> The story is ridiculous

I agree that there are both high and low cost options. The author seems to trying to sensationalize the story. [1] But it is true that the cost of living in the Bay Area is high. It's affecting things like home ownership, income levels, homelessness, public transportation.

[1] VentureBeat's audience is probably reasonably geographically centralized here, where we understand, but I can see how someone from the Midwest would be completely surprised by $4 toast and think that those prices are the norm. (It's the same reaction I get when I explain that yes, there is a slide in the Google office, but most people take the stairs like normal human beings).