Posted on 02/27/2006 7:35:12 AM PST by SmithL
Two out of five residents of the nine-county region have given serious thought to moving away -- mostly because of high housing costs, according to a survey released today by a business and public policy group.
The Bay Area Council's annual poll found that concerns about housing ranked as the region's second-most-vexing problem, behind transportation woes.
Even with some recent cooling in the local housing market, the price for a middle-of-the-road single-family home hovers around $628,000, or about triple the national average. That means many families with two income-earners are having a hard time managing.
"In some cases they're cashing out, and in some cases they just can't afford to stay," said Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, which conducted the survey of 600 randomly selected people from Jan. 16 to 23.
Although 35 percent of respondents ranked transportation as their highest concern, 19 percent said housing was the biggest problem. Forty percent said they have considered moving out of the region, and 70 percent of those cited high housing costs as a major factor.
In 1996, as the real estate market began to recover from the early 1990s recession, only 1 percent of respondents cited housing as a big concern.
The annual survey, which takes the public's temperature on a range of issues, echoes similar findings by the Public Policy Institute of California, which in 2004 found that exorbitant home prices were forcing 31 percent of those ages 18 to 31 to ponder moving away from the region or out of...state.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
There is nowhere in the Bronx that is affordable and even remotely decent.
Sure, you can find something for 350K in the South Bronx and dodge bullets and bums if that is your fancy.
Brooklyn is high priced everywhere now.
Carnesie, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, edge of Bed-Stuy, etc. etc. are still within reach of many. No, you don't get to live someplace quaint and safe like The Heights, the Slope, Cobble Hill etc. But fortune favors the bold.
In any event, my sense is that you don't see yourself in NYC in 20 or 30 years. So why bother?
I visisted a friend out there in 1998. She showed me a place in Pacific Heights that sold for $12,000,000....then they leveled the house. They paid $12,000,000 for a lot. And not a big one. It is a wonderful city though...
I sure as heck hope not. I have lived here my whole life and am sick of it. However, I am self employed which makes things a bit trickier.
I like Bay Ridge or the places down by the water. I can't stand Bed-Stuy or Crown Heights. I feel trapped and claustrophobic.
If owning something is paramount, then you can always try this...
http://www.kansasfreeland.com/
Red Hook is already gone, being built up by big money. Sunset Park is on the way to moving out of reach. Bed-Stuy is still Bed-Stuy.
truthfully, the best rental values in town is still the upper end of the upper east side...
I am more of a mainstream type of guy. I hate the yuppie rich elite in NYC. They make me sick to my stomach.
Of course NYC has always had its fair share of these types, it really is the land of make believe with these disgusting parasites.
To be honest, I despite the liberal yuppie wealthy elites more than the lower class ghetto types.
Its truly nuts. Imagne a decent middle class family not affording to live in the South Bronx?
Then colonize the welfare enclaves
It will have the added benefit of reducing SF's welfare costs
I was actually talking about above 100th Street, which isn't particularly known for its elites.
Uh, having spent and still spending considerable time on the Upper East Side, one thing I can tell you -- these people aren't making believe. They're raking in money at a rate that would make Ivan Boesky blush. Rarely have I seen such a boom time in NYC. Of course, it will end, because it always ends.
These people are the leeches of society.
These people are the leeches of society
I prefer to think of them as "successful capitalists" who are able to see the main chance. They are also highly entertaining to watch in action...
I was a personal trainer for one of these guys' wives once. It was shocking to me to see the frivolous spending, 4k a month credit card bills, spoiled rotten kids, wasteful living, etc etc.
It just is not me. As long as what they are doing is legal I have am fine by it, it just does not fit my personality.
Many divorces, many affairs, many prostitutes, much excess.
That was a guestimate. Haven't seen the latest prices.
Three sets of condo/malls going up near the South San Fran Bart Station. I'll post the price when I see them.
....I heartily recommend a Midwestern college town for them.....
I tend to agree with you....stay the hell away from the South .......Please.
If I went down South, it would be like My Cousin Vinny.
What did you expect to find in that environment? A "Father Knows Best" lifestyle only slightly expanded with the income of several million a year?
The excesses today are the same as they've always been -- going back to the 1800s. The only thing shocking is that new (and more interesing) vices haven't been created to absorb the greater amounts of money floating around. Though luckily for my viewing pleasure, they've managed to find some new permutations...
Fortune, at least the monetary kind, doesn't particularly favor the virtuous.
Oh God, they're infiltrating and infesting other parts of the U.S.
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