Opinion of this article from the NYT property section

[Хahar 🤔]

What exactly about the West Village is appealing to these people?

[Хahar 🤔]

NYT property articles are universally cringe inducing.

What exactly about the West Village is appealing to these people?

It's a great neighborhood, especially if you're rich.  It's near everything and not as hectic and overbuilt as most of Manhattan.

Granted, I haven't been to New York in a decade, but my understanding was that it was a bohemian area (or at least that's what its appeal was), which does not exactly translate to that kind of house.

[Хahar 🤔]

According to the 2011 American Community Survey estimates, which seem to be the latest Census Bureau data available on this topic, median gross rents are:

San Francisco - $1,407
New York County (i.e. Manhattan) - $1,403
Washington, DC - $1,216
New York City as a whole - $1,168

It's a good thing that people in this thread are making the reasonable comparison of San Francisco to Manhattan and not the absurd comparison of San Francisco to New York. train makes a salient point about rent control; I know a number of people living in San Francisco on far less money than one might expect, but for a new arrival the only remotely reasonable place in terms of housing is out in the Sunset, which is far from everything and in terms of weather is basically Alaska.