According to the Bay Area Council, one-third of our neighbors are “likely to bolt the region in the next few years” to pursue better financial opportunities elsewhere.

First Tuesday Journal, a statewide source of real estate news, reports that when asked which local issue is the most important to them, Bay Area residents chose:

• cost of living (64 percent)
• housing (48 percent)
• traffic (39 percent).

The Bay Area Council also announced generational trends. In the same February-March 2016 tabulation of 1,000 residents, First Tuesday Journal reports the results indicated:

• Millennials’ and Gen X’s greatest concern is the high cost of Bay Area living
• Baby Boomers’ greatest concern is housing
• Residents 65 and older are most concerned about traffic.

Young college students are waiting for employment with good challenging jobs and pay and then gather enough experience to move out of the bay area to build a family and afford housing.

Older gen needs to downsize, use the sale of the house to pay for retirement and nursing/care homes. Those who stay do not want to pay the big capital gains tax and wanted to babysit their grandchildren.

Those who stay do it because of their jobs, their partners, the climate, the fun things they love in the bay area.

What is your reason to stay in the bayarea?