Housing Woes

The Peter Shih Suite, Now Available for $2,800/Month

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

“Everything you need at your doorstep… progressive charter schools, great restaurants, hip shopping! Google bus will pick you up right across the street!”

That's the realtor's listing for this (obviously satirical) $2,800/month micro-apartment from Outside The Box Realty.  They go on about your new Dolores Street dream pad:

We call this our Peter Shih Suite.  Bright and airy—location is everything here. If you want Naughty, the Mission is to your left. Want Nice? Head right to Noe Valley. Progressive charter schools, hip shops and the finest restaurants. Dolores Park is your front yard, Bernal Hill your back.

Of course, their trick photography makes the space look more luxurious than it really is, as The Worst Room's pic reveals:

[Outside The Box Realty, via The Worst Room]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Rental Prices Wwwaayy Up in Every Neighborhood You Want to Live In

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

(Click map for full-size)

(Click map for full-size)

Perhaps not much of a surprise here, but it's still somewhat jarring to learn that in just one year (from Q1 2011 compared to Q1 2012), apartment rentals are up 29% in the Mission, 65% in Bernal, 53% in Western Addition, and up by double digits pretty much everywhere else.  This all is according to Lovely (in conjunction with CurbedSF), “a local apartment hunting site, [which] compiled the data using figures based on indexed apartment listings posted on Craigslist.”

From Curbed:

It should be pointed out that while sometimes an apartment is listed for $2,000 but is rented for $1,800 or $2,200, we feel like the numbers are still very close to accurate. The norm is not to list an apartment for $5,000 and then take $1,000 instead.

It's also worth noting that the Mission is regaining its reputation as one of the “cheaper” (cough) “hip” (puke) neighborhoods: Bernal and Western Addition have all climbed ahead in average rental prices, Potrero Hill has soared past, and Bayview is hot on the Mission's tail.