None of us should be laughing at such things, because obviously if we lived pretty much anywhere else the country besides Manhattan this poor guy's requests would seem perfectly sane and reasonable. But I'd like to bring your attention to the demands of this fellow on Hacker News, who is from India, and who is planning a move to the Bay Area with his wife from North Carolina where they are currently renting a 1-bedroom home for $950. He's asking where in the East Bay they might be able to find a nice, quiet place to live, with "no drugs" for $1200/month. He's willing, perhaps, to go up to $1300 if it's a "good area."

He's been told by a friend to "strictly avoid Tenderloin and Sacramento." And he has gathered through research that "Oakland is not so good area" and in most neighborhoods there besides Rockridge there are "drugs and violence and loot is too large."

He has also figured out that Walnut Creek is very expensive, and I kind of doubt he's going to find anything decent in Alameda for that budget. It's good that he's willing to commute 25 miles! But he may end up learning that he has to go further afield for cheaper rent. Like Tracy.

Would anyone else like to offer him some wisdom, or to point him to this $2100 studio in the Tenderloin?