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Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by lhorie on Saturday September 07, 2019 @02:08AM (#20902100)
Is San Francisco representative of metropolitan US cities? In my experience everything is expensive here in SF. In Toronto, I could get relatively nice (warm) meals around my office for nearly half of what an average one costs around SF financial district.
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by adventured on Saturday September 07, 2019 @02:31AM (#20902147)
The short answer is: absolutely not. San Francisco could hardly be any further away from being representive of the average major US city. Any use of San Francisco as a comparison point, as though it represents the US well, is going to end up comical far more often than not.
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by jrockway on Saturday September 07, 2019 @05:15AM (#20902706)
SF feels a lot like every other major city to me. Do you think New York, Chicago, and LA have low costs of living? They're expensive too.

What surprises me about the Bay Area, though, is how expensive the suburbs are. I remember seeing apartments in downtown Mountain View that were $3000/month for one bedroom. Now that's insane and I don't think that happens anywhere else in the world.

Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by inferiorhuman on Saturday September 07, 2019 @06:18AM (#20902903)
SF feels a lot like every other major city to me. Do you think New York, Chicago, and LA have low costs of living? They're expensive too.

The cost of living in San Francisco is dramatically higher than New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

What surprises me about the Bay Area, though, is how expensive the suburbs are. I remember seeing apartments in downtown Mountain View that were $3000/month for one bedroom. Now that's insane and I don't think that happens anywhere else in the world.

Right, and you can find one bedrooms in the "outer" boroughs for well under that. Perhaps not for much longer, but still.

Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by OldHand2018 on Saturday September 07, 2019 @09:03AM (#20903509)
I don't think you'll find places like this in San Francisco (or New York, for that matter)

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1430-S-Michigan-Ave-60605/...

~$250k for a 1BR 3 blocks away from Trader Joes and the subway station and many bars and restaurants and parks. The walk/train/bike scores are all >90, so a car isn't needed even though a parking space is included (you could rent it out!).

San Francisco is expensive.

Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by pchristensen on Saturday September 07, 2019 @09:36AM (#20903677)
To be fair, Chicago is inexpensive by coastal standards, not just SF. Prices comparable to Philly, not DC, Boston, NY, etc.
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by inferiorhuman on Saturday September 07, 2019 @02:41PM (#20905681)
You're not going to find something for $250k within 2–3 hours of San Francisco.
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by rconti on Saturday September 07, 2019 @01:02PM (#20905017)
You're not wrong about the suburbs in the valley being expensive; that said, downtown mountain view is a very walkable 'city', and is just a couple of miles from one of the region's largest employers (Google).

In general, it's expensive all up and down the peninsula specifically, because there's not all that much land, not much multi-unit housing, etc.

Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by hanniabu on Saturday September 07, 2019 @12:26PM (#20904766)
I'm from the east coast and I think it's representative. You can pay $8-$12 for a sandwich that's very unappealing and mostly bread.
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by bobthepanda on Saturday September 07, 2019 @12:41PM (#20904868)
As a counterpoint, New York deli/bodega/sandwich cart culture is still extremely strong, and unless you‘re eating a premium sandwich like a lox and cream cheese bagel, can definitely be had for $5 or under
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by dsfyu404ed on Saturday September 07, 2019 @09:31AM (#20903646)
>Is San Francisco representative of metropolitan US cities?

No. It's not even representative of the ones on the west coast. It is an outlier in most regards.

Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by Scoundreller on Saturday September 07, 2019 @10:06AM (#20903818)
> In Toronto

Give it time. A lot of the hole-in-the-wall ethnic places probably won't continue to exist.

I wish the city wasn't so harsh on food trucks...

Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by rcfox on Saturday September 07, 2019 @10:34AM (#20903981)
Actually, I've been using Ritual daily for the past few years in Toronto and it's been pretty interesting to see new small restaurants pop up around my home and office.
Re:Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do by BeetleB on Saturday September 07, 2019 @11:42AM (#20904451)
I have no idea what the cost of sandwiches are in SF. But in my city (much lower COL), the complaint is the same. Pre-made sandwiches are crap. If you order a sandwich at a proper store it's probably $8-10.