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Prism

(5,815 posts)

120. I'm hoping my landlord forgets I live here

Mon Jun 22, 2015, 01:02 PM

Jun 2015

I lucked out in SF East Bay. A spacious one bedroom for $875 a month five minutes from Berkeley, three blocks from a BART station, four blocks from an I-80 ramp, and wedged between two major shopping centers. My friends hate me so very much for it. I think the property manager just liked us when we applied (with 30 other applicants after one day of showing). She probably figured we were gay, we'd fix the place up. Tch. We showed her. I've thought about upgrading now that we can afford quite a lot more, but it's just crazy out there. Two and three bedroom apartments are like $2000 starting, with square footage that isn't really any more than I have now.

In Berkeley proper, apartments half the size of mine were going for $1300-$1600 just five years ago. I have a friend a town over in Emeryville paying $2000 for a studio that, again, is maybe 2/3 the size of my apartment. (We will not discuss the friend who just bought a studio in the S.F. garment district for $550k. I think he's utterly insane).

And it is not getting better. Section 8 in Berkeley is being slowly squeezed out. Old businesses that have been here for years are being mowed down for new developments. Berkeley is going the way of San Francisco with the influx of new wealth. Oakland is slowly going down the same road. A friend's neighbor bought his house in Oakland for around $450k five years ago. He sold this year. It turned into a bidding war. Prospective buyers were bribing him. It eventually went for $880k.

This area is devolving into madness.

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Priced Out [View all] edhopper Jun 2015 OP

a similar thread on this topic IcyPeas Jun 2015 #1

It's crazy in this area abelenkpe Jun 2015 #53

If by "this area" you mean Cal. or the SW dixiegrrrrl Jun 2015 #141

Certainly seems likely should the drought persist. abelenkpe Jun 2015 #162

There was post here on DU dixiegrrrrl Jun 2015 #163

Maybe it's not all where, but how we live. Intentional communities, self-organized groups mahina Jun 2015 #154

Well, Get the HELL out of NYC! And the rest of the East Coast. AllTooEasy Jun 2015 #161

I don't know how my son and dtr in law manage in Manhattan... CTyankee Jun 2015 #2

I'm on the West Coast and have to get by on SS. Cleita Jun 2015 #3

I feel for you. edhopper Jun 2015 #6

See my post # 90 Cleita Jun 2015 #91

...... daleanime Jun 2015 #39

See my post #90. Cleita Jun 2015 #92

My wife and I are in the same situation DJ13 Jun 2015 #84

This is why Bernie Sanders is not just a comic candidate like the Cleita Jun 2015 #90

truth heaven05 Jun 2015 #158

OH man, I hear you so clearly. dixiegrrrrl Jun 2015 #142

I'm in the midwest heaven05 Jun 2015 #150

I find that problem too, putting grocery purchases at the end of the month on a Cleita Jun 2015 #153

Yep, I have pets heaven05 Jun 2015 #156

We're in it altogether. I hope Bernie will be able to get that raise through Cleita Jun 2015 #157

That's what happens when you have stagnant wages and everything else increases davidn3600 Jun 2015 #4

Yes edhopper Jun 2015 #7

Same here, and I have a degree now (and didn't back then) laundry_queen Jun 2015 #96

Yep. Every year I work my tail off awoke_in_2003 Jun 2015 #139

There has been lip service about affordable middle class housing here edhopper Jun 2015 #5

We were lucky enough to buy in 2009-2010 geek tragedy Jun 2015 #8

You mean if you DON'T need public transportation edhopper Jun 2015 #10

I meant that if you need public transportation geek tragedy Jun 2015 #12

Okay edhopper Jun 2015 #13

The way things are nadinbrzezinski Jun 2015 #9

We are selling our 4 br 2 ba here in SoCal and are moving to WA SoCalDem Jun 2015 #19

Yes and many of us in Washington are suffering from the same shit Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jun 2015 #57

You must be moving to somewhere other than the Seattle area HeiressofBickworth Jun 2015 #97

Probably Longview/Kelso area SoCalDem Jun 2015 #98

How soon can you sell? dixiegrrrrl Jun 2015 #144

Where we are, they are building like crazy and our house would be a bargain SoCalDem Jun 2015 #164

husband and i are damned near priced out of where we live fizzgig Jun 2015 #11

No one should beat up on you edhopper Jun 2015 #14

posters here have proclaimed couples don't need two bedrooms fizzgig Jun 2015 #20

I tolerated that little space in college. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #29

this place was a shit hole all around fizzgig Jun 2015 #50

College dorm life 1939 Jun 2015 #130

I don't think my roughly 5000 books at the time would have fit on your 3 ft shelf. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #140

You need what you need. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #30

my folks were better off when i was growing up in the 80s than husband and i are now fizzgig Jun 2015 #55

Yep. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #65

NM is nice PasadenaTrudy Jun 2015 #40

NM is quite nice. SheilaT Jun 2015 #44

Interesting. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #66

I was 60 when I moved here. SheilaT Jun 2015 #69

Oh wow. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #73

Haven't a clue, but here's SheilaT Jun 2015 #77

Oh thank you so much. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #79

Good luck to you. SheilaT Jun 2015 #80

New Mexico is a horrible, desolate, sphincter sucking place.............. NM_Birder Jun 2015 #106

Haha, very funny n/t PasadenaTrudy Jun 2015 #122

Please don't lump everything Southern together. Stonepounder Jun 2015 #46

I have relatives in the South edhopper Jun 2015 #62

I read you. mahina Jun 2015 #146

I feel your pain a la izquierda Jun 2015 #99

And that's the kind of place edhopper Jun 2015 #105

If one is a law professor or in the sciences... a la izquierda Jun 2015 #110

we have two or three new student housing complexes fizzgig Jun 2015 #117

And the univewrsity doesn't build dorms for all the undergraduates? 1939 Jun 2015 #126

In the mid-west safeinOhio Jun 2015 #15

I don't want to insult others who live there edhopper Jun 2015 #16

Seems we can't win. safeinOhio Jun 2015 #22

On the other hand, there are places that have a reputation SheilaT Jun 2015 #17

i would live in santa fe fizzgig Jun 2015 #21

I moved here in 2008 from Overland Park, KS. SheilaT Jun 2015 #52

i was there once in the early 2000s and fell in love fizzgig Jun 2015 #59

Sam Brownback has thoroughly trashed the Kansas state avebury Jun 2015 #26

I'm really interested in some of the small houses that are becoming popular, at least on TV. Hoyt Jun 2015 #18

If I could digitize all of my textbooks, magazines, pleasure reading... Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #31

They do, at least with the new books. SheilaT Jun 2015 #70

That's good to know. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #100

So much comes out electronically, SheilaT Jun 2015 #102

I must just not be buying the kind of things they have bothered to provide an e-version for yet. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #103

If you only go to independent bookstores, SheilaT Jun 2015 #104

That's simply not true Cal Carpenter Jun 2015 #137

I keep on hearing or reading the prediction of the forthcoming death of real books, SheilaT Jun 2015 #145

It's funny Cal Carpenter Jun 2015 #151

To make a tiny house liveable Trajan Jun 2015 #160

Thanks. I really think I'd feel cramped too much less than 800 sf. Hoyt Jun 2015 #167

How many in your household? AnnieO Jun 2015 #168

Two. I've seen some of the set ups at Ikea for 200, 300, 400 sf. They are amazing. Hoyt Jun 2015 #169

I felt the same way when I lived in Boston Warpy Jun 2015 #23

It's been my observation that nursing pays SheilaT Jun 2015 #71

Too funny, I drove the same sort of third world junkers I'd driven in Mass, Warpy Jun 2015 #72

My hospital has separate parking for employees, and I've parked in SheilaT Jun 2015 #101

You are lucky to be out of this neck of the woods. Paper Roses Jun 2015 #159

So sorry to hear edhopper Jun 2015 #170

The only affordable places are places I do not want to live alarimer Jun 2015 #24

Everybody wants to live within 50 miles of the east or west coast 1939 Jun 2015 #25

The problem with that is that retired people need access to good health care pnwmom Jun 2015 #27

It's what the TPP will speed up. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jun 2015 #28

+1 840high Jun 2015 #37

I moved from Cambridge to Houston in 1980 for a job and an affordable place to live. DamnYankeeInHouston Jun 2015 #32

I like Houston a lot in theory. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #67

I must have sunk to its level - it's all fine to me. I'm not touristy. DamnYankeeInHouston Jun 2015 #83

I'm not either, but SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #86

That's the trade off. DamnYankeeInHouston Jun 2015 #87

Exactly. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #89

really? Lurker Deluxe Jun 2015 #85

I wish. SusanCalvin Jun 2015 #88

Saw this awhile back... Lobo27 Jun 2015 #33

No, you're not.NYC has become a 'luxury city' according to Joel Kotkin, PatrickforO Jun 2015 #34

We will probably need to edhopper Jun 2015 #35

My friends PasadenaTrudy Jun 2015 #48

Great discription. I have been living with family for 10 years now because I cannot afford to live jwirr Jun 2015 #36

And the sad part is edhopper Jun 2015 #38

Well it is expensive in blue areas yeoman6987 Jun 2015 #64

The unfashionable parts of Brooklyn are still affordable Depaysement Jun 2015 #41

Affordability is relative edhopper Jun 2015 #43

Very true Depaysement Jun 2015 #45

Same for us in LA! abelenkpe Jun 2015 #42

I'm in So. Pasadena PasadenaTrudy Jun 2015 #49

Love that area! abelenkpe Jun 2015 #54

My parents purchased 3 houses on a huge lot in Pasadena around the Los Robles/Orange Grove ave area ariesgem Jun 2015 #81

I bet it is! PasadenaTrudy Jun 2015 #123

I'd dying here in SF. My rent was raised $500 a month recently. AtomicKitten Jun 2015 #47

I know way too many people who are forced to work inanna Jun 2015 #61

Just five more months to go AtomicKitten Jun 2015 #63

Better to keep working while you can. Your elderly self will have 32% less to live on mia Jun 2015 #93

Thank you for the advice and link. AtomicKitten Jun 2015 #138

I was "priced out" in 1999. mwooldri Jun 2015 #51

I'm living in Sarasota, Florida. I must say, much to my surprise, I've found the town to be... BlueJazz Jun 2015 #56

I lived in Sarasota in the 70's and loved it. Florida all around is cheap to live in right Nay Jun 2015 #94

And to make matters worse -- more and more of the housing stock pnwmom Jun 2015 #58

so much of Manhattan edhopper Jun 2015 #74

San Francisco, too. And it's even starting in Seattle. n/t pnwmom Jun 2015 #76

Same, but worse; I'd move but I can't abandon the one I'm caring for; Heartbreaking. n/t freshwest Jun 2015 #60

East of Billings sorefeet Jun 2015 #68

Build your own house rickford66 Jun 2015 #75

Unfortunately it is becoming the norm. . DCBob Jun 2015 #78

I live in CT and feel the same way bigwillq Jun 2015 #82

I think it's getting harder and harder to make it... CoffeeCat Jun 2015 #95

Boy, do I recognize THAT description - I could have written that. closeupready Jun 2015 #111

Democracy is also being priced out. L0oniX Jun 2015 #107

no it's not. NM_Birder Jun 2015 #108

We need denser cities Recursion Jun 2015 #109

NY is getting very dense edhopper Jun 2015 #112

Queens is dense without being luxe. Recursion Jun 2015 #113

No we don't. There's plenty of housing in the US. The Fed is currently subsidizing debt Romulox Jun 2015 #114

Sounds like a tidy solution to the problem, then Recursion Jun 2015 #115

Hey, why not *negative* interest rates? Let's pay the haves for having! Romulox Jun 2015 #116

I lived in California most of my life. MineralMan Jun 2015 #118

Thanks edhopper Jun 2015 #119

I really understand. I didn't want to leave my home, either. MineralMan Jun 2015 #121

Right now we are hanging in there edhopper Jun 2015 #125

Yes. That changes a lot of things, for sure. MineralMan Jun 2015 #128

There are nice places edhopper Jun 2015 #131

Yes, I know what you're saying. MineralMan Jun 2015 #135

Thank you MineralMan. mahina Jun 2015 #149

Hayden Heights MineralMan Jun 2015 #165

mahalo! mahina Jun 2015 #171

I'm hoping my landlord forgets I live here Prism Jun 2015 #120

Had a large studio with separate eat-in kitchen edhopper Jun 2015 #129

Reading through Tales of the City Prism Jun 2015 #132

When I lived there edhopper Jun 2015 #133

It's a beautiful city Prism Jun 2015 #136

You're not alone, I think this is happening quite often. MadDAsHell Jun 2015 #124

NY is not just a big city. edhopper Jun 2015 #127

Right - it's Home now. After 30 years. closeupready Jun 2015 #134

I still have a house in rural North Florida madville Jun 2015 #143

What's your industry? jeff47 Jun 2015 #147

I cannot remember when I last had KauaiK Jun 2015 #148

Housing as commodity daredtowork Jun 2015 #152

It just occurred to me, "Priced Out" should be closeupready Jun 2015 #155

The high cost of living ain't like the cost of living high seveneyes Jun 2015 #166