[kelsers]

> The story is ridiculous

I agree that there are both high and low cost options. The author seems to trying to sensationalize the story. [1] But it is true that the cost of living in the Bay Area is high. It's affecting things like home ownership, income levels, homelessness, public transportation.

[1] VentureBeat's audience is probably reasonably geographically centralized here, where we understand, but I can see how someone from the Midwest would be completely surprised by $4 toast and think that those prices are the norm. (It's the same reaction I get when I explain that yes, there is a slide in the Google office, but most people take the stairs like normal human beings).

[milesskorpen]

Is the cost of living, apart from real estate, really that high? I just checked http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/ and compared SF to Cleveland (which seems like a decent not-super-expensive city).

Results:

Groceries 5%less Housing 68%less Utilities 9%more Transportation 9%less Health Care 1%less

The ONLY thing significantly more expensive is housing (which has lots of causes, and isn't really related to the new tech immigrants and more to do with people who aren't willing to let bigger buildings be built). Utilities are MORE expensive in Cleveland!