Rents soar as foreclosure victims with tarnished credit, young workers seek housing

[Prism]

16. East Bay is ridiculous

Forget San Francisco (I've friends paying $1200+ a month to live in closets). It isn't even that the rent is bad in a place like Berkeley ($1100-$1600 for one bedrooms). It's that the deposits required are totally absurd. When I was looking last year, one bedroom apartments were asking for upwards of $2500-$3000 deposits in some places.

I lucked into a great place for only $875 a month - and I know I was absolutely freaktastic lucky in finding it. It helped that the property manager liked us even though about twenty people applied within the first week of the listing. I think she thought me and my boyfriend were going to do that Gay Magic Trick of massive renovation and upgrading.

Tch, we showed her.

I have friends only two miles away paying almost double what I am for places that are smaller. I am never leaving this place.