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Cost of housing among area's top woes [Leaving San Francisco]
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/27/6 | Kelly Zito

Posted on 02/27/2006 7:35:12 AM PST by SmithL

Survey cites it as major reason 2 of 5 residents consider leaving.

You're not the only one dreaming of ditching the Bay Area for a Midwestern college town or a coastal city in the Southeast.

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: baghdadbythebay; californiahereigo; goeastyoungman; landoffruitsandnuts; sanfranfreako
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To: durasell

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.


41 posted on 02/27/2006 1:04:58 PM PST by chris1
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To: chris1

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?


42 posted on 02/27/2006 1:07:58 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: chris1

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...


43 posted on 02/27/2006 1:08:02 PM PST by Wyatt's Torch
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To: durasell

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.


44 posted on 02/27/2006 1:12:28 PM PST by chris1
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To: durasell

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.


45 posted on 02/27/2006 1:13:57 PM PST by chris1
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To: chris1

If owning something is paramount, then you can always try this...

http://www.kansasfreeland.com/


46 posted on 02/27/2006 1:14:47 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: chris1

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...


47 posted on 02/27/2006 1:16:47 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

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.


48 posted on 02/27/2006 1:20:00 PM PST by chris1
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To: durasell

Its truly nuts. Imagne a decent middle class family not affording to live in the South Bronx?


49 posted on 02/27/2006 1:20:53 PM PST by chris1
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To: Desron13
One solution: have "shall issue" concealed carry, and adopt a "no retreat" law that immunizes a homeowner from any lawsuit from anybody he shoots while the perp is unlawfully on the homeowner's property

Then colonize the welfare enclaves

It will have the added benefit of reducing SF's welfare costs

50 posted on 02/27/2006 1:26:22 PM PST by SauronOfMordor (A planned society is most appealing to those with the hubris to think they will be the planners)
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To: chris1

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.


51 posted on 02/27/2006 1:32:24 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

These people are the leeches of society.


52 posted on 02/27/2006 1:35:01 PM PST by chris1
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To: chris1

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...


53 posted on 02/27/2006 1:37:31 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

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.


54 posted on 02/27/2006 1:44:35 PM PST by chris1
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To: GSWarrior

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.


55 posted on 02/27/2006 1:47:24 PM PST by Philistone (Turning lead into gold...)
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To: Onelifetogive

....I heartily recommend a Midwestern college town for them.....

I tend to agree with you....stay the hell away from the South .......Please.


56 posted on 02/27/2006 1:48:00 PM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Slay Pinch)
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To: bert

If I went down South, it would be like My Cousin Vinny.


57 posted on 02/27/2006 1:50:34 PM PST by chris1
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To: chris1

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.


58 posted on 02/27/2006 1:51:40 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: SmithL
Last Summer, I was contacted by Google for a possible job. I got through several levels of interviews but got cut - no offer. I was looking at Housing near Mountain View, CA and looked as far as South San Jose. I have to agree the price of housing was pretty awful. If I made the move from Colorado, I was looking at buying property near some trails to where I could ride my bike to work instead of drive. Lots of dinero ! The job I was in was suppose to end last month but I was able to jump ship before then.
59 posted on 02/27/2006 1:54:33 PM PST by CORedneck
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To: SmithL

Oh God, they're infiltrating and infesting other parts of the U.S.


60 posted on 02/27/2006 1:56:32 PM PST by no dems ("A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking" Steven Wright)
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