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I lived in the Bay Area for five years, and I'm so glad I got out. On paper, the area should operate very similarly to New York City: good public transit, rela
by SirensOfTitan 8y ago
I lived in the Bay Area for five years, and I'm so glad I got out. On paper, the area should operate very similarly to New York City: good public transit, relatively active building, and a variety of neighborhoods and places to live that are relatively safe.
In reality, it's effectively impossible to get around in the bay area deprived of housing with no new building, no solution to public transit (good luck getting the peninsula towns to allow for BART to expand there), and from what I've read the property crime rates are higher than NYC in the 90s.
Of course, New York has its own problems, and the Subway is rapidly degrading. With that, local politics in the Bay Area are out of control, and it seems there's no real easy solution to the political clusterfuck of the various towns. Individuals can only really vote with their feet: move out. There are plenty of other attractive towns for tech.
- ajmurmann 8y agoAnother option is to heavily support the YIMBY party. I don't live there anymore but would be interested in moving back if the NIMBY crap could finally be turned around.
- ropeadopepope 8y agoThe political issues of the Bay Area extend far, far beyond the YIMBY/NIMBY split.
- _cs2017_ 8y agoHmm a room in a shared house in mountain view, 10-15 min bike to work along a forest trail, can be rented for $1200-1500. Restaurants are about 30% more expensive than elsewhere, but that's still a tiny amount in absolute terms. Most other expenses here are not that different from other cities. And the jobs pay a little better, and there's more choice of good companies. I really don't understand why SV is considered over priced - unless you want your own house of course.
- RandallBrown 8y agoA room in a shared house for $1500 is pretty insane for a suburb.
- gk1 8y agoIt should be considered insane for any place.
- driverdan 8y agoFor $1200-1500 you can buy a house in most of the country and not have to share it. Most jobs aren't a 10-15 min bike ride from MV either. You've also ignored CA's high tax rates.
- _cs2017_ 8y agoMV was just an example. SF is roughly similar, and if your job is in Cupertino or San Jose, it's even cheaper. I guess higher tax rates eat up another 5-10% of pretax income? I think there's still a largish premium in comp after accounting for that. And yes, once you need your own place, it's hard. I meant until that point.
- Kluny 8y ago12-1500 gets you an apartment on your own in Victoria, which is itself considered one of the most expensive rental markets in Canada.
- toephu2 8y agoAre there job opportunities in Victoria like there are in Silicon Valley?
- bronson 8y agoThat means you're spending at least $24000/year on housing. If that's 1/3 of your income, you're making $72,000/year. For a room in a shared house. That doesn't sound insane to you?
- jrs95 8y agoIs it theoretically possible for the State of California to do something to take direct control of the local government?
- pcwalton 8y agoSure, in that the state can set limits on what cities can or cannot do. That's what Scott Wiener's various bills have done in the realm of housing, for example.
- CydeWeys 8y agoWhat makes you think California is less NIMBY than the local municipalities?
- pcwalton 8y agoIt is. AB 2923 (forcing cities to allow housing on BART land) passed easily just last week, for example, despite opposition from every involved municipality.
- kyledrake 8y agoIt passed the committee, but I think it still needs to go to the Senate for a vote, unless I'm not understanding California politics. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2923 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xh...
- masonic 8y agoPassed the Assembly. May need Senate committee actions before Senate floor vote. If it passes there, it just needs to avoid veto.
- bobbytherobot 8y agoWhat makes this hard: 1. Most state representatives need to please the NIMBY if they hope to state elected 2. If the government does lay out a plan, it is easy enough to override with a ballot initiative.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- mmt 8y ago> On paper, the area should operate very similarly to New York City I think you're mistaken. On paper, NYC has a land area of just under 303 square miles. The nine-county SFBA is around 7000 square miles. I'm pretty sure it's also unique as a city in other ways. The Tri-State Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area at 13000+ square miles is much closer, on paper, and I'm pretty sure it has its share of political challenges.
- lr4444lr 8y agoI don't understand something: you have a super "liberal" government at most levels in the Bay Area, no? Why haven't they relaxed zoning or funded public housing to defuse the housing issue?
- erikpukinskis 8y agoCalifornia is much more mixed than people think, it’s more like 55/45 liberal/conservative than the raging liberal monoculture other parts of the country portray it as. Also, what passes for “liberal” these days is basically George W. Bush’s politics. There’s not really a liberal political organization anymore.
- nerfhammer 8y agodistrust and ignorance of economics by some allied with cartel behavior of others, driving endless mental gymnastics
- QML 8y agoIMO, new housing isn't a partisan issue (since both sides dislike it). Liberals will say it only benefits wealthy developers. And Conservatives will lament the requirement of affordable units. In a sense, they're both right (?). As a current resident of Berkeley, I have only seen in the last few years the construction of new apartment buildings which are un-affordable to the majority of the student and local populations; I'm talking about ~4k in rent for a 2 bedroom apartment.