offer, he would have had to live in Walnut Creek, way east of San Francisco, and he said that would be an hour commute each way every day.

 

I can totally understand why someone would pay the premium to live in San Francisco. Just no way I ever could.

 

Boston is almost as expensive as San Francisco. I'm one of the many people who moved here in the '70s and '80s in their youths because back then the city was relatively cheap because its economy sucked. We prospered as it did, but it's an infinitely tougher place to start out than it was, or even to move into for middle aged folks.

 

Is Oakland the new Brooklyn?

 

Who wouldn't? Me. I don't care if housing is free, I have no interest in either visiting that hellhole or living there.

 

San Francisco is a hell hole?

It's one of the most beautiful, and vibrant cities in America.

It's one thing to have a preference for a different kind of place to live, but you should still be able to appreciate SF for what it is.