The latest version comes from a 19-year-old chemistry student who's already half-convinced their degree is worthless and that AI is coming for every job that isn't already out of reach. And honestly? That anxiety is understandable — but it's also a little overblown.

Let's start with the reality check nobody in city government wants to give you: San Francisco is expensive largely because we've made it that way. Decades of restrictive zoning, Byzantine permitting processes, and a housing approval system that treats every new apartment building like a constitutional crisis have strangled supply. That's not a natural disaster — it's a policy choice. And until that changes, the cost of entry here will remain brutally high.

But here's the thing people forget: SF is not a tech company town. It's a city. One local put it well: "Every type of job exists in this city. The market pays higher here due to the higher cost of living." Medicine, biotech, finance, law, trades, hospitality, city government — the ecosystem is enormous. As another SF resident pointed out, friends working as pipefitters, electricians, and longshoremen "make more than some people I know in tech."

The real secret to affording San Francisco isn't a six-figure coding job. It's the boring stuff: roommates, rent control, cooking at home, and skipping the Waymo rides. One local broke it down to less than $1,500 a month by sharing an apartment, buying secondhand, and relying on Muni and their own two feet.

Is that glamorous? No. Is it doable? Absolutely.

To the 19-year-old chemistry student: don't panic-pivot your degree because Twitter told you AI is eating the world. The Bay Area is one of the biggest biotech corridors on the planet. A chemistry degree isn't a death sentence — it's a launchpad, if you're strategic about it.

The biggest financial threat to young people in San Francisco isn't their major. It's a local government that spends $14 billion a year, presides over a housing shortage it helped create, and then wonders why young people can't afford to stick around. Focus on what you can control — your skills, your budget, your hustle — and let the rest be a reason to demand better from City Hall.