8 ms·

I've lived here since 2014, and have been successively priced out of every single apartment I've had at the end of a lease. I had a ~10 minute commute from West

I've lived here since 2014, and have been successively priced out of every single apartment I've had at the end of a lease. I had a ~10 minute commute from West Oakland at first, then when the landlord doubled my rent it became a ~30 minute commute from El Cerrito. When the rent went up 30% there, I was forced all the way out to Pleasant Hill after spending months looking in Berkeley/Albany for something affordable. I now pay the same rent for a 1 bedroom in Pleasant Hill that my 3 bedroom in West Oakland rented for in 2014. And after 6 months of a hellish 1 hour+ commute I'm realizing it is completely untenable from a mental health perspective. This is for a single person who makes six figures. I can't even imagine what has happened to working class families in that time period.

AnsisMalins 8y ago
Who is replacing you?
- perfmode 8y ago
  people willing to spend 50% of their pay on housing
  - AnsisMalins 8y ago
    So, people who are more desperate rather than more rich?
    - perfmode 8y ago
      yes, but probably a combination of both
  - briandear 8y ago
    And people willing to have 3 roommates.
  - VonGuard 8y ago
    Been here 20 years, have done this almost the entire time...
    - anonymous5133 8y ago
      Thats not something to be bragging about...
      - d1zzy 8y ago
        It really depends what the absolute value of the remaining 50% is. If it's <=$2k/month then yeah, that's pretty bad. If it's $5k/month then you can still live a very nice life and afford many things, in the Bay Area. Don't forget, products bought online still cost the same anywhere in the US (well, almost, there's sales tax involved). I think people get way too caught up in "oh but I pay <insert large percentage> on housing, that's terrible". It doesn't matter. What matters is how much money you have left after having to pay for rent/mortgage, food, car lease/insurance/registration/gas and utilities. If that amount of money allows you to go to restaurants, go on world trips, buy the latest gadgets/hardware then who cares. I feel that people complain about this because they imagine some kind of unrealistic scenario "oh, I make $150k/year, imagine how much I would be saving if my rent/mortgage wasn't %50 of my income". Newsflash: rent and mortgages are that high _because_ you (and many others like you) make that amount of money, so pick your poison :) Of course, it's a completely different situation for most people that aren't working as engineers for tech companies in the area...
        jimbofisher1 8y ago
        Rents/Real Estate costs in the Bay Area are artificially inflated because of zoning laws, nimbyism and general lack of supply.
        perfmode 8y ago
        this. this excessive rent expenditure is landing straight into the pockets of the lucky few who own the land.
kcorbitt 8y ago
That's surprising to me -- Craigslist shows a number of 1BR places around Oakland in the $1500-$2000 range. Which is still crazy expensive in an absolute sense, granted, but should be reasonably affordable for a single person with a 6-figure income.
- closeparen 8y ago
  Deep East Oakland is one of the most dangerous places in the country. It’s on a whole other level from an iffy gentrifying area like SOMA. It’s something you just don’t mess with. $1500-$2000 in one of Oakland’s more acceptable areas is likely fraudulent, or is actually advertising a room and not an apartment.
  - elipsey 8y ago
    Where is deep east Oakland? can you give me a landmark?
    - aphextron 8y ago
      >Where is deep east Oakland? can you give me a landmark? Fruitvale
      - e40 8y ago
        No, that's not it. Further south from Fruitvale. Anywhere near the Oakland Coliseum BART station. And south from that BART station is ground zero. There are areas over there that the police won't go to without SWAT and a large presence.
    - jd3289y8 8y ago
      Everything east of 73rd and south of MacArthur (i.e. Eastmont Mall).
  - stmfreak 8y ago
    What's wrong with a room for a single person with six figure salary?
temporaryacc62 8y ago
Shouldn't employers provide Japanese style sleeping capsules for employees at that point? Or can they keep up wages with the increasing cost of living?
- thedirt0115 8y ago
  That's how you end up with the factory-campus style places like the iPhone factories in China where the workers basically never leave. On a more serious note, though, some employers do want to build housing near their headquarters (such as Google, for example), but are blocked by city councils. From what I read here, it sounds like you can't put up new housing anywhere near SF.
  - anonymous5133 8y ago
    Ive always suggested that the tech companies need to just start setting up satellite campuses in the central valley. Plenty of cheap housing out there.
  - nradov 8y ago
    The Mountain View City council approved Google's proposal to build company housing near their HQ. https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/12/googles-massive-housing-and-office-plan-poised-for-approval/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/12/googles-massive-housi...
    - DrScump 8y ago
      ... on the Bay side of 101. Only two roads get you over 101, and they are jammed during commute hours.
- raitom 8y ago
  There was something like that in North of France last century. The coal mining companies constructed a lot of houses for their employees (wikipedia page, in french https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coron_(urbanisme) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coron_(urbanisme)). It's definitely not bad. It provided poor miners with a decent place to live. Today a lot of them are still here, renovated and retired miners still live in them, most of them for free (my grandparents for example).
bartozone 8y ago
If your apartment in Oakland was built before 1976, it's rent controlled and that's definitely illegal. Even if there wasn't a former lease, they can't raise the rent by more than a certain amount, often less than 1%.
- massaman_yams 8y ago
  Hasn't been below 1% since 2009. http://rapwp.oaklandnet.com/issues/rent-increase/ http://rapwp.oaklandnet.com/issues/rent-increase/
- samcheng 8y ago
  The poster mentioned '3 bedrooms' which I'm guessing means a single-family residence. Houses are exempt from rent control.
- aphextron 8y ago
  I also found that specific 1976 law when he brought up the rent increase, but it turns out my building was built in the 80's. I don't necessarily agree with rent control anyways, and I'm not angry at the landlord for wanting to earn market rate on his property. It's just really exhausting to live somewhere like this.
  - sjg007 8y ago
    Same thing happened to us but on the peninsula. I got tired of moving so we left for a stable housing market.
    - lisper 8y ago
      Where did you find a stable housing market?
liveoneggs 8y ago
Move to Atlanta.
- jimmy1 8y ago
  Or Charlotte. Or RTP. Or Austin. Or Phoenix. Or Chattanooga. Or all the other various wonderful places to have satisfying lives and careers and not pay astronomical rent. Seriously getting sick of hearing about the renting woes. Give them the middle finger and move. It's not worth it.
  - anothergoogler 8y ago
    Availability and pay of tech jobs is a sore spot for Charlotte and Chattanooga. I'd enjoy living in either (especially for the high quality internet service in Chattanooga), but employers have major leverage in these places. I don't consider full-time remote employment an acceptable alternative.
    - jimmy1 8y ago
      > Availability and pay of tech jobs is a sore spot for Charlotte and Chattanooga ? I live in Charlotte, and there is no shortage of 90-135k$ salaried jobs with full benefits, especially if you code in C# or Java. That salary range is _more_ than enough for the house of your dreams, and the ability to be the sole provider for your family if you wish, (however being a DINK is pretty fun, too). For comparison, I have heard 90k in Charlotte is like 135k in NYC and 150k in the bay area.
      - anothergoogler 8y ago
        A quick Stackoverflow job search shows seven postings in the past month. Two of them are what I would consider regular software engineering jobs. That's horrific to somebody who's worked in a healthy job market where, after a layoff, you can land another good job in a matter of days. Also there's the matter of career fulfillment. In Charlotte, you can either work for a startup for 60-90k or a soul-grinding finance job (or similar) if you want more. There aren't many of the former positions either. RTP is a much better proposition in that part of the country. Similar cost of living and a real software industry.

AnsisMalins 8y ago

Who is replacing you?

perfmode 8y ago
people willing to spend 50% of their pay on housing
- AnsisMalins 8y ago
  So, people who are more desperate rather than more rich?
  - perfmode 8y ago
    yes, but probably a combination of both
- briandear 8y ago
  And people willing to have 3 roommates.
- VonGuard 8y ago
  Been here 20 years, have done this almost the entire time...
  - anonymous5133 8y ago
    Thats not something to be bragging about...
    - d1zzy 8y ago
      It really depends what the absolute value of the remaining 50% is. If it's <=$2k/month then yeah, that's pretty bad. If it's $5k/month then you can still live a very nice life and afford many things, in the Bay Area. Don't forget, products bought online still cost the same anywhere in the US (well, almost, there's sales tax involved). I think people get way too caught up in "oh but I pay <insert large percentage> on housing, that's terrible". It doesn't matter. What matters is how much money you have left after having to pay for rent/mortgage, food, car lease/insurance/registration/gas and utilities. If that amount of money allows you to go to restaurants, go on world trips, buy the latest gadgets/hardware then who cares. I feel that people complain about this because they imagine some kind of unrealistic scenario "oh, I make $150k/year, imagine how much I would be saving if my rent/mortgage wasn't %50 of my income". Newsflash: rent and mortgages are that high _because_ you (and many others like you) make that amount of money, so pick your poison :) Of course, it's a completely different situation for most people that aren't working as engineers for tech companies in the area...
      - jimbofisher1 8y ago
        Rents/Real Estate costs in the Bay Area are artificially inflated because of zoning laws, nimbyism and general lack of supply.
        perfmode 8y ago
        this. this excessive rent expenditure is landing straight into the pockets of the lucky few who own the land.

kcorbitt 8y ago

That's surprising to me -- Craigslist shows a number of 1BR places around Oakland in the $1500-$2000 range. Which is still crazy expensive in an absolute sense, granted, but should be reasonably affordable for a single person with a 6-figure income.

closeparen 8y ago
Deep East Oakland is one of the most dangerous places in the country. It’s on a whole other level from an iffy gentrifying area like SOMA. It’s something you just don’t mess with. $1500-$2000 in one of Oakland’s more acceptable areas is likely fraudulent, or is actually advertising a room and not an apartment.
- elipsey 8y ago
  Where is deep east Oakland? can you give me a landmark?
  - aphextron 8y ago
    >Where is deep east Oakland? can you give me a landmark? Fruitvale
    - e40 8y ago
      No, that's not it. Further south from Fruitvale. Anywhere near the Oakland Coliseum BART station. And south from that BART station is ground zero. There are areas over there that the police won't go to without SWAT and a large presence.
  - jd3289y8 8y ago
    Everything east of 73rd and south of MacArthur (i.e. Eastmont Mall).
- stmfreak 8y ago
  What's wrong with a room for a single person with six figure salary?

temporaryacc62 8y ago

Shouldn't employers provide Japanese style sleeping capsules for employees at that point? Or can they keep up wages with the increasing cost of living?

thedirt0115 8y ago
That's how you end up with the factory-campus style places like the iPhone factories in China where the workers basically never leave. On a more serious note, though, some employers do want to build housing near their headquarters (such as Google, for example), but are blocked by city councils. From what I read here, it sounds like you can't put up new housing anywhere near SF.
- anonymous5133 8y ago
  Ive always suggested that the tech companies need to just start setting up satellite campuses in the central valley. Plenty of cheap housing out there.
- nradov 8y ago
  The Mountain View City council approved Google's proposal to build company housing near their HQ. https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/12/googles-massive-housing-and-office-plan-poised-for-approval/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/12/googles-massive-housi...
  - DrScump 8y ago
    ... on the Bay side of 101. Only two roads get you over 101, and they are jammed during commute hours.
raitom 8y ago
There was something like that in North of France last century. The coal mining companies constructed a lot of houses for their employees (wikipedia page, in french https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coron_(urbanisme) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coron_(urbanisme)). It's definitely not bad. It provided poor miners with a decent place to live. Today a lot of them are still here, renovated and retired miners still live in them, most of them for free (my grandparents for example).

bartozone 8y ago

If your apartment in Oakland was built before 1976, it's rent controlled and that's definitely illegal. Even if there wasn't a former lease, they can't raise the rent by more than a certain amount, often less than 1%.

massaman_yams 8y ago
Hasn't been below 1% since 2009. http://rapwp.oaklandnet.com/issues/rent-increase/ http://rapwp.oaklandnet.com/issues/rent-increase/
samcheng 8y ago
The poster mentioned '3 bedrooms' which I'm guessing means a single-family residence. Houses are exempt from rent control.
aphextron 8y ago
I also found that specific 1976 law when he brought up the rent increase, but it turns out my building was built in the 80's. I don't necessarily agree with rent control anyways, and I'm not angry at the landlord for wanting to earn market rate on his property. It's just really exhausting to live somewhere like this.
- sjg007 8y ago
  Same thing happened to us but on the peninsula. I got tired of moving so we left for a stable housing market.
  - lisper 8y ago
    Where did you find a stable housing market?

liveoneggs 8y ago

Move to Atlanta.

jimmy1 8y ago
Or Charlotte. Or RTP. Or Austin. Or Phoenix. Or Chattanooga. Or all the other various wonderful places to have satisfying lives and careers and not pay astronomical rent. Seriously getting sick of hearing about the renting woes. Give them the middle finger and move. It's not worth it.
- anothergoogler 8y ago
  Availability and pay of tech jobs is a sore spot for Charlotte and Chattanooga. I'd enjoy living in either (especially for the high quality internet service in Chattanooga), but employers have major leverage in these places. I don't consider full-time remote employment an acceptable alternative.
  - jimmy1 8y ago
    > Availability and pay of tech jobs is a sore spot for Charlotte and Chattanooga ? I live in Charlotte, and there is no shortage of 90-135k$ salaried jobs with full benefits, especially if you code in C# or Java. That salary range is _more_ than enough for the house of your dreams, and the ability to be the sole provider for your family if you wish, (however being a DINK is pretty fun, too). For comparison, I have heard 90k in Charlotte is like 135k in NYC and 150k in the bay area.
    - anothergoogler 8y ago
      A quick Stackoverflow job search shows seven postings in the past month. Two of them are what I would consider regular software engineering jobs. That's horrific to somebody who's worked in a healthy job market where, after a layoff, you can land another good job in a matter of days. Also there's the matter of career fulfillment. In Charlotte, you can either work for a startup for 60-90k or a soul-grinding finance job (or similar) if you want more. There aren't many of the former positions either. RTP is a much better proposition in that part of the country. Similar cost of living and a real software industry.