This is an interesting perspective. I'm from Marin County (the "classic" cloister of the rich in the bay area). While I was growing up (1985 - 2004), there was already a cultural gulf in the community between the older population (families that had purchased houses before the prices spiked) and yuppies who were buying housing at hugely increased prices. On paper, many people in Marin are very wealthy, but in practice this isn't as common as the stats suggest (An ex-girlfriend's parents weren't well off enough to help her attend college, but her parents were considered too rich due to their house for financial aid).
I've been lucky enough to have parents who could afford to help me with school, and have an interest in a lucrative field (computer science). However, many of my highschool classmates did not have one (or both) of those advantages. They are also squeezed between a high cost of living and the lack of jobs that provide a realistic living wage. However, unlike migrants from other areas, the less fortunate locals do not have another home to go back to. I know families that moved their entire family out of the state while their kids were still in school because it became financially untenable to live in the area.
This situation reminds me of the ongoing situation in SF. There are plenty of stories (anecdotal though they may be) of long-time residents being forced out of communities by the economic climate. It is easy for outsides to look at the Bay Area and see a city made up of tech workers making $100k+ a year, but the reality is very different. The same is true of people who bought their houses in a different economic climate. At least the parents have the "escape value" of their houses, as long as they're willing to sell off 18+ years of their lives.
I've been lucky enough to have parents who could afford to help me with school, and have an interest in a lucrative field (computer science). However, many of my highschool classmates did not have one (or both) of those advantages. They are also squeezed between a high cost of living and the lack of jobs that provide a realistic living wage. However, unlike migrants from other areas, the less fortunate locals do not have another home to go back to. I know families that moved their entire family out of the state while their kids were still in school because it became financially untenable to live in the area.
This situation reminds me of the ongoing situation in SF. There are plenty of stories (anecdotal though they may be) of long-time residents being forced out of communities by the economic climate. It is easy for outsides to look at the Bay Area and see a city made up of tech workers making $100k+ a year, but the reality is very different. The same is true of people who bought their houses in a different economic climate. At least the parents have the "escape value" of their houses, as long as they're willing to sell off 18+ years of their lives.