>>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.
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>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.
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>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.
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>What gives!?

You have raised a good point! Greed?