>Affordable and unaffordable is a subjective measure.
No it isn't. Affordable and unaffordable can be defined objectively for a specific population (e.g. "Americans") by observing that population's behavior. If people avoid living somewhere due to the cost of living, it's unaffordable. There's nothing terribly ambiguous about that. The consequences can also be expressed with numbers, e.g.:
>For the people living somewhere despite its cost of living, it is affordable.
You substituted a useless definition for a useful one. Nobody cares about the affordability to a particular individual. There's probably somebody living in a rent-controlled apartment in San Francisco paying $500/month, but it's plainly nonsense to argue on that basis that rent in San Francisco is $500/month.
Aggregate affordability is operationalized via its effect on population movements, and San Francisco is not affordable, period. Debasing the metrics won't save you, it's just frustrating to deal with people who find it convenient to deny reality.
No it isn't. Affordable and unaffordable can be defined objectively for a specific population (e.g. "Americans") by observing that population's behavior. If people avoid living somewhere due to the cost of living, it's unaffordable. There's nothing terribly ambiguous about that. The consequences can also be expressed with numbers, e.g.:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2016/12/07/zoning-r...