When it comes to living in the Bay Area, something has got to give. With exorbitant housing costs and enough traffic to send the Dalai Lama into a bout of road rage, cities like San Francisco have been playing the bend-but-don’t-break game for too long. Eventually, something is going to break, and it may finally be getting close to that point.
According to a Bay Area Council survey, around 34 percent of San Francisco-area residents said they are considering leaving the area because of its high housing costs and traffic, CNBC reports. Those who were most likely to head for greener pastures are people who have lived in the area for five years or less, those with lower incomes, and those putting more of their income toward housing expenses.
Respondents of the survey listed the high cost of living, poverty and income inequality, and crime rates and homelessness as the most serious problems facing San Francisco. Meanwhile, the city needs to be most concerned about losing its young talent pool. If Millennials continue to get priced out of the area and move to relatively less expensive places like Seattle, Portland, and Austin, the economy of the area will suffer.
About 40 percent of respondents said they believe the bay Area is faring well and is on the right track while another 40 percent said they believe it is on the wrong track. What is not really up for debate is the fact that if San Francisco continues on its current path low-income earners will continue to leave or be pushed out of the city and replaced with high earners, essentially eliminating the middle class.
