5 ms·

Why would the Bay Area grow so much in the next decade? Now that remote working is becoming more normal, and considering the cost of living in the Bay Area, why

Why would the Bay Area grow so much in the next decade? Now that remote working is becoming more normal, and considering the cost of living in the Bay Area, why would that many people want to move there? There are plenty of other places with comparable natural beauty, vibrant communities, cultural resources, etc.

voidfunc 5y ago
Start naming those other places and we will tell you why they are not viable or comparable. If there are so many it should be easy.
- smohare 5y ago
  I bet those other places are 115 Fahrenheit right now.
  - nitrogen 5y ago
    And/or the people already in them are trying to keep them secret lest they gain all the problems people are fleeing from in the first place.
  - wavefunction 5y ago
    If those places can suddenly hit 115F then so can the Bay Area. I am not saying it is likely but who would have said it is likely that Portland would hit 115.
    - TaylorAlexander 5y ago
      It’s true in general. What really surprised me though was the recent/current heat wave across all of the west coast - it has been foggy and cool the entire time in the Bay Area. I hope that holds even as the climate changes, though I don’t know if it will.
- Der_Einzige 5y ago
  Uhh, Portland or Seattle? They're political similar, economically as similar as you'll get (silicon forest in Hillsboro and Seattle's whole tech scene rivals SF), and geographically similar in terms of climate to parts of the bay area.
  - Bud 5y ago
    Neither Portland nor Seattle can match the Bay Area in terms of overall culture. Neither has a world-class orchestra or opera, to say nothing of the early-music scene in the Bay Area, which is easily the best in the US. Neither measures up to the Bay Area in the art scene, either. Or the restaurant scene. Or the wine scene. Neither comes very close in terms of climate, although that argument is muted lately due to California being on fire for 4 months out of each year now. But Portland and Seattle are already experiencing their own climate-change-related impacts. And no, neither measures up economically either. Comparing the tech industry in Portland or Seattle to the Bay Area (Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and basically all of the startup scene) is a joke. I could go on, but really, there is no competition.
    - clairity 5y ago
      that sounds like the koolaid talking. while SF offers a lot of "culture", portland and seattle have great "scenes" too. restaurants in both cities easily rival those of SF, which tend to be long on cost and short on flavor. but in CA, LA outdoes SF for food, weather, art, music, entertainment, fashion, and shopping, with a more diverse (not tech-centric) economy to boot.
      - Bud 5y ago
        Los Angeles wasn't part of the comparison, however. The question was about housing values and why they'd be so much higher in SF than in Portland or Seattle. And speaking as an experienced professional musician who has performed a lot in both places, I'd take the Bay Area over LA, at least for classical music, overall.
    - UpsilonAlpha 5y ago
- rcpt 5y ago
  Singapore, Shenzhen to start. If we blow it in the US there are plenty of people ready to work for TikTok or whatever other overseas company takes over. Though I am surprised NYC doesn't have more tech jobs
  - azemetre 5y ago
    NYC has a lot of software jobs, it's just not dominated by a single industry. If you mean exclusively tech, maybe yeah.
jeffbee 5y ago
For the same reason the Bay Area has been growing for the last 50 years: the birth rate is still close to 2 and longevity is still expanding.
Ericson2314 5y ago
I don't think remote work would become that common fast enough. Even if it did, remote-work-driven sprawl would be terrible for humanity. We should still congregate for environmental reasons, whether that means 5 story walkable towns, or 20 story city. No where does SFH fit in the picture. Li-on will not save us.
zip1234 5y ago
Part of the reason for the cost of living there is the cost of housing being high because of artificially restricted supply. Why live there? Plentiful jobs and mild weather seem like good enough reasons.

voidfunc 5y ago

Start naming those other places and we will tell you why they are not viable or comparable. If there are so many it should be easy.

smohare 5y ago
I bet those other places are 115 Fahrenheit right now.
- nitrogen 5y ago
  And/or the people already in them are trying to keep them secret lest they gain all the problems people are fleeing from in the first place.
- wavefunction 5y ago
  If those places can suddenly hit 115F then so can the Bay Area. I am not saying it is likely but who would have said it is likely that Portland would hit 115.
  - TaylorAlexander 5y ago
    It’s true in general. What really surprised me though was the recent/current heat wave across all of the west coast - it has been foggy and cool the entire time in the Bay Area. I hope that holds even as the climate changes, though I don’t know if it will.
Der_Einzige 5y ago
Uhh, Portland or Seattle? They're political similar, economically as similar as you'll get (silicon forest in Hillsboro and Seattle's whole tech scene rivals SF), and geographically similar in terms of climate to parts of the bay area.
- Bud 5y ago
  Neither Portland nor Seattle can match the Bay Area in terms of overall culture. Neither has a world-class orchestra or opera, to say nothing of the early-music scene in the Bay Area, which is easily the best in the US. Neither measures up to the Bay Area in the art scene, either. Or the restaurant scene. Or the wine scene. Neither comes very close in terms of climate, although that argument is muted lately due to California being on fire for 4 months out of each year now. But Portland and Seattle are already experiencing their own climate-change-related impacts. And no, neither measures up economically either. Comparing the tech industry in Portland or Seattle to the Bay Area (Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and basically all of the startup scene) is a joke. I could go on, but really, there is no competition.
  - clairity 5y ago
    that sounds like the koolaid talking. while SF offers a lot of "culture", portland and seattle have great "scenes" too. restaurants in both cities easily rival those of SF, which tend to be long on cost and short on flavor. but in CA, LA outdoes SF for food, weather, art, music, entertainment, fashion, and shopping, with a more diverse (not tech-centric) economy to boot.
    - Bud 5y ago
      Los Angeles wasn't part of the comparison, however. The question was about housing values and why they'd be so much higher in SF than in Portland or Seattle. And speaking as an experienced professional musician who has performed a lot in both places, I'd take the Bay Area over LA, at least for classical music, overall.
  - UpsilonAlpha 5y ago
rcpt 5y ago
Singapore, Shenzhen to start. If we blow it in the US there are plenty of people ready to work for TikTok or whatever other overseas company takes over. Though I am surprised NYC doesn't have more tech jobs
- azemetre 5y ago
  NYC has a lot of software jobs, it's just not dominated by a single industry. If you mean exclusively tech, maybe yeah.

jeffbee 5y ago

For the same reason the Bay Area has been growing for the last 50 years: the birth rate is still close to 2 and longevity is still expanding.

Ericson2314 5y ago

I don't think remote work would become that common fast enough. Even if it did, remote-work-driven sprawl would be terrible for humanity. We should still congregate for environmental reasons, whether that means 5 story walkable towns, or 20 story city. No where does SFH fit in the picture. Li-on will not save us.

zip1234 5y ago

Part of the reason for the cost of living there is the cost of housing being high because of artificially restricted supply. Why live there? Plentiful jobs and mild weather seem like good enough reasons.