Looking at Zillow, there are 64 2-bedroom apartments in SF alone for <= $4k. If you expand your search out of the city the number becomes much higher...
I actually think Ingleside is pretty doable, but it's a very long commute for the price. I'm not going to live in the Tenderloin, and you're probably not going to either.
I'm counting 7 apartments (arguably 8) outside of those neighborhoods, and half of those don't list the square footage (a 600sqft "two bedroom" is not a two bedroom).
By the way, the Bay is bigger than SF. People commute from Milbrae, Daly City, Richmond into SF every day by train and it takes less than an hour.
>current rate for a two bedroom in most of SF
for a reason. Yes, you can get a cheaper place if you live in a place you don't want to live, but my point is that you don't want to live there. This entire thread is about how tech is moving to NYC, exactly because it's difficult to build a good life in SF. I'm saying, yes the prices have increased to the point where you can't build a good life in SF.
If you want to live in the Tenderloin or a dorm at SF State University... by all means go for it, and good luck to you. I'd much rather pack up and move to NYC than live like that.
This is referring to SF, not "the Bay." SF has a population of "nearly a million." The Bay Area has a population of 8 million.