Rent control. A lot of people are living/stuck in apartments and paying much, much less in rent. The high rent only applies to new people moving in, and I'd suspect that less new non-tech people are moving in these days.

How is rent control like that legal?

You've got it backwards: rent is controlled by the law.

1. You live somewhere defective. Now, "defective" is relative and can simply mean "inconvenient" (looong commutes) or it can be an area that's kinda uncool, ugly, subject to crime, constantly overcast, devoid of the interesting stores, subject to drive-by mariachi music attacks, etc.

2. Roommates. You live with someone else.

3. You were grandfathered in, either by owning property or by having a lease which (as a result of city law) essentially grants you immunity to rising rents. Lucky you.

Work in residential property management. Either your salary is decent enough for SF (the higher ups), or your rent is free (the front line managers.)

The same way they do in every large city - they sacrifice. They get roommates and do more with less. They live in places that are shunned by others because of industry or crime. At least, that's what I see here in NYC. It shocked me how someone could sell fruit and still live here. But they do it.

Living in Oakland is popular.