Citing a dysfunctional housing market like San Francisco is instructive, but only because it provides contrast to the situation the poster you're replying to wa

Citing a dysfunctional housing market like San Francisco is instructive, but only because it provides contrast to the situation the poster you're replying to was talking about. Tokyo may be expensive, but it also manages to house more than 15 times the residents of San Francisco. Not all of the almost 14m people living in Tokyo are rich. And for those that don't like living in that kind of population density, it's surprisingly easy to live in other cities. The public transportation system there is amazing...far better than even Europe can offer. The Tokyo Metro goes everywhere in the city and the transfers between the Metro and the high-speed rail lines are timed, so you don't waste time waiting. When we took the bullet train, I saw people commuting in excess of 100 mi to/from work. That may sound like a lot to an American, but it was around an hour of commute time with their infrastructure. And since they don't drive during their commutes, they can spend the time on the train doing something entertaining/productive. It's really eye opening what can happen when you don't prioritize cars in a city. If San Francisco were similarly prioritized and we invested in transportation infrastructure the way the Japanese do, you wouldn't have to live there to work there. You could live in the Stockton area, where the median home price is under $300k, and you'd only have to dodge the homeless people on your way between the metro and your work. And you and your spouse could share a car instead of each needing one since you'd only need it for local trips around your home city rather than commuting.