Patrick just landed a job working for an up and coming online gaming company in Palo Alto, California. In a lot of ways, this is his dream job come true—the chance to work for a company that makes gaming software and live in California at the same time. As his plane lands at San Jose International, he pictures a snazzy apartment with a palm tree right outside the front door. A few hours later, as he meets a property manager of a large apartment complex, his heart sinks. The price of apartments is outrageous! Back at the hotel, he checks the Bureau of Labor Statistics site to try to get a better picture of why the cost of housing is so high in this region of the country. Which factors may be causing the rise in the price of housing?