SF 'refugees' like 'drunk millionaires in a dollar store,' Sacramento columnist says



Click through this slideshow to read the stories of people who left the Bay Area for Sacramento. less A Sacramento Bee columnist characterized Bay Area natives who move to Sacramento as "drunk millionaires in a dollar store."

Click through this slideshow to read the stories of people who left the Bay Area for ... more A Sacramento Bee columnist characterized Bay Area natives who move to Sacramento as "drunk millionaires in a dollar store." Photo: Richard Cummins, Getty Images Photo: Richard Cummins, Getty Images Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close SF 'refugees' like 'drunk millionaires in a dollar store,' Sacramento columnist says 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

The Bay Area exodus is real.

Longtime residents are leaving in search of greener (read: cheaper) pastures and now other cities are feeling the pain as a result.

Sacramento is a top pick for Bay Area residents looking to resettle, according to LinkedIn research. With its booming local food scene, proximity to nature and comparably affordable housing, it's clear why ex-San Franciscans are flooding the capital city.

It's also clear that some native Sacramentans aren't too happy with the trend. Sacramento Bee associate editor and editorial writer Erika Smith vented her frustrations in a column Tuesday, in which she laments about the ongoing "San Franciscification" of Sacramento caused by the influx of Millenials wearing black, drinking hot coffee in the summer and repeatedly using the word "hella."

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Earlier this year, SFGATE spoke to several people who left the Bay Area for Sacramento. The cost of housing was easily the number one reason people gave for making the move. The median home value in Sacramento is about $305,000, according to Zillow. In San Francisco, it's upwards of $1.2 million.

"Moved from a basement apartment in East Bay to a whole house in Sac for less," said Nichole McKenna, 33, a dentist with three years of Sacramento living under her belt.

25-year-old Briana Mullen had nothing but good intentions when she moved to Sac. "I knew I wanted to work in public service," she said, "but even earning a higher salary in the Bay Area, the cost of living would totally negate what I earned."

At first, Mullen rented a room in trendy midtown Sacramento, but she has since bought a home elsewhere in the city. She's now able to pay her mortgage and save for the future.

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But Smith argues the problem with these "Bay Area refugees" is that they aren't doing their research before making the move north.

She writes, "'A 754-square-foot studio apartment for $2,020? Sure! That's affordable!' Said no one who already lives in Sacramento, ever."

That price may seem like a steal for any San Franciscan, but Smith says that by renting these "expensive" apartments, out-of-towners are driving up prices for everyone else.

She writes Bay Area ex-pats are acting "like drunk millionaires in a dollar store."

While that's a rather harsh characterization, it's a frustration that many San Franciscans can relate to. Sacramento is starting to feel the same upward pressure on prices that pushed Bay Area natives out in the first place.

"There's more people, there's more traffic. And, unfortunately, there are a lot of people here that can no longer afford to live where they grew up," Hunter Watkins, a 25-year-old native of Sacramento, told SFGATE in June.

We know the feeling.