Always adjust for inflation.

Person arguing about rents just told me that back in my day $1500 would get me a three bedroom apartment.

In fact my wife and I paid the 1990 equivalent of almost $1500 (about $600, iirc) in San Francisco, and we got a tiny (and illegal, I'm sure) 1 bedroom apartment built into a house's garage with enough space left over to still fit a car in there.

I don't remember with certainty the total cost of the 4 bedroom flat where we met, but I think it was $1500 - $1800, which would make it $3600 - $4300.

So, a 3 bedroom for $1500 in San Francisco in the late '80s? No such thing existed, except maybe in public housing.