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A comment on Ask HN: What is really wrong with the US economy, really?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: What is really wrong with the US economy, really? by eqdw on Thursday February 27, 2014 @06:26PM (#7316043)
> A fairly small studio apartment in the area where I live is approaching $2000/mo, minimum

Unless you live in NY, SF (/me waves!), or DC, that number is grossly out of touch with the actual costs of rent in the United States.

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Re:Ask HN: What is really wrong with the US economy, really? by kevingadd on Thursday February 27, 2014 @06:29PM (#7316068)
http://priceonomics.com/the-rise-of-bay-area-rent-prices/

This is from 2013. It hasn't gotten better. Their median for the city I live in is $2395 (and for reference, I'm an hour+ drive from San Francisco; ~2 hours by train).

Rents around me have definitely been going up, even if they're not at $2400. And that's for studios/1 bedrooms. If I were to move into the exact apartment I have now, the rent on the lease would be a few hundred dollars more than what I'm already paying (despite the fact that they've been bumping my rent up as much as they can).

Yes, there are low-rent areas. But a lot of people don't have the option to live in them.

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Re:Ask HN: What is really wrong with the US economy, really? by eqdw on Friday February 28, 2014 @02:05PM (#7320768)
When I said "NY, SF, DC" I meant the metro areas, not the cities.

My friend is fond of telling me I could get a sweet 1000sqft loft in downtown Houston for $1200/mo or so. Or a regular apartment for half that.

Of course, to me, not living in Texas is worth the extra thousand dollars a month

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Re:Ask HN: What is really wrong with the US economy, really? by mikeash on Friday February 28, 2014 @03:42PM (#7321346)
Even for DC that's deeply out of touch. I spent about two minutes on apartments.com and found a building in Arlington, nice neighborhood and right on two Metro lines, with studios for $1200/month. $2000/month can get you two bedrooms with a balcony and about 900 ft^2.

I get the feeling that people are confusing the rents in extremely desirable neighborhoods with the rents you must pay to be in the city at all.

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