
Residents increasingly unhappy with Bay Area life, new poll finds - Reedx
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/04/residents-increasingly-are-unhappy-with-bay-area-life-new-poll-finds/
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jedberg
I wonder how many of the respondents rent vs own. It seems to be that _mostly_
owners are happy with how things are going and renters are not (for obvious
reasons). However, since owners have all the power, they prevent any decent
solution from getting approved.

When I go to meetings with my fellow homeowners, I'm literally the only one
advocating for additional housing. All the other owners "want to keep things
like they've been", which is code for only large single family homes for rich
people.

I'm fine with my property value dropping as more housing is built. None of my
neighbors agree with me.

~~~
JohnJamesRambo
I assume no matter if you rent or own you don’t enjoy stepping on feces and
syringes.

~~~
r00fus
This is an SF thing - that kind of environment simply doesn’t exist outside
the city to my knowledge.

The rest of the Bay Area still deals with teachers and service workers unable
to live without a lot of assistance due to really high real estate and rents.
My local school district lost a dozen teachers and aides last 2 years due to
this.

~~~
masonic

      that kind of environment simply doesn’t exist outside of SF
    

And L.A.... and San Jose... and Oakland... and Hayward...

~~~
p_l
Don't forget East Palo Alto.

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DoreenMichele
California has been exporting "poor" people for years. The Good Life that well
paid folks in the state expect basically requires a servant class that can't
actually afford to live there.

[https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article136478098.html](https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article136478098.html)

~~~
shsyejehxtd
The real plot twist when California finally manages to manifest its rail
expansions will be that it was all just a plan to enable ultra long distance
commutes from Oregon.

~~~
DoreenMichele
Last I read, planned high speed rail was from SF to LA through Fresno. Fresno
is relatively affordable for the state.

For your plot to come to life they need to be creating high speed rail north
from SF, not south. But if they do, I wouldn't actually be surprised by that
as an outcome.

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tick_tock_tick
I get pessimistic because I've lost all faith in the city of San Francisco's
politicians to solve problems. So many issues are self inflicted and I just
keep seeing signs of corruptions or gross incompetence everywhere.

Maybe it will get better; I'm kinda of excited to ride the T extension in
2025.

~~~
inferiorhuman
_Maybe it will get better; I 'm kinda of excited to ride the T extension in
2025. _

Why? The T is an excellent case study in shittacular urban planning. The above
ground T cut a vital link between BHVP and City College, fueled real estate
speculation, and black flight. It doesn't go far enough (e.g. North Beach,
Crissy Field) and the city has made it essentially impossible to extend. The
extension is astronomically expensive and has been gimped ostensibly to save
costs. What is being built are tiny platforms that can only support short
trains, no express tracks, nada. There's zero room for expansion and it's
basically going to be at capacity when it opens. The plan, last time I checked
a loong time ago, was to gut the 30 and other surface routes to fund the
underground operations so it's not like subway really represents additional
capacity.

I assume you weren't around in 2007 when the T opened and shit hit the fan.
Muni/SFMTA (whatever you want to call them these days) used all the new
streetcars meant for T service to make up for abysmal dispatch reliability.
Service along the other lines was an utter disaster. We're almost guaranteed
to see similar problems in addition to whatever fresh hell beta testing the
new subway infrastructure will bring.

~~~
tick_tock_tick
I meant it as a joke it's supposed to finish in 2021, just a couple of years
late, so I figure it might work by 2025.

But yeah the T is an embarrassment.

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nlp_1
Prop 47, they forgot to mention that. These poor criminals shouldn't be
punished for stealing everything and from everyone.

~~~
taborj
Those are just Socialism scouts, paving the way for the day when everyone
forcibly shares everything.

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housingthrow0
Living in SF doesn't seem sustainable. I'm one of the lucky ones making
$175k/year living with 9 housemates. Refusal to build more housing to meet
demand is cruel. Combined with multi-hour commutes and stepping around
homeless people and their needles and feces makes you wonder how this all
ends.

~~~
throwawaymath
Is this hyperbole?

~~~
housingthrow0
Unfortunately not. Hoping to go remote asap.

~~~
throwawaymath
You earn $175k per year and have to live with nine other people?

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godot
I'm not the person you're replying to but if you actually wanted to live by
yourself in SF you could easily spend anywhere between $3500-5000 on rent.
Even at a $175k salary that's more or less half of your post-tax pay monthly.
For sure that's still livable, but may not make financial sense. Staying with
a few housemates take that monthly cost down to $1500-2000 which allows for
much more savings, so eventually you could buy a house (maybe somewhere else
outside of the bay!). 9 housemates is a bit extreme though.

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bm3719
When is it time to ask some fundamental questions about the end state of the
political philosophy that produces such aggregate outcomes?

~~~
taborj
Careful, you'll get labeled and ridiculed, or worse.

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t34543
Bay Area life is terrible. I earn a good living but between high taxes, high
rents, and abysmal commutes it’s just not worth it.

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RickJWagner
It's crazy. The Bay Area used to be probably the most desirable place in the
world. Now it's descended into something much, much worse.

It's hard to see how the descent can stop. Short of very firm "cleanup"
measures, things will probably get worse. But a great many of the citizens
would oppose such measures.

I usually see things in a positive light, but this is a hard one. I'd love to
be wrong and see the Bay Area thriving in 20 years.

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mikorym
I understand the cost of living issues, and appreciate efforts that try to
improve things. Having said that, California is an amazing place with more
opportunities that almost any other place. I definitely think that people
there have the ability to solve these problems.

~~~
s3r3nity
>more opportunities that almost any other place

Not true anymore - you can find a great job that probably treats you much
better in virtually 48* other states.

I understand the tech bubble _wants_ you to think that any/all opportunity is
localized in one specific place, but that's just naive and absurd.

*Except probably NY or NJ...because I personally really don't like NYC and it's fun to hate on Jersey...

~~~
mikorym
Sorry, I should have mentioned that I am not from the US.

