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Comment by 52-6F-62 | Hacker News Reader

Gotta ask, because this issue comes up in many major cities:

And what if the service workers who make substantially less than the higher earners who so rely on them?

Does the cost go down that much for a 4 bedroom split between four people on minimum wage? In a lot of places it doesn’t.

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The service workers move somewhere else where they can afford to live. The ones that remain can demand a higher price for their work

...When they are actually working. But if you are fired from the job, you still need to pay rent for the time it takes to find a new job.

Having high rent reduces your personal “runway”. This makes bootstrapped startups hard and it makes like as a lower-income worker very risky/stressful

If you don't like the risk/stress there are plenty of other places to live. If you choose to live in SF when you can't afford it then that just not a wise decision. Eventually the prices will even out and you will just have to pay $30 for a sandwich.

Is that happening? Are service workers in SF paid a living wage?

Or are people like fast food workers being paid minimum wage and commuting 2 hours?

That is their choice. The market will only correct if people make rational choices.

For a lot of people, it isn't a choice. That's where the problem sneaks in.

The market you believe in doesn't exist in a vacuum. The world is far more complex than that.

Chances are you know someone who is on rent control and you’ll pay $700-$800 for a room. Not too many service workers move to SF if they don’t know someone there already..

Hell I know someone paying $850 for a one bedroom in Duboce.

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