4 ms·

Well, it's not that others made "bad" decisions, they just made a different decision (to not pursue a tech job). Tech jobs aren't the only jobs that hold value;

Well, it's not that others made "bad" decisions, they just made a different decision (to not pursue a tech job). Tech jobs aren't the only jobs that hold value; someone has to make the coffee, repair the buildings, do the dry cleaning, run the restaurant, do the accounting, etc. The choice to pursue a career as a mechanic or plumber or electrician or whatever else isn't a "bad" decision - those jobs are necessary and thus we need people to do them. SF is a city and has the same needs as any other city, which means it needs people to meet all those needs. You can't have a city with just wealthy tech people because then no one's going to come over to fix the plumbing. Wealthy tech companies are growing, hiring more talent, and paying them lots of money; this means that housing demands go up (from the people they're importing from other cities/states/countries) which leads to increased prices (specifically because you now have more demand from a group of customers that can afford to pay higher prices than everyone else). Now, all of a sudden, people who aren't as nicely compensated at their jobs can no longer afford to live in the city they work. The issue is that the city still needs those people - regardless of what wealthy people think.

revicon 13y ago
> SF is a city and has the same needs as any other > city, which means it needs people to meet all > those needs. You can't have a city with just > wealthy tech people because then no one's going > to come over to fix the plumbing. If this is the case, it would be factored into the market. If there are no plumbers available to work in San Francisco, then no one would want to live there as they can't get their plumbing fixed. If there are no baristas in San Francisco, then no one would want to live there because there would be no coffee shops. Coffee shops aren't closing in the mission, quite the opposite, more are opening all the time, selling expensive coffee to tech people and providing barista jobs to baristas. Now for it to make sense for the barista to work at these coffee shops he or she needs to be able to live within commutable distance of the coffee shop. If there is no one within commutable distance willing to work for what the coffee shop is willing to pay, the coffee shop has to pay more and raise prices. If coffee prices go up so much that people hate living in SF because of it, then rental prices will go down because people will move away.

revicon 13y ago

> SF is a city and has the same needs as any other > city, which means it needs people to meet all > those needs. You can't have a city with just > wealthy tech people because then no one's going > to come over to fix the plumbing. If this is the case, it would be factored into the market. If there are no plumbers available to work in San Francisco, then no one would want to live there as they can't get their plumbing fixed. If there are no baristas in San Francisco, then no one would want to live there because there would be no coffee shops. Coffee shops aren't closing in the mission, quite the opposite, more are opening all the time, selling expensive coffee to tech people and providing barista jobs to baristas. Now for it to make sense for the barista to work at these coffee shops he or she needs to be able to live within commutable distance of the coffee shop. If there is no one within commutable distance willing to work for what the coffee shop is willing to pay, the coffee shop has to pay more and raise prices. If coffee prices go up so much that people hate living in SF because of it, then rental prices will go down because people will move away.