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I don't understand this "tech elite" nonsense. I make nearly 200k a year, and can't afford a house in San Francisco nor the Peninsula. I actually live in Hayw

I don't understand this "tech elite" nonsense. I make nearly 200k a year, and can't afford a house in San Francisco nor the Peninsula. I actually live in Hayward. Even though I suppose I could spend half my take-home on rent in those places, I'd rather not be doing this shit till the day I die... I do not feel elite by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, Benioff with his billions is elite... but us workers, we are middle class. I would argue not even upper middle class for this area.

bherms 13y ago
While I do agree with you (I'm living in SF making slightly above avg backend eng salary and feel broke all the time with rent, living expenses, student loans, and etc), you have to realize there are tons of people living in the bay area (even in SF itself) making $60k or less. Imagine living on that salary here. But you're right, a lot of the vitriol is designated at us -- who appear extremely wealthy because so many of us are flooding the area and pushing others out of houses -- when we're really not elite or rich by any means.
nilkn 13y ago
If you feel that way with $200k/year, how would you feel with $50k? You are somewhat wealthy in comparison. A rule of thumb I've heard is that most people can't understand or identify with the financial concerns of anybody with an income in excess of three times their own. You're definitely in that "3x higher" class compared to a ton of people in the Bay Area.
- pyrrhotech 13y ago
  $50k is lower middle class in this area. I didn't say that wouldn't suck. I said that I am by no means elite. Nor upper middle class. Upper middle class people can at least afford to pick a reasonable 3/2 house in an area with good schools. I can't do that. Elite people can have mansions and multiple homes and they don't need to work. They aren't the techies riding the WiFi shuttles to work. No engineer is elite.
  - nilkn 13y ago
    I don't agree with most of those statements. You're not in a small rural or even medium sized town. San Francisco is one of the most popular cities in the US and the world. Even very wealthy people generally make sacrifices to live there. What you lose in square feet you make up for in location. That's the whole point of cities. It doesn't make sense to treat San Francisco as if it were a town of 100k people where everybody lives in houses, because it's not. The traditional metrics (middle class = 3/2 house with a yard) do not apply to cities like Manhattan and San Francisco. I also don't think it's right to ignore your buying power relative to the rest of the US. Maybe you only have a downpayment for a San Francisco condo, but that might suffice for you to pay cash for a house in many somewhat affluent suburban communities throughout the country. Social classes are nationwide strata--you can't lose focus by literally looking at a single city and deciding that you're middle class or lower just because you're not a multimillionaire.

bherms 13y ago

While I do agree with you (I'm living in SF making slightly above avg backend eng salary and feel broke all the time with rent, living expenses, student loans, and etc), you have to realize there are tons of people living in the bay area (even in SF itself) making $60k or less. Imagine living on that salary here. But you're right, a lot of the vitriol is designated at us -- who appear extremely wealthy because so many of us are flooding the area and pushing others out of houses -- when we're really not elite or rich by any means.

nilkn 13y ago

If you feel that way with $200k/year, how would you feel with $50k? You are somewhat wealthy in comparison. A rule of thumb I've heard is that most people can't understand or identify with the financial concerns of anybody with an income in excess of three times their own. You're definitely in that "3x higher" class compared to a ton of people in the Bay Area.

pyrrhotech 13y ago
$50k is lower middle class in this area. I didn't say that wouldn't suck. I said that I am by no means elite. Nor upper middle class. Upper middle class people can at least afford to pick a reasonable 3/2 house in an area with good schools. I can't do that. Elite people can have mansions and multiple homes and they don't need to work. They aren't the techies riding the WiFi shuttles to work. No engineer is elite.
- nilkn 13y ago
  I don't agree with most of those statements. You're not in a small rural or even medium sized town. San Francisco is one of the most popular cities in the US and the world. Even very wealthy people generally make sacrifices to live there. What you lose in square feet you make up for in location. That's the whole point of cities. It doesn't make sense to treat San Francisco as if it were a town of 100k people where everybody lives in houses, because it's not. The traditional metrics (middle class = 3/2 house with a yard) do not apply to cities like Manhattan and San Francisco. I also don't think it's right to ignore your buying power relative to the rest of the US. Maybe you only have a downpayment for a San Francisco condo, but that might suffice for you to pay cash for a house in many somewhat affluent suburban communities throughout the country. Social classes are nationwide strata--you can't lose focus by literally looking at a single city and deciding that you're middle class or lower just because you're not a multimillionaire.