Meanwhile, as the new AI boom takes hold, the tale of who gets to stay in San Francisco and who doesn’t is told by its residents.
Two San Francisco families with school-aged children, who both asked for anonymity to protect their privacy, recently succeeded in buying move-in-ready single-family homes to meet their desperate needs for more space – but only one was able to do so in the city.
That family was able to purchase in the desirable family-friendly neighbourhood where they had been long-term renters after one parent, who works at OpenAI, sold some company shares last October, giving the family the financial boost needed to buy in an all-cash offer.
The couple say they feel “conflicted and self-conscious” that it is AI money that has made it possible. “We’re not ostentatious people,” they add. “We’ve just done what we can with the opportunity.”
In contrast, the other family, which doesn’t derive its income from AI or the tech world, had to instead move to a more suburban Bay Area town to the north.
Their new home, bought in part with a mortgage, includes a pool and extra land.
It is a different kind of life, notes the mother, and they have mostly adapted now – though it involves a long commute for her husband, who has a senior government job in San Francisco, and they still have “what if” moments.
“We wouldn’t have left if we could have afforded to stay,” she reflects. “It kind of sucks and I do get a little salty seeing all this extra AI money squeeze everyone else out.”
The Duboce Triangle flat, for the record, and according to its listing agent, sold for $3.2m – $200,000 over the asking price. Whether the deal included AI stock is confidential.
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