My freaking ears!

Noise was definitely a factor in wanting to leave the bay area, but far from the main reason.
Where I live now, it's often so quiet I can hear the ocean from about 9 miles away.

If you live in the California Bay Area, here's a little secret:

Half-way between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay is the little town of Pescadaro. Hidden in the gas station there, across the street from Duarte's Tavern, is a tiny Mexican food place. Like a counter and two tables.

Order the carne asada tacos. They're the best tacos in northern cali.

For over 20 years....yep. and before that, I had a grower friend in Willits that supplied me well in the bay area.... but 35+ years of excessive experience taught me absolutely nothing about its effects.....yep.

However, Bay Area Metro (Caltrans) has no problem with alcohol consumption. Just sayin'

LOL, East Palo Alto. I volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club there for a year when I lived in Mountain View. Two cops got shot and East Palo Alto had the highest murder rate ever that year. It's utterly insane how on one side of the 101 you have these multi-million dollar mansions and Stanford University and on the other side you have gangland.

Meanwhile, back on topic, when I moved to Mountain View in 2002 my rent was $800 a month for a studio apartment. The rent went up by $100 a year every year until I finally called it quits in 2007 when they wanted to charge me $1300 a month. I gave up ever actually being able to own a home in the Bay Area (let alone rent) and left in 2009.

In Japan now, and things aren't quite as bad as the Bay Area, but we've been house hunting recently and we're shocked at the disparity between what we want versus what we can actually afford, even with both us being full-time professionals. I know that 2nd place he goes to is supposed to be a joke but it's not that far off from the truth, at least as far as our experiences go. While the places we've been shown by the real estate agent are certainly habitable, they aren't particularly nice. So we're going to have to decide whether we want to live someplace not so great with the advantage being the mortgage will be paid off by the time we retire or just rent in a place we're comfortable with and wind up having to really budget hard after retirement since rent will consume a sizable portion of our pensions/social security.

I really wish companies in the Bay Area would focus their $$ on more responsibility in the face of immediate, local issues.

But hey... space ship, or whatever.

I don't think that is what he was saying. My interpretation was that he was citing (a recent slew of misinformation) of media claiming that 3D Printers are harmful and in this case the cause of death ; of which a 3D printer would not be able to cause carbon monoxide poisoning, which is way more likely to have been a laser cutter.... No, he's trying to stick up for 3D Printers, of which may contain lasers (not very likely since it's not very commercial yet) and a completely different production method (additive). Obviously, there are A LOT of people with 3D printers in the Bay Area.

Thanks man,I replied.... I decided that I am going to move to the Sonoran desert, get away from Cali and focus on health, space and money Ayahuasca/DMT definitely influenced that decision. SF/Bay Area/Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley... it's too unwieldy for me to deal with anymore. Shit, is out of control in terms of risk & cost of living.... 15 years, brah, I'm finally off into the wilderness... will be riding my bike across a seemingly infinite wasteland of beauty every day

It sounds like a bunch of Videosift regulars are from the SF bay area. I grew up in SJ, worked at NASA/Ames for a few years, had friends at Berkeley and IBM research and Cisco and Apple and... yeah, small world.

Your video, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, And The Bay Area Explained, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 55 Badge!

Very interesting (to probably nobody except me): this video sounds like it's narrated by a native, but I think it's not. He pronounces Marin County like "MAIR-in", but everyone I've ever met in and around the SF Bay Area says "mah-RIN". Like my mom who was born there. Also: "berk-eh-ley"? It's pronounced "berk-ley"!

/rant

I've noticed even sharkier tactics employed in the Bay Area - such as a company called Breeze where people lease the car from them and pay @ $200.00/week to Breeze to use the car as a Uber or Lyft driver.

For some reason people refuse to look at the math. I think I was that way when I was in my early twenties so I get it but it's scary; once the drivers figure out that they aren't going to be able to make ends meet they will be in a bind with Breeze who won't accept the car back unless it's absolutely in perfect condition...

I think I read that both Uber & Lyft are trying to go for the "no credit" crowd in loaning cars out to pump up their exploited workforce.

Beware. Capitalist fucks at work.

You don't think that Trump won't make an unfair system even worse? Do you know what kind of scam operations he runs? Read up on Trump University, and if you don't think a mind like his won't immediately start eroding the as of yet intact elements of our government, then I have a bridge in the bay area to sell you. Not to mention that Scalia is not my definition of 'bright' by any standard. Bloviating quasi intellectual douchenozzle, sure, but not exactly a contributor to constitutional scholarship.

Hillary will be a boring drag; an uninspired and predictable apparatchik, but not remotely as harmful as the narcissistic psychopathy that's absofuckinglutely going to get us into severe confrontations around the globe that a Trump administration would bring.

Think about it. Yesterday the Russians put out a sabre-rattling presser about a US destroyer in the Black Sea (its international waters). Under Obama or Clinton, I can be pretty confident that any ruffled feathers will be smoothed and that things won't escalate. With Trump, if he has a bad morning because the viagra didn't kick in on time, or Ivana talks back or whatever, god knows what his decisions would be.

OMG...I was SOOOO hoping you would make that argument.
The 'blanket' minimum wage is the minimum we have decided that those living in the cheapest places to live should be paid. I agree, it should be based on cost of living...but the $15 an hour standard is what we've said should be the minimum in back woods Appalachia, and in larger cities it should be well over $20. Reduce the pay at the top to a reasonably high level and that won't cost most businesses another penny.

OK, bay area....you said ""those who choose to live there need to consider their income" ....ignoring the majority of people who are 'stuck' there without sufficient income; those who've lost financial stability, or those born there to poor parents who have never made any choice, and usually their parents who no longer have a choice to make at this point. They simply can't afford to move. The same goes for most low income people anywhere, they don't "choose" to live there, they don't have the luxury of a 'choice'. ...or are you lobbying for free moving and relocation services for the poor?

10 years ago, $15 an hour was not a living wage in many places, the bay area for one. I left there 20 years ago, and $15 an hour was pretty hard to live on as a single man sharing an apartment THEN, I can't imagine how it is now, especially for those with children.

No, you didn't say ONLY kids living at home have minimum wage jobs, but you did mention them as if they are a large percentage of minimum wage workers, and the group we should focus on, and implied that wages should be determined (at least in part) by THEIR needs. They are in fact the smallest group of minimum wage workers, and even they need more money to eventually move out.

Really? " those unwilling to put in the effort and gain the skill required to actually do a decent service to society." If you really believe a large percentage of people working for minimum wage are "unwilling to put in effort" to better themselves, I just don't know what to say. That's completely batshit insane, they work insanely hard for little compensation, with little respite, and absolutely no respect. Most are putting out more than a reasonable maximum effort just to go deeper into debt constantly, there is no amount of effort that makes more time to make more money to pay for training, or an amount of effort that makes tuition free. Also, who do you think will take over for them if they all put in the effort and gain the skill required to actually do a decent service to society"...(whatever the hell that insulting statement is supposed to mean besides implying they aren't decent or serving society today...by choice)?
What are you talking about "Complacency shouldn't be allowed to make life more difficult for all of us"? WHAT?!? OK, yes, so stop being so complacent about the horrendous way we treat those at the bottom of the financial system because that makes life more difficult for all of us by forcing those with 'more' (but not enough 'more' to avoid taxes) to pay higher taxes for welfare, prisons, policing, housing, etc....by making the nation more crime ridden because it's the only way to make a living for so many...by overtaxing our medical system because so many can't afford to be preemptive with their health and only accept medical help when it's at emergency stage...etc.

If the funds to raise the lowest wages don't come from the extravagant pay that goes to the top and are instead being transferred directly to consumers, yes, it's a vicious cycle. That's why you have to ALSO lower top compensation by law, like maybe tie it to the lowest paid worker in the company. That would stop inflation from being a feedback loop with wages.

We can't just make a blanket min wage. Some places cost unnecessarily a lot for cost of living. You mentioned the bay area. I would never live there first of all, but those who choose to live there need to consider their income. There are far cheaper places to live. Then, $15/hr becomes a lot more viable.

And 99 cent cigarettes and 79 cent gas was a lot less recent than the time to which I was referring, which was closer to just 10 years ago.

I also never stated that only kids work for minimum wage. Make assumptions on your own time. I don't agree that we all should be responsible for those who don't actually mean to work at their jobs. Meaning, those unwilling to put in the effort and gain the skill required to actually do a decent service to society. There needs to be a motivator for that--something worth reaching for. Complacency shouldn't be allowed to make life more difficult for all of us. Afterall, you know that when companies start raising prices, suddenly everyone's purchasing power drops. Then everyone needs a raise again. Etc. etc. It's a vicious cycle.

Curbing inflation should be a focus, if that's even possible, along with preventing megapowers from abusing the financial system. Getting corporations out of government would be a start.