Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mriley 6495 days ago
The Mission has a pretty high concentration of young people, and a lot of the startup people I know live around there. Rent in the area may be more reasonable than elsewhere but not by much, given its popularity. If you aren't here permanently you might try the Sublets/Temporary Housing section of Craigslist - I had good luck there, and you should be able to find something for less than $500/wk.
1 comments

500 per week??

so less than 2k per month? that seems pretty pricey...about to move into the mission and paying 800/mo.

I was referring to the price he stated in his original post (he said he didn't want to pay more than $500/wk). I'm living in the mission now and paying much less than $500/wk (but I have 4 roommates).
ok gotcha, didnt see that.
500 per week??

The high rents in SF are caused by rent control.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-274.html

Supply and demand also may be a factor.
Does rent-control decrease supply/demand?
Sure.

My point is that the major factor in the pricing of San Francisco housing is that it is one of the most desirable housing markets in the USA. With or without rent control, prices would be high because it is a relatively small city where a whole lot of people want to live.

SF has a land area of 121 km², and a population density of 6,324.4/km². (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_francisco) Here is a list of cities with higher population densities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_population

Delhi 26,276 Kolkata 24,760 Chennai 24,418 Mumbai 22,658 Bangalore 22,426 Hyderabad 21,293 Ahmedabad 19,979 Seoul 17,213 Tokyo 13,682 Wuhan 12,868 Jakarta 12,738 New York City 10,452 Tehran 10,260 Moscow 9,644 Lima 8,544 Yokohama 8,182 Lagos 7,938 São Paulo 7,148

With or without rent control, prices would be high because

...Because the buildings have been built as high as physically possible? If not that, why are San Francisco buildings so short? New York City has 82 buildings over 600 feet high. San Francisco has 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Ne... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Sa...

If not because of rent-control laws, why does San Francisco supply not follow San Francisco demand? Did you read the William Tucker paper, linked above, that explains why?