MACS wrote:Call BS all you want... I posted the articles for you to read.
SF is so pricey because of its location, bro. Always has been. The city is 49 square miles... THAT is why the real estate is so expensive.
So I read the articles (I hadn't seen that post when I posted).
They're interesting. In many aspects they are accurate, but I think they do gloss over a few things.
1 - They focus mainly on the toyota loss. I'm sure that accounts for a hit, and yes, Texas has been increasing jobs. But losing one company doesn't actually mean CA is doing horribly. (perhaps some cities are, I certainly don't see them, but that doesn't mean they aren't there).
2 - The other article is talking about restaurant openings... specifically that one chain. That one I feel is a bit disingenuous. Restaurants are more a zero-sum game. For any location, the number of meals purchased/consumed is pretty much fixed (unless the area is completely underdeveloped). If a restaurant opens, the business it earns is literally taken away from a competing business (at absolute best case, it's taken away from a grocery store). That loss of business equates to a closing somewhere, or at least staffing-down. If it doesn't, then you'll find lower efficiency as more businesses with greater overhead are competing for the same amount of sales. Long story short - Opening a restaurant in a community is not an equivalent job improvement as opening a manufacturing facility, which sends its product out of the community to bring money in.
3 - Notice that restaurant chain specifically did NOT move the HQ (where the real income is)
Anyway, I'm sure texas is opening lots of restaurants and doing great. It isn't really a fight I care about. I DO care that there's way too f-ing much money in SF, and it doesn't seem to be abating. Rents are going up every quarter (they exceed nyc at this point), I pay $2400 a month for a 450sq foot apt, and another 325/mo to park my car. And I live in the dirtiest neighborhood in the city. Simply put, SF isn't looking to increase the number of restaurant or light manufacturing jobs. People working those jobs couldn't afford to live in the city. The only people who can afford to move in to SF right now have to be looking for jobs paying a minimum of 80k (apts won't even consider renting to you unless you can prove you're earning 2x the monthly rent... I'm not kidding)