Yes, as I've told you I lived in the Bay Area from 1973 to 1988. when I arrived in SF I rented a house in the Sunset for $230 a month. My apartment in a victorian in Noe Valley in 1975 was $240 (2 br very nice) and I had a 2 BR corner flat at 27th and California for $240 with a garage and bay windows.

Bought a 3br Eichler in Walnut Creek in 1979 for $80. Not sure what my ex wife got for it, but when I moved back to Cleveland in '88 it was a breath of fresh air.

Our neighborhood is what Hillsborough would be like if they had enough rain to have good landscaping. The school system is better than any public school system in California. There is no crime, no traffic. A very nice house - 3500 sq ft with full basement on 3 acres is still a little under $500k. Houses that sell for $750 in Milpitas are $125,000.

California doesn't seem like much of a privilege anymore

>>>Uninsulated wooden houses with no central air? WOW. Here in the U.S. only those that are considered too poor to update their homes or those that are 'roughing it wilderness style' or believe in 'getting back to the basics' live like that these days! <
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>>Uh, not really. In Contra Costa County, CA ( east bay of SF ) you can find a lot of those. They cost about $400,000.
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>Charles;
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>LOL! Amen!
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>In Sunnyvale where I live (ten miles north of San Jose), a 1200 square foot stucco covered fixer-upper that is 50 years old (normal) starts at $720k. There is no insulation or air conditioning. But you have the “great privilege” of living in the heart of Silicon Valley! :)
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>I am about two blocks from Cupertino, with Apple just down the street, HP, IBM, Rational Rose, Yahoo, Intel, and you name it – it is probably here or very close by. The great part about living in Silicon Valley is you are at the pulse of technology. You actually get to see all the new stuff come and go, along with jobs and people. The GREED remains - that is a constant!
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>I really enjoy seeing all those empty office buildings where once hardware and software companies existed. Then there is the greater than 8% housing vacancy we have had for the last two years! Up until then we had less than 1% vacancy for over the last 35 years that I know of. As an enticement to retain renters our property management company raised our rent! Smart guys! Bankruptcies are at an all time high – just the inverse of the interest rates!
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>We have people communing 150 miles one way so they can afford to “own a home”. Yes sir, life in the San Francisco Bay Area is really a blast! Long commutes, bumper to bumper traffic, layoffs, highest rents in the nation (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and Fremont are #1,2,& 3 in the nation), traffic jams, and too many darn flat landers! Bring back the orchards!
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>Tom - A fourth generation San Franciscan (who needs air conditioning when you have our fog!)
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>P.S. In the Noe Valley section of San Francisco a house built in 1880 that is 800 square feet (110 volt AC and not 220, with original water pipes – who needs piped water when you can buy water in a bottle?) was sold for $1.2 million. Oh yes - it has the original wooden siding and no air conditioning. It was considered a “bargain”!