San Francisco Rents Explode!!

We all know it’s expensive to live here, but $1445 for a studio in the Mission? $2500 for a one-bedroom in Cole Valley? $3685 for a two-bedroom in Noe Valley? We all know that the mortgage crisis caused families to foreclose, and that no renter wants to buy a house right now. But you can’t just explain the recent spike in rents to “supply-and-demand.” And while Gavin Newsom lauds the “booming” local economy that have filled the City’s coffers, bear in mind that this means a higher class of renters who might afford the insane rents. But it leaves the rest of us behind …

The rents I quoted above were posted on Craigslist last Friday. I’ve considered moving recently, and have started looking at the listings more frequently. I’ve lived in a four-bedroom flat near the Panhandle for the last three years, and since I’ll be 30 next year I’m sick of living with roommates.

But looking at these rental listings, I can only conclude that it will be impossible for me to do so. With my paycheck minus student loans, there’s no way I could pay the rent and have living expenses to survive. And I do pretty well for a public interest lawyer who’s been out of school for a year!

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