[6gvONxR4sf7o]

Even if you don't account for anything else, the high cost of living here translates to expensive city employees and expensive services. If you account for the "exchange rate" between San Francisco dollars and other city dollars, I wonder how the per capita spending stacks up. I expect it still doesn't look good, but I bet it looks a lot less ridiculous.

[reducesuffering]

It is the city's fault the housing is expensive, which is the reason for the high cost of living.

[6gvONxR4sf7o]

Maybe if San Francisco did things differently, costs might look like other cities and counties in the Bay Area. Either way, it's going to be much more expensive than your typical city.

[reducesuffering]

> costs might look like other cities and counties in the Bay Area

True, but most likely in a way that also reduced the cost in other cities and counties, because the high cost of SF has pushed people out to lower cost areas in the outskirts. If SF wasn't so expensive, more people from the surrounding area would live there, having the desire if price wasn't the issue, therefore reducing demand and thus costs for the outer areas.