

As rents rise, struggling tenants face uncertain future   - Cookingboy
http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=7235

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cpncrunch
It just doesn't make sense to be earning minimum wage and spending $1400/month
to live in a 1-bed apartment. There are cheaper places to live elsewhere that
are safe to live where you can earn similar wages.

~~~
solarmist
True, sure they could move to Idaho or Montana, but many people have roots and
strong family ties, which bind them to a small geographic area, so to them
leaving simply isn't an option to them anymore than going and living on the
moon would be (and I mean that almost literally). I have an uncle that's never
left the state and considers a "city" an hour away an exotic location.

For example 46% of midwesterners live in the same community their entire life
([http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/Movers-and-
Stayers....](http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/Movers-and-
Stayers.pdf)), even though many of them could probably move elsewhere when the
finish school (HS, Tech, College, Uni, etc.) and get much better jobs than
they could locally.

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gfunk911
Don't live in Mountain View. Moving sucks, but there's no other options.
Living in MV isn't a right.

~~~
solarmist
What a harsh point of view. When does that cycle end?

Now they can't live in MV, next they won't be able to get on the list in East
Palo Alto because it's too long already, soon they'll be living in South San
Jose or Morgan Hill, but their job is still in MV, so now they're spending
three hours a day commuting each way and can't spend time with their
family/children at all.

And every time they move they're forced into lower and lower quality
neighborhoods, exposing their children to more violence and illegal activity
because at that level of living the risk/reward level for legitimate work
starts tipping to make crime more attractive even if they dislike the idea.

There's a lot of major social issues that become very difficult/intractable
when entire regions undergo gentrification.

~~~
tsotha
>Now they can't live in MV, next they won't be able to get on the list in East
Palo Alto because it's too long already, soon they'll be living in South San
Jose or Morgan Hill, but their job is still in MV, so now they're spending
three hours a day commuting each way and can't spend time with their
family/children at all.

If you're working a minimum wage job you can move literally anywhere and get
another just like it. There's no reason to commute.

