Comments need to get more civil and substantive, not less, as a thread gets more provocative. Otherwise we all go up in flames.
I did get lost a bit getting over worked about the situation. It's a topic that hits close to home for me as SF was a great place to live for me for a better part of a decade, but myself and other friends had to leave as the rising costs squeezed us out.
> - Someone who is completely disconnected from reality
I totally agree that on this one, but have found that this group can come in quite a few more shapes and sizes than your original comment suggests. Not everyone is as out-to-lunch as your parent: I know a healthy number of people down here who are just fundamentally optimistic about things, and will tend to think positively at all times (and probably right up until the moment that the guillotine falls).
I have one friend who just put down roots with a house and recently had a child. He insists that the price tag on his place (well over $1M+) is perfectly reasonable, even though it's right at the fringes of the city and would be considered a worn-out hovel by the standards of almost any other North American city. The house's previous owners bought in a few decades ago and paid ~$50k for it.
In a few years he'll be putting his child through the city's public schooling system, which is broadly considered to be a nightmare by any standard, but he insists that SF's schools are great at the municipality is doing an excellent job. He harbors no resentment for major failings in public policy like Prop 13, despite the fact that he's probably paying on the order of 10-20x as much property tax as the vast majority of all his neighbors.
Despite a myriad of failings on the part of policy planners in everything from traffic to cleanliness to crime, he has a way of not seeing any of it. I envy him because it's a bit of a survival adaptation: he's happier on average than anyone in the area who thinks about any of this stuff regularly.
Suggesting getting a roommate would just be not that big of a deal to him because you're still in the city and still having the fun, even if there maybe should be a greater existential concern about workers making six figures being put in this situation.
No this is the reality of living in the Bay Area. People who are living on barista wages are getting screwed by it. It's an insult to them that this is the reality today.
> Just fucking wow.
Alright calm down, you're on HN not reddit. You can express your viewpoint without being dramatic and vulgar.
> You can save in the bay area, live with roommates and pay <2k rent.
A tech worker shouldn't have to be loading up on roommates to get sub 2k rent (which is still crazy high compared to the rest of the country) but in the Bay area they have to. Why? It's insane that's how it is.
> At a salary of 100k you should be able to save 1500-2k per month comfortably.
Again looks great on paper, but you bet California tax is going to eat most of your paycheck in one go. Not to mention that many are having to carry student debt, personal debt, or have other financial obligations.
> and save for a downpayment if buying a home is your goal.
Let's be absolutely clear on this: there is currently little to no path to home ownership in the bay area for the majority living there. This isn't drama, this isn't made up, this is fact.
> If you think you're entitled to owning a big house, 2 cars, with money left over for dining out everyday and to pad your savings for a 5M retirement fund, you're going to have a bad time.
If you think that those living in the Bay Area still subscribe to this "dream", you're completely disconnected from SF.
> you're going to have a bad time.
Again, not reddit. You can express serious viewpoints here without memes and jokes.