And going out to restaurants and bars.

That's lifestyle, not cost of living.

There are plenty of good, cheap restaurants and bars in the city. I know: I frequent them.

I will give you that the number of outrageously priced restaurants and bars in SF has increased. People just don't seem to give a fuck about piling on debt. I think the insane cost of rent has had a psychological effect on incoming people. Or perhaps some other social phenomenon that brings them here is correlated with absolutely no sense of money.

That's still lifestyle. Say "grocery stores" instead of "restaurants" and now we're talking cost of living.