The Changing Landscape of the City
Long time San Francisco residents will notice something strange in the above charts: historically inexpensive neighborhoods, especially downtown and the surrounding areas, are now some of the most expensive...Over the past year, rents have continued to increase, but not uniformly. Asking rents have increased tremendously downtown, mid-market, and in the southern part of the city that offers the shortest commutes to the South Bay.

Rent growth exceeded 6% over the past year in San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle....But household incomes have stagnated, resulting in a financial squeeze for a growing number of renters. 

Imagine rents going up three, four, even seven times in a single year! This was the case for many Mission and San Francisco residents in 1978, the year before the Board of Supervisors approved rent control. Documentary film maker Charles Bolton and the production company Optic Nerve, now Ideas In Motion, caught the angst in “Pushed Out For Profit.” The film aired on KQED on Sept. 6, 1978.

Median rents for one-bedroom apartments by neighborhood in San Francisco (Zumper).

The apartment rental startup Zumper has updated its maps of the median rents for one and two bedroom apartments in San Francisco by neighborhood. It found that the median price for a one-bedroom in the city is now $2,764. The median price for a two-bedroom is $4,000.
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The median is the numerical value separating the higher half of a data set from the lower half.

In San Francisco, these rates vary substantially depending on which part of town you're looking in. Much like its notorious micro-climates, the city features micro-pockets of relatively affordable rental units.

For example, here are the three most expensive neighborhoods to rent a one-bedroom:

South Beach - $3500
Russian Hill - $3410
Financial District - $3350

And here are the three least expensive neighborhoods to rent a one-bedroom:

Outer Richmond - $1850
Outer Sunset - $1975
Inner Richmond - $2015

As for the three most expensive neighborhoods to rent a two-bedroom:

Financial District - $5800
Marina - $5450
Cow Hollow - $5400

And the three least expensive neighborhoods to rent a two-bedroom:

Outer Mission/Excelsior - $2460
Outer Sunset - $2525
Lakeshore - $2640

Zumper Co-Founder & CEO Anthemos Georgiades explained the methodology the company uses to construct these maps:

• "We use medians for the average prices to discount outlier listings and so as to not over/understate the real prices."
• "These May 2013 asking rents are perhaps different to what some readers may currently be paying if they rented a few years ago or if they are still paying rent- controlled prices. However, these are the current prevailing prices for available apartments on the market today."
• "Most units on the market tend to be newer (read: non-rent controlled) developments built post-1979, since they experience more turnover. These units are often renovated with many more amenities than their rent-controlled counterparts, making them more expensive."

As for the "least expensive" neighborhoods on the list, this too is a relative matter, especially for low-income families. Earlier this year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported that San Francisco is thesecond least affordable rental market among all U.S.cities, after Honolulu.

The rental situation is driving some of those seeking apartments to take extreme measures to enhance their chances.

Local supermarket magnet, Ron Kronenberger, 53, told cops he had warned the tenant, who owed $2,800 in back rent, “If you’re going to act like a child, I’m going to treat you like one,” before he whipped  the 29-year-old man on his bare bottom four times with a belt, leaving “little marks”  on his behind,  Fox8.com is reporting.

The tenant told Waynesville Police Chief Gary Copeland that he “was scared and just wanted to get [the whipping] over with” — saying it occurred Jan. 22 during an encounter in Kronenberger’s office at his supermarket, Hometown Marketplace.

"Renting to own is also a way to get into a desired neighborhood in a timely matter, as with parents who need to be in school district for their kids, or people who are uncertain of their timeline, according to San Francisco real estate professional Herman Chan. "It's a way to get into a house without committing to a 30 year mortgage," he said."