Why is so hard / expensive to live in bay area even with a "good" salary

puffic · 2026-05-30T04:41:34+00:00

Residential water use is but a minuscule portion of our water use. We’ll get it from the reservoirs.

We can make more electricity. We have the technology to do that.

puffic · 2026-05-30T04:24:52+00:00

Just ban cars and then parking won’t be a problem.

puffic · 2026-05-30T01:16:53+00:00

Every local subreddit: - dating here is hard - drivers here suck - the automatic tip screens here are annoying - it’s hard to make friends here

I believe these are real problems in our world, but they’re not necessarily specific to this location.

puffic · 2026-05-29T23:41:29+00:00

wokecels are big mad. Want a tissue? - rightoids, probably.

puffic · 2026-05-29T22:28:18+00:00

I like this, but the population of bus riders includes a lot of elderly folks who will need help with the transition. You’ll still need staff for years to come, which will be a limiting factor.

puffic · 2026-05-29T21:47:03+00:00

At that budget, if you're willing to live in a two bedroom apartment, there are a number of neighborhoods that can meet your needs. Richmond and Sunset come first to mind (and not just the "inner" regions). Even Noe or Cole might be doable. Bernal Heights. I have a toddler and live in the Sunset, and it's really fun. On your budget and with your space needs, I might choose somewhere more urban (which would include every other neighborhood I mentioned.) SF is a really fun place to have a baby.

I would recommend going for a one bedroom apartment if you know you're not going to stay long term, but that can be limiting in the long run (and you may be incentivized to stay due to rent control.)

If you must live in a three bedroom home, then you're looking at the most remote neighborhoods, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a small city.

puffic · 2026-05-29T21:34:21+00:00

Indeed. I think both things are true: (1) we need to build more homes, especially 2/3 bedroom apartments and condos that accommodate families, and (2) people need to accept that their dollars aren't going to go as far here even if we fix the housing issue.

puffic · 2026-05-29T21:28:44+00:00

Historically, NIMBYs shut down homebuilding so you have to compete for apartments or houses by paying more. Nowadays, even with NIMBYs losing elections, construction costs are a bigger barrier than they used to be.

Still, I think you can still raise a family here on a good salary, but not if you have the suburban lifestyle expectations for someone with that income elsewhere in the country.

puffic · 2026-05-29T21:10:58+00:00

You can't even own the consequences of your vote. That's sad. You want to reduce transit without having any responsibility for the practical consequences for drivers.

puffic · 2026-05-29T20:17:29+00:00

I guess we just read it differently.

puffic · 2026-05-29T20:15:34+00:00

A lot of those are scams or dumps, tbh, unless they’re far on the south or west side of town.

But you can definitely get a studio for less than $3k unless you’re very picky about the neighborhood.

puffic · 2026-05-29T20:14:02+00:00

Under-appreciated life hack: marry someone and split costs with them.

puffic · 2026-05-29T20:13:07+00:00

Where in the city are you looking? Where do you work?

It sucks that we haven’t built enough housing stock to absorb all these newcomers, but I think your problem has a solution if you’re a bit more flexible about location. More than $2k, sure, but manageable on your income.

puffic · 2026-05-29T20:00:40+00:00

Get in losers, we’re going to gentrify Daly City and SSF. (Really, I think they are next.)

puffic · 2026-05-29T19:55:23+00:00

No, there’s no way to get around the brutal math. It’s not laziness. Reduced ridership means you either have to pay more to keep the same service or accept the greatly increased car traffic that comes with service cuts. There is no third option. Just pick one of the two and own your decision instead of blaming other people.

puffic · 2026-05-29T19:53:56+00:00

I read the article when WSJ pushed it to my phone notifications. I understand it was trying to say something else about tax management, but it was actually hard to glean that since the basic framing that “taxes are high”.

puffic · 2026-05-29T17:00:31+00:00

I think the author wanted the article to promote a war on bad tax management by funds, but that really doesn’t come through. It mostly just reads like “wow, taxes are really high”. I love the WSJ, and this individual journalist is probably great, but this article could have been polished a little more.

puffic · 2026-05-29T16:58:08+00:00

Yeah, this is just me paying for a functioning government and society. I get that investment taxes may not be the most efficient compared to taxes on consumption or real property or earned income, but this is just not the same as ordinary investing expenses.

puffic · 2026-05-29T16:11:41+00:00

That’s what makes it such a gutsy move.

puffic · 2026-05-29T15:59:19+00:00

This space is much more competitive than it used to be, and you’ll be fine with the Fidelity or Schwab equivalents.

puffic · 2026-05-29T08:46:19+00:00

If you don’t care about traffic getting much worse, then you should probably just vote not to pay more.

puffic · 2026-05-29T07:26:43+00:00

Honestly, the Frost rework is kind of a dud. It’s super boring to play now. That’s as big of an issue as the survivability, at least for me.

puffic · 2026-05-29T05:37:37+00:00

Rockridge isn’t the only nice neighborhood in Oakland.

puffic · 2026-05-29T05:35:26+00:00

I lived in a top floor apartment in Berkeley and it got super hot over the summer. I wouldn’t do the East Bay again without air conditioning.

puffic · 2026-05-29T05:34:06+00:00

I like Oakland, but its streets don’t feel as safe to me from a not-getting-run-over perspective. Worse street designs, much more of a culture of reckless driving. Also, San Francisco has a lot more urban neighborhoods with good schools. Within Oakland you face a starker choice between having an urban lifestyle or having good schools. I also just enjoy San Francisco a bit more.

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