3 ms·

Much of my extended family is from the Bay Area, mostly circa the North end of the Golden Gate Bridge. My experience is that food is meaningfully more expensive

Much of my extended family is from the Bay Area, mostly circa the North end of the Golden Gate Bridge. My experience is that food is meaningfully more expensive in the Bay Area, whether eating out or eating in. Transport does cost me more. I estimate my vehicle's ongoing TCO amounts to ~$250/month (purchase, registration, gas, repairs, insurance, etc.). (It's also worth noting that having a lower monthly TCO for a vehicle than me is possible. The math on an acquaintance's used vehicle brings TCO to ~ $150/month barring major repairs, with him driving more than me.) And of course if you have a fancier car it's more expensive. So far as "housing costs" go, my total home costs (homeowners insurance, utilities, property taxes, internet, etc.) are less than half yours even treating my mortgage payment/home equity as a total loss. Which is to say cost of living is drastically more expensive in the Bay Area. But more pertinent to your comment, car ownership is not cheap, but the difference in housing costs between SF and elsewhere is massively more than the cost of operating a vehicle. Likewise, if I wanted a 2 Bed/ 2 Bath place like mine or a similar flat in SF, I think it'd be more like $4k/month. So while I do agree it's possible to live in SF for maybe less than you'd expect, it's still very expensive. That last time I did the math on it, supposedly ~$85k where I am in Arizona was about equivalent to ~$120k in the SF Bay Area, but the SF Bay Area seemed like it'd have lower quality of life. (Though maybe going carless would help more than I think with QoL.) And in general there's sort of a pattern, where at every pay level SF Bay Area has to increase pay by more to match elsewhere for less.

cheese4242 7y ago
Agree with all your points. I call shenanigans on people who say the cost of food/eating out is similar in SF to other cities. Eating out in SF is much more expensive. While there is great food to be had there, there is just as much mediocre fare which you will still be charged an arm and a leg for. Also the lack of proper cooking space in a tiny apartment means that many will be tempted to eat out more often versus cooking for themselves. Similarly, cost to run my vehicle is around ~$200 a month and provides me great freedom and flexibility to get around and take trips out of the city when I want to. When comparing cost of housing, I notice people always compare the cost of a tiny apartment (usually with roommates) with the cost of a much nicer apartment/house to oneself in a LoC area. Rent a small studio or apartment with roommates and your rent cost in a LoC can get into the sub $300 range easily. I knew many people renting shared spaces for $100-150 while in college. Live wherever you want (different strokes for different folks and all that) but I feel people in these discussions are often not being completely forthright in their comparisons. I've crunched the numbers quite a few times, outside of a hotshot FAANG job it just doesn't make sense $$ wise compared to my salary/location now despite what many on HN insist. I'd have to downgrade my standard of living drastically for it to even begin to make sense.

cheese4242 7y ago

Agree with all your points. I call shenanigans on people who say the cost of food/eating out is similar in SF to other cities. Eating out in SF is much more expensive. While there is great food to be had there, there is just as much mediocre fare which you will still be charged an arm and a leg for. Also the lack of proper cooking space in a tiny apartment means that many will be tempted to eat out more often versus cooking for themselves. Similarly, cost to run my vehicle is around ~$200 a month and provides me great freedom and flexibility to get around and take trips out of the city when I want to. When comparing cost of housing, I notice people always compare the cost of a tiny apartment (usually with roommates) with the cost of a much nicer apartment/house to oneself in a LoC area. Rent a small studio or apartment with roommates and your rent cost in a LoC can get into the sub $300 range easily. I knew many people renting shared spaces for $100-150 while in college. Live wherever you want (different strokes for different folks and all that) but I feel people in these discussions are often not being completely forthright in their comparisons. I've crunched the numbers quite a few times, outside of a hotshot FAANG job it just doesn't make sense $$ wise compared to my salary/location now despite what many on HN insist. I'd have to downgrade my standard of living drastically for it to even begin to make sense.