12.9.06

Outer Space

The view from my new kitchen window:

My move to San Francisco got me thinking about Bay Area real estate, which can best be described as a parallel universe. For instance, in most parts of the country, $100,000 will get you pretty far in terms of buying a home. Out here, $100,000 might get you somewhere in the vicinity of a down payment, and prices keep rising. When I found out last year that I would need six figures in cash to call a tiny condo my own, I made a joke about someday having a place in Nevada.

Fast forward a bit. I’ve lived in three apartments since arriving in the Bay Area. After leaving the first, they raised the rent 14%. In apartment #2, I was paying about 10% more than the previous tenant. When I left four months later, they raised it another 10%. To get an idea of how these prices compare to my former locale, a small college town in Illinois, I checked the craigslist postings there. It turns out that for what I’m paying for my studio, I could get this in Champaign-Urbana:

Huge 3 bedroom in vintage brick building near campus. Hardwood floors, arched doorways, high ceilings. Dining room, sunroom, living room, eat-in kitchen, screened porch, 1 bath. Includes all utilities. Rent includes one parking space.

This is actually not a true comparison, as I could not find a house or apartment on the C-U Craigslist page equal to or higher than the cost of my 400 square foot place. However, this came within 3%, so we’ll call it even. Almost. That parking space would add at least 15% to the cost, and I’m paying for electricity. Ouch.

So why do people live here? Are we insane? I guess it’s a matter of priorities. Maybe someday space will be more important to me than the ability to step out of my building into a world-class shopping and entertainment district, or to drop by the beach on a random Thursday night. However, for now, I’d rather be out in the world than at home. As long as that’s true, I’m happy to live in a glorified shoebox.

No Comment

Say your words