San Francisco Expensive? Think $4 Toast

Petition calls on mayor to get city's cost of living under control
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2013 6:07 PM CST
San Francisco Expensive? Think $4 Toast
   (Shutterstock)

A group in San Francisco has launched a petition urging the mayor to get the city's cost of living under control—and $4 toast is at the heart of it, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. This all started several weeks ago with a blog post in Venture Beat by Jolie O'Dell who complained about shelling out $6 for a piece of toast and a cup of coffee at a local eatery. O'Dell blamed the city's well-paid tech community for driving up prices at the expense of middle- and working-class families, laying out a cycle that involves the rise of "bourgie businesses."

The concept of $4 toast has resonated since, and Eddie Kurtz of the group Courage Campaign said it inspired the recent petition. "It feels like there's a widening sense that this is out of control," he says. "It feels like there's just a widening gap, and regular people who often don't think about these things are having sticker shock about trying to find an apartment and pay the bills." The petition criticizes Mayor Ed Lee for not taking "meaningful action," though a spokesperson for Lee counters that his support of the tech industry will save the city, not doom it. (More San Francisco stories.)

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