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Subject:The Truth About Silicon Valley From:Maurice King <benadam -at- CYBERDUDE -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 14 Apr 1999 10:41:34 -0400
During the course of my researching various areas of California as part of a plan to relocate there, I made contact with a source in San Francisco that gave me an extremely gloomy picture of the entire Bay area that I feel needs clarification. For those of you who are located in the Bay area, I would like to ask you to reply to me personally off the list.
The person in question is a case worker who has dealt with numerous persons who came to the Bay area, enticed by handsome salaries and relocation packages from companies in Silicon Valley. The stories the case worker told me were particularly frightening: families in which both husband and wife worked in full-time jobs who ended up on the streets without money for food because they did not take seriously the warnings that the cost of living in the area is exorbitant beyond all imagination. The warning I received was, "Don't come here without a sack of money."
The case worker went on to talk about housing, a major headache for persons who relocate to the area. Housing, so I heard, is unaffordable for any except the independently wealthy. Rentals for a family will run up to $2000 monthly, meaning that without $4000 to fork over up front for housing alone, a family cannot live in the area. Purchasing housing, so I was told, is out of the question; every time a house is put on the market, people are willing to pay 15-20% above the asking price because the demand is enormous.
Beyond the problem of housing is the price of food, which runs well above justifiable price levels, so I heard. If a person can afford housing, food will take the rest of the budget. As the case worker reported, unless a person comes with sufficient funds to survive in the interim, it is conceivable that a person hired for a princely salary could well go broke before receiving the first paycheck.
This report so chilled my blood that I immediately shelved any idea of moving to the Bay area until I could check out the report further. Was the case worker being overly alarmist, or is the report accurate? Silicon Valley still provides one of the strongest markets for technical writing, which is why I cannot afford to overlook such tales of terror. If there is truth in this report, please inform me off the list.
- Maury
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