Rent
In The Bold Italic. More on Medium.
We’re on the brink of a nationwide rent crisis
California (and the rest of the country) is on its way into a massive rent crisis. Eventually, the thousands and thousands of overdue rent payments that are currently on hold because of Covid will come due.
Nationwide, one in four Americans report someone in their household losing income, or having lost their jobs themselves, during the pandemic. Here in the Bay Area, the unemployment rate hit 7% in December 2020 (compared to 2.7% in January). That means scores of people have struggled to pay their rent at some point over the past year. …
Friday Five
We’re now in a renter’s market, so the odds are finally in your favor
As we’ve talked about in our The Californian’s Dilemma series this week, many locals are presently poised with the question of should I stay or should I go — amid a time marked by a worsening global pandemic, ongoing wildfires, and hazy air conditions that we just can’t seem to shake loose. Because of all that, San Francisco, as well as other major cities, now boast a renter’s market — the first in over a decade.
Stories have come out about locals successfully negotiating a rent reduction with their landlords, who are incentivized to have them stay and not have…
Your monthly dose of “housing” from the depths of Craigslist
Last month, The Bold Italic readers scrolled in horror as we debuted our new series, Sketchiest Bay Area Apartments You Can Rent Now. Readers really enjoyed seeing how dark the depths of Craigslist can get, from a chilling crawl space in an attic to a room you had to vacate on the weekends. Since the article was such a hit, the editors are trusting me with a monthly search for these rental gems.
Join me as we go down the rabbit hole that is the Bay Area rental market. …
The conversation you have every week
She asks with a sympathetic head tilt, the same kind you might receive when someone checks in on how your grandma’s holding up or if you finally got that raise your boss has been promising you for months. I’m at a birthday party in the Mission, surrounded by recent friends I’ve accumulated from thin connections from high school, college, friends of friends and work. But I could be at a new trendy restaurant, getting to know a couple who just moved here through my husband’s work colleague. Or I could be at the dog park, talking to a complete stranger.
…
Even our new mayor is a renter
Complaining about rent in San Francisco is like whining about traffic in LA—it’s never going to change. San Franciscans love to talk about how much it costs to live in this city, which is mostly due to its outrageous rent prices. No matter how much we dwell, the situation remains the same. It’s almost as if we are attached to our own complaints—or the city is totally immune to them. But this week we learned that London Breed is just like us(!).
London Breed Has Always Rented in SF
“I’ve been a renter all my life,” London Breed said in her inauguration speech on Wednesday, according to…
Room to room, multiple houses and one epic journey to stay in one of the most expensive cities in the country
I haven’t had a room to call my own in seven years, and I don’t mind. I just do whatever I have to do in order to stay in San Francisco. The past 7,555 days of my sharing-room saga will continue as long as the rent stays high as the sky. Until then, here’s what I’ve taken away from the past couple of years.
While growing up in an above-average-size house in Orange County, I shared a room with my brother. Living with a sibling is not a walk through the park—one time my brother locked himself in the lockers…
Man, cleaning up after yourself is super-lame. Isn’t that what parents are for? You’re an individual, and you’re free to leave your stuff all over the place. If you want to spit toothpaste all over the bathroom walls, do it. You pay rent, after all.
Just kidding. This is sarcasm. Follow the steps below only if you are a terrible person. But yes, I’m guilty of a few of these.
1. The Dish War of Attrition
Stack your dirty dishes in an impossible Jenga combination all the way to the tap, making it impossible for your roommate to do their own dishes until they have an…
By Jessica Lachenal
1. “I can totally share one bathroom with two couples, an out of town guest who never left, and the cat every morning. We keep different schedules anyway, right?”
2. “If I pay more on rent, that means I won’t spend so much on drinking.”
3. “I don’t need a closet. Or a stove. Or a dishwasher. Or privacy.”
4. “It’ll be so cool sharing a wall with the band next door.”
5. “When you think about it, a dining room is just another bedroom.”
6. “My friends won’t mind taking the N out to visit me.”
7. “I can…
By Sam Harnett
After four years of living in shared apartments across San Francisco, my girlfriend and I decided that the time had come to get our own place. We figured we had already done the hard part — committing to live together. Finding a place would be easy. We both had stable jobs and were willing to pay the mind-numbing price of $1,500 each for a one-bedroom. All we wanted was a cozy home where I could write, and we could occasionally host a few friends for dinner. OK, we were also hoping for some iconic SF architectural details…
By Amy Koch, Illustrated by Minnie Phan
Pro: Your kitchen sink is broken, but there’s no need to worry. You’re only a doorbell away from getting that baby fixed.
Con: Your landlord notices the things that you broke or ruined in your apartment and takes notes of what to deduct from your deposit.
Pro: You feel safer bringing home random online dates because your landlord is just a scream away.
Con: You can’t bring home too many dates without feeling really judged.
Pro: Mail deliveries are a lot easier because your landlord can sign for your packages.
Con: Your landlord…
The Bold Italic
Celebrating the free-wheeling spirit of the Bay Area — one sentence at a time.
