Since the California Gold Rush, economic opportunities have drawn people to the Bay Area from all over the world. But for just as long, the region’s boom-and-bust economy has made it impossible for others to stay.
Since the 1990s, the tech industry has driven costs higher, but for some who work in the industry and haven’t struck IPO or AI gold, life in the Bay Area is not adding up.
Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden, both 62, raised their family in Northern California, but a layoff made it impossible for them to stay. Last spring, they put their house in Berkeley on the market and drove to Santa Fe with a cat, Molly, and a chihuahua, Felice…