But here's the thing: SV still needs 7-11 clerks, still needs fast food workers, still needs coffee baristas, and still needs all of those lower income positions. Automation is nowhere near eliminating all of those positions yet. So if all those people left, where would those businesses hire from?
If more people said "F* this, I don't want to live out of my car" and then drove away to someplace cheaper, business owners would have to raise wages to attract people to either stay or move to the area.
What I'm interested is why has the equilibrium been established where people who aren't making enough to have a decent standard of living choose to stay there.
These articles always find insane numbers. People pack into apartments and houses before leaving. I lived in Santa Clara right near the Caltrain tracks, which is in no way a ghetto area. But 2-3 bedroom apartments frequently had 4 or more cars and ~2-4 adults and 1-2 kids. Our apartment was a 3 bedroom 2 bath and was 2500 and we had 3 of us and 3 cars. This was my first apartment after college with two friends, was cheap for me as a junior dev.
They'd pay more for what's left. The customers would in turn pay more. It'd be a crisis then apparently, but one the hiring class could subvert through higher wages across the board.
