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They make decent money -- good money even. This is really an article about the high housing costs in the Bay Area. I don't see any other real message here. All
by jeffdavis 9y ago
They make decent money -- good money even. This is really an article about the high housing costs in the Bay Area. I don't see any other real message here.
All of the people who oppose residential development near work sites are to blame. Period.
- kevin_b_er 9y agoThey make terrible money because they have no net money after basic expenses.
- placeybordeaux 9y ago> All of the people who oppose residential development near work sites are to blame. Period. Are you saying that is the only thing that is keeping the bay area's cost of living high?
- crooked-v 9y agoHousing costs are exaggerated in San Francisco by orders of magnitude more than every other component of cost of living.
- JSDave 9y agoThere are other factors that also push up housing costs. placeybordeaux just disagrees that NIMBYism is the ONLY factor. I don't know if NIMBYism is even the primary factor. For example, we have a small public transit network resulting in few options for high density construction. There's a construction labor shortage that will likely worsen. There's a sudden surge in jobs.
- abalashov 9y agoNo, I don't think the GP is. But it's a rather predominant factor!
- elmar 9y agodoesn't say how much are they paying for the two car garage, even at lower rents how much lower they must be, to be cheaper then what they are paying now, so that they increase their standard of living.
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y agoThe article never mentions what hours they get, just their hourly rate. It's not fair to say they're making good money.
- ryandrake 9y agoSorry for having to be "that guy" but they're living in Menlo Park for crying out loud! I'd love to live in Menlo Park too, but I can't afford it, so instead I live 2 hours away and commute to work like everyone else. In the Bay Area, living close to work is pretty much a luxury for the rich.
- hkmurakami 9y agoI suspect this is actually East Menlo Park, since the homeowners in Menlo Park proper are very unlikely to rent out a garage like this. East Menlo Park is substantially more affordable than Menlo Park, though at this point more costly than many East Bay areas. Living in Hayward for example would make housing more affordable, but as you allude to, commute times would likely 4-5x (because bridges) and their kids' education would suffer due to school districts since they likely take advantage of the Tinsley Voluntary Transfer Program to attend schools in Menlo Park's school district (whereas Hayward schools are not good by any stretch of the imagination)
- rlanday 9y agoWhat is East Menlo Park? Do you mean East Palo Alto?
- hkmurakami 9y agoNo, East Menlo park is north of East Palo alto. It's adjacent to FB HQ and has separate services from MP.
- intjk 9y agoI live in the Belle Haven neighborhood. And I love it. Go jogging frequently, always feel safe, diverse neighborhood...
- chaostheory 9y agoyeah if they lived in the East Bay or further north with access to BART such as Pittsburg or Concord, it would be more affordable. I've had developer coworkers live there talk about the commute. Not fun, but makes the finances better.
- kevmo 9y agoApparently good money does not translate into a liveable wage. "Stop grandstanding and take care of your own house first" is more of the message of this article, I'd say.
- FLUX-YOU 9y ago"$x is a 'good wage'" has always been a simple and loaded statement, but with the media highlighting economic inequality (esp. around tech and silicon valley) for so long, news & people now commonly discuss cost-of-living with wages and now look at the net value as the talking point.
- Houshalter 9y agoIt's not a loaded statement. No one is making you live a the place with the highest cost of living in the US.
- kevmo 9y ago"Just move away" is not a legitimate response to these problems.
- Houshalter 9y agoThere is a limited supply of housing and they have no interest in building more. That means only a limited number of people can live there. Someone has to move. Rents will just keep increasing until they do. Paying them more will just increase rents more until someone else is forced out. And I do see it as a lifestyle choice. You can't choose a lot of things in life, but you can choose where you live. I don't have a huge amount of sympathy for people who choose to live in the most expensive part of the US, and then complain about the cost of living. Despite making boatloads more money than me. I certainly don't feel like I should be forced to subsidize their lifestyle choice (I know that isn't the argument presented here, but it is an issue that often comes up with these issues. I don't think cost of living should be taken into account with regard to government programs and subsidies.)
- rokhayakebe 9y agogood money even How is $19/hour good money in California?
- jahaja 9y agoHousing costs? Well partly sure, but equally due to the lack of a social welfare system.