[colmvp]

Honestly not that hard, especially if you live in a shared apartment. Plus if you look at his benefits, it looks like they cover some living, food, internet, and gym expenses. I grew up with friends who lived in NYC earning less than 35k a year with no such benefits. Now THAT was tough.

[cellis]

NYC may have been high then, but it isn't near SF now.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/nyc-cost-of-living-is-...

[usaar333]

That guys' definition of acceptable area must be 3 blocks. I just hunted for a one bedroom place last month and was finding wonderful places for ~$2,200 to $2,300; that's the equivalent of a 2 bedroom just under $3,00.

There is no way that San Francisco has higher rent than Manhattan: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/rent-manhattan-may-... Those numbers blow away San Francisco.

[jwoah12]

Everything I've seen has shown NYC is still slightly higher than SF. Do you have any sources other than this one guy's personal experience?

[colmvp]

Even so, she is getting rent subsidy which rounds out to be $1,000 per month ($12,000 for the year).

With that in mind, it's not hard to find a shared apartment for less than $2000 in SF/Oakland/Peninsula. Now if she wants her own 2BR or 1BR, sure she'll have to shell out more.