Pro tip: never trust Bay Area residents' perceptions of development or population changes. A couple of buildings is a building boom and a small population increase is a wave of people.Jasimm wrote: So I live in a suburb of San Francisco and there is essential no change noticeable here. Actually most people you talk to are saying how bad traffic is with all the new residents. Yes the housing is expensive, but people are still buying and selling home like nothing has changed. Tech companies are still opening left and right as well as a huge biotech center south of San Francisco that is full of cranes. Interesting article I guess because I just don't see any change here.
In reality, San Jose and San Francisco are population growth and development laggards. On a percentage basis, they're #32 and #33 in population growth, respectively, out of the 50 largest metros, behind such booming locales as Cincinnati and Louisville. Last year, San Francisco permitted 43% fewer housing units per 1000 people than Seattle, a city that is expanding to accommodate economic growth instead of just pumping it in into the ground. San Jose is even worse.
In terms of domestic migration, San Jose was actually even worse than SF's 24k outflow, at 26k. Overall, the Bay Area is still increasing in population, but that's mostly due to natural increase. Likewise, the number of jobs is still increasing, but that's because the number being created is more than the number leaving.
The fact that people and companies are fleeing our strongest and most innovative economic region is insane. The fact that "I just don't see any change here" is true is the problem. We should be experiencing massive change like Seattle or Austin or Dallas, but we're barely seeing any. Well, except for massive real estate appreciation that prices out the middle class and screws the young, but besides that..