Or the whole Bay Area to NYC. This is comparing large tracts of semi-suburban areas (outer parts of Queens, Staten Island, etc.) to a <50 sq mile city. A closer comparison would have to include the Peninsula and East Bay at the very least, which are essentially SF's "boroughs".
The commute time by subway from Flushing, Queens to Lower Manhattan, for example, is about an hour. If you're willing to include that commute radius for NYC, the SF equivalent would also have a number of affordable places to live. For example, you can head 45-60 mins eastward on either the Dublin/Pleasanton or the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART lines. Or even closer, the going rate for a 2br single-family home in San Bruno (30 mins by Caltrain or BART) is around $2500.
The commute time by subway from Flushing, Queens to Lower Manhattan, for example, is about an hour. If you're willing to include that commute radius for NYC, the SF equivalent would also have a number of affordable places to live. For example, you can head 45-60 mins eastward on either the Dublin/Pleasanton or the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART lines. Or even closer, the going rate for a 2br single-family home in San Bruno (30 mins by Caltrain or BART) is around $2500.