The problem is that you're trying to own a house in a city. That's not the goal of city living. Nor is car ownership. In cities like SF and NYC, you should expe

The problem is that you're trying to own a house in a city. That's not the goal of city living. Nor is car ownership. In cities like SF and NYC, you should expect to rent forever while raising a family if you refuse to move to a cheaper COL area. For reference, I live in NYC with a partner, kid and dog. The problem arises when you have more than one kid and need more than 2 bedrooms. That's when single income can't afford a bigger apartment, and dual income can't afford double daycare. The kids will always share a bedroom. (I grew up in a family of five sharing one bedroom. Parents slept in living room) The best you can hope for is to space them out so you never have to pay for double daycare: the new one is born when the old one starts free public school. But then you're at the whim of the quality of public schools.