[HarryHirsch]

Scientists are trained to look at the data when confronted with a hypothesis.

In this context it's worth looking at Aspen, CO. Wages for service workers there have not gone up, and 60-mile commutes on mountain roads are common. I have no theory for why that is, but I do not expect a different outcome for SF.

[gigawhat]

Scientists are trained to despise anecdote.

Not sure what science has to do with this anyway; this is basically a matter of public-policy/politics/economics.

[dragonwriter]

Well, a scientist (or other person concerned with the underpinning of fact claims) might note that the supposed exodus that is the factual premise around which the value-based arguments here revolve is not evident except in anecdote, and that in fact SF's population is growing rather than showing signs of an exodus, while Oakland, the supposed destination of the out-of-SF exodus, is shrinking.