Having living here for about 5 years I originally had the same thought but I've realized that this is an overstatement. San Francisco is actually quite a beaut

Having living here for about 5 years I originally had the same thought but I've realized that this is an overstatement. San Francisco is actually quite a beautiful city in many respects, especially in the more northern parts of the city. The weather is usually quite nice. There is (was?) a really good restaurant scene with pretty good cuisine in pretty much any category you could want. There's great nightlife, with a strong music scene, good theater and some great museums. It's also proximate to a bunch of really cool areas (Tahoe, Napa/Sonoma, Marin). I think there are genuinely a lot of people who really enjoy living here. That said, there are also a ton of folks that are effectively forced to be here for work and would leave if they could. I think there are enough of these folks that want to leave that if they could, it could have a pretty sizeable impact on the rental market and the whole economy. Remember that not everyone has to leave. Even a 10% outflow could potentially tip the balance back towards a real estate market crash (or at least a correction).