Rents have gone down considerably in California the last few years, so actually little to complain about here.
I have a friend in San Francisco who paid $1200/month rent for studio apartment in the slums a few years back. She pays closer to $900 now.
We bought a condo in the Bay in 2000 because it was far cheaper to buy a $300k apartment than to rent it for $3k/month. It was 3-bedroom, but in a so-so neighborhood, nothing fancy. The same condo is now $500k or so and $2000/month to rent. It is nice that rent is actually an option over buying around here these days (since buying is hardly an option). Though as a landlord not much of an option if you bought the last few years - you can't even begin to recover costs. For that reason renters have it good.
I now live in a city where people complain about paying $500/month for a studio now. I can't get behind the complaining - it is all so relative.
I don't remember ever being able to afford to rent.