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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,

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?
  - closeparen 8y ago
    In a normal city, that lifestyle is dirt cheap. As in, your total spending could be under $15k/year. That frees up a whole lot of possibilities beyond a $100k/year bachelors-degreed corporate 9-5. Grad school, skipping college altogether, the arts industry, the nonprofit sector, part-time work, etc. all become feasible. And if you do go for a high-end white collar gig, your savings percentage is ludicrous - you could very quickly get the point of sustaining the same lifestyle on investment income alone. If you can tolerate strangers in your kitchen and living room, it's rarely the optimal move to pursue that lifestyle at a high-stress white-collar job in an expensive area, where it's merely prudent. Do it in the sort of place where it's liberating. I'd also guess that people making the tradeoffs necessary to land at a $100k job are motivated, at least in part, by the desire to live better than this. People who made those tradeoffs during a less severe phase of the housing crisis are feeling a little cheated right about now. Are they the most sympathetic victims in the world? Of course not. They'll be fine. The market will adjust - Bay Area companies will pay more, or have a harder time hiring as word gets around about what those job offers really entail. But it takes time for those cultural memes to propagate - just like it took a while for the general public to catch on that law school is no longer a meal ticket - and people caught up in that latency are going to be a little pissed as the material conditions that their oh-so-alluring "$100k" can buy get worse and worse every year. As an aside, $1500-$2000 is a lot to pay for a room in Oakland. You'd expect to be in SF for that. Out south and west (towards Daly City) rooms can be $1200 or even $1000.
aphextron 8y ago
Have you tried showing up to one of these listing's open houses? Good luck.
acchow 8y ago
These are fraudulent postings.
stmfreak 8y ago
People always set undisclosed criteria on "I cannot afford" statements. The problem isn't unsustainable rents, the problem is renting the size of place you want, in the location you think you deserve, at the price you (and everybody else) wants to pay.

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?
- closeparen 8y ago
  In a normal city, that lifestyle is dirt cheap. As in, your total spending could be under $15k/year. That frees up a whole lot of possibilities beyond a $100k/year bachelors-degreed corporate 9-5. Grad school, skipping college altogether, the arts industry, the nonprofit sector, part-time work, etc. all become feasible. And if you do go for a high-end white collar gig, your savings percentage is ludicrous - you could very quickly get the point of sustaining the same lifestyle on investment income alone. If you can tolerate strangers in your kitchen and living room, it's rarely the optimal move to pursue that lifestyle at a high-stress white-collar job in an expensive area, where it's merely prudent. Do it in the sort of place where it's liberating. I'd also guess that people making the tradeoffs necessary to land at a $100k job are motivated, at least in part, by the desire to live better than this. People who made those tradeoffs during a less severe phase of the housing crisis are feeling a little cheated right about now. Are they the most sympathetic victims in the world? Of course not. They'll be fine. The market will adjust - Bay Area companies will pay more, or have a harder time hiring as word gets around about what those job offers really entail. But it takes time for those cultural memes to propagate - just like it took a while for the general public to catch on that law school is no longer a meal ticket - and people caught up in that latency are going to be a little pissed as the material conditions that their oh-so-alluring "$100k" can buy get worse and worse every year. As an aside, $1500-$2000 is a lot to pay for a room in Oakland. You'd expect to be in SF for that. Out south and west (towards Daly City) rooms can be $1200 or even $1000.

aphextron 8y ago

Have you tried showing up to one of these listing's open houses? Good luck.

acchow 8y ago

These are fraudulent postings.

stmfreak 8y ago

People always set undisclosed criteria on "I cannot afford" statements. The problem isn't unsustainable rents, the problem is renting the size of place you want, in the location you think you deserve, at the price you (and everybody else) wants to pay.