Geography definitely impacts it. There is substantially cheaper housing in the East Bay, compared to SF/Peninsula. However there's no good way to get from the

Geography definitely impacts it. There is substantially cheaper housing in the East Bay, compared to SF/Peninsula. However there's no good way to get from the East Bay to where the jobs are: you are limited by one of three bridges, all of which have terrible traffic. Imagine if we filled up the entire SF Bay with concrete, and demolished all the mountains surrounding the Bay Area. I'll bet you would see improved traffic and more even prices between East/West bay.