Because they (with their high 5/low 6 figure salaries) are driving up the costs of apartments, meaning that to even rent in the Bay Area is becoming a losing proposition if you make less than 100K. I suppose landlords are also making out like bandits, but the real losers are people who'd be solidly middle class anywhere else, but now have to listen to the laments of someone making 6 figures how they are the real working class now in the Bay.
I mean, I suppose that even someone making a 100K salary can't buy a house easily by themselves, but at least they can live here in a decent apartment. The real losers are people who can't even afford an apartment to rent in the Bay Area. By and large those people aren't software engineers.
> they (with their high 5/low 6 figure salaries) are driving up the costs of apartments, meaning that to even rent in the Bay Area is becoming a losing proposition
That's right: the people moving in are not the winners. Their salaries are high, but they're spending a large percentage of it in rent. Granted, overall, they're pretty well off, but they're not really "the winners" compared to people who actually own the land.
Programmers are low-paid highly-paid workers. (Especially when you factor in rents in SF.)
If tech workers didn't move in, it would be folks in biotech, or finance, or high-end sales, or...
There are many factors that drive up rents in SF. The primary -and by far largest- factor is the fact that it's nearly impossible to build new housing. Get the City Supervisors to hang obstructionist landlords, NIMBYs, and Real Estate Investment Firms who are currently making mad bank [0] out to dry and you'll -relatively- quickly see rents drop back to vaguely sane levels.
The enemy isn't tech workers. The enemy is those who choose to make obscene profits, rather than permitting others to build housing to meet current and near-future demand.
Just because people that are being pushed out are "losers" (your words, not mine), that doesn't mean the people that are going broke to stay in the city are "winners". The winners are the property owners and NIMBY's.
I think you're making a mistake in assuming that tech workers will drive up rents more than anyone else would. Tech people aren't known for lusting over expensive real estate. If there was an influx of plumbers wanting to life in SF we'd be in the same situation.
Well, no, we wouldn't, because you can set prices as high as you want, but they won't stay that high if nobody can pay them.
The reason SF landlords are getting away with the absurd rent they're charging is because there is a very low vacancy rate AND there are enough people willing to pay 50% or more of their $6-$7k take-home pay just to live in a cool neighborhood.
I don't know how much the average plumber makes, but I don't think it would skew the market in the same way.
I mean, I suppose that even someone making a 100K salary can't buy a house easily by themselves, but at least they can live here in a decent apartment. The real losers are people who can't even afford an apartment to rent in the Bay Area. By and large those people aren't software engineers.