>San Francisco has been an expensive place to live from about 1849. My family history and San Francisco interest me. I had a family member who lived in San Francisco just before the gold rush. There were about 5000 people in the “city” (as we call it).
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>Along came the gold rush and prices went sky high. To rent an 8 X 12 foot umbrella tent cost $390 a month. One chicken egg was $20 gold. That might have been a good time to have a chicken ranch! Our children are 5th generation San Franciscans and cannot afford to live there. This is called progress or something! :)
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>Just imagine the average income in the United States in 1912 was $350 per family. Only those who made more $500 or more paid federal taxes.

It's interesting, isn't it. There are young professionals in, say, London, from normal middle-class families (say, their dads were high-ranking bank clerks) who could not afford to buy the house that their similarly classed parents raised them in.

Yet, their parents wouldn't have been able to go out clubbin' several times a week, afford holidays in Thailand (or even to fly there), have so many clothes as they, skiing hols, so much disposable income, etc. I live in a very high-rent part of the country, in the SE, south of London, one of the most expensive parts of the country to live. The area of the city where I live is now up and coming, I was lucky to buy my house in the late 80s, at c. £63.5 G (within 4 times our joint income). Now it's worth some £350 G (I WISH!). I doubt I'd be able to afford to buy that now. Yet, when I came here it was dead of a night. Now all the pubs have been done up and are regularly packed out, the local bank has 2 ATMs, etc., etc.

What gives!?