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Housing is proportionally higher cost but many things aren't that much more expensive in the Bay, which helps cancels it out. Plus if you're willing to commute,
by misnamed 10y ago
Housing is proportionally higher cost but many things aren't that much more expensive in the Bay, which helps cancels it out. Plus if you're willing to commute, rent and/or live with other people, it all helps (unlike that Yelp lady who got her own place, kept her car, etc...).
- tptacek 10y agoYou are describing an area that is perfectly acceptable for unattached 20-somethings but more or less untenable for young families.
- blackguardx 10y agoLook at how families in the US were raised historically in big cities or even in the suburbs. People were happy with much less space than is considered "untenable" today.
- tptacek 10y agoDo you really think this is a persuasive argument for raising a family in a shared 2-bedroom apartment?
- blackguardx 10y agoNo, but many people who want kids seem to think that they need so much space. Someone upthread lamented how small the housing stock in SFBay was at "only" an average of 1500 sq ft. That was the normal sized house 50 yrs ago regardless of how many kids there were.
- tptacek 10y agoWhat's the median price of a 2bdr condo in SFBA right now? Because if you're planning to raise a family in SFBA, that's what you need. You can't rent it, because you can't routinely move small families --- changing school districts is incredibly disruptive for children --- and you would be somewhat lucky to keep a good 2bdr apartment for 5 years, let alone 12-15.
- blackguardx 10y agoWhy do you state your opinions as if they were facts? I moved out of state 5 times as a child. It wasn't that bad. It is actually normal if your parents are in the military or work in the oil and gas sector. Also, it is incredibly hard to evict tenants in SF or Oakland. People routinely live in the same apartment for 20+ years.
- tptacek 10y agoLess than a quarter of SF tenants have kept their apartments for 10 years. We may have different definitions of "routine".
- Decade 10y agoMy two brothers and I grew up with our parents in rented 2-bedroom in-laws, and we stayed in San Francisco the whole time. In two of the places, technically, one bedroom was not a real “bedroom” because they did not have windows, but we lived with it. With substantial family assistance. The market is exponentially worse now, of course, but I still see families with children renting and having to move, but managing to stay in the city.
- Ar-Curunir 10y agoIt's not like apartments are particularly affordable either; the Bay Area is ridiculously overpriced.
- ghufran_syed 10y agoYes, if that's the best a family can do. We were grateful for what we had when we were in that position. Unless we are saying that the children who were raised in such living conditions in the past were damaged in some way by the experience? Or that human physiology has changed in some way over this timescale?
- tptacek 10y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgn9fAymS2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgn9fAymS2g
- snovv_crash 10y agoYou mean like almost everyone does in Europe?
- tptacek 10y agoAlmost everyone in Europe houses multiple families in 2-bedroom apartments?
- sliverstorm 10y agoPeople also used to keep perishables in a hole in the ground filled with ice, and were happy when they could get more ice. Six bedrooms as a minimum requirement for a family of three is pretty silly, but some of those old apartments were truly tiny.
- CiPHPerCoder 10y agoI want to also add that this isn't an attractive deal for me as an unattached 20-something.