Do you live in a ridiculously high cost of living city?

[Herman Munster]

I'm mainly talking about NY, NJ, DC, Boston, Miami, LA, SF, Seattle.

Places where if you want an average size house in an average neighborhood will run you at least $400k.

Why do you do it? Is it because you like the area or you have a good job there? Ever consider moving to a lower cost of living city?

[danalytical]

1. I live in Connecticut

An average house in the suburbs costs between $250,000 (older but not bad)and $350,000 (average new construction). I can afford $150,00 maybe. It's enough to make a man want to give up.

[ramapodem]

2. Because

thats where my life is.

[MrCoffee]

3. seattle...good job, just not enough to buy a house with.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. Harvest, Alabama... A Mecca for Celebs & The Rich anf Famous...

Our Pacific beaches and world class Ski resorts have made it all but impossible to afford the weekly Tractor pulls.


:sarcasm:

[Arugula Latte]

39. Oh, yes. Palm Beach, Aspen, the Hamptons, and ... Harvest.

Must be tough constantly having to swat all the paparazzi away ... : B-)

[Virginia Dare]

5. Yes...

D.C., but I was born and raised here, otherwise I'd probably cut and run.

[Herman Munster]

6. do you own a house there?

D.C. was pretty affordable in the 80's. There are lots of feds who bought homes for $75k to $100k back then which are worth over $500k now.

It's a nice little retirement bonus for them when they retire from the gov at 56 or 57 with a pension. They can leave DC, move to whereever they want to retire and buy homes in cash.

[Virginia Dare]

9. Yes, but we bought in the early 90's....

It is truly mind boggling what our house appraises for now. I wouldn't pay market price for it, I'll put it that way.

[shireen]

7. job & medical reasons

My job -- my degree is in a very specialized field, and it would be difficult for me to find a comparable job anywhere else.

I've also got complex health problems. Over the past few years, I've found some good doctors. There are excellent hospitals here too.

That's what keeps me in Baltimore, where real estate prices have become totally insane over the past 5 years (people who can't afford to live in DC are buying property here, one of the reasons for the crazy increases).

If I could, I'd move somewhere more affordable and pleasant!

[Hailtothechimp]

8. Most of the lower cost cities seem to be in the red states, though

I hate that whole Red/Blue thing. That being said, living in Texas or Oklahoma is probably cheaper, but is the trade off worth it to be in Bush country? I can't imagine it is.

I live in Chicago (in the city, not the suburbs). It isn't the most expensive place, but it certainly isn't cheap, either. And I wouldn't think of living anywhere else.

[Herman Munster]

10. every red state has blue enclaves

Texas has Austin, for instance which I've heard is very nice and liberal with all the college students.

[mnhtnbb]

51. North Carolina has Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Great university town

best public schools in the state. The county (Orange) voted 66% Kerry in 2004.

Anywhere in town, you encounter liberals and progressives.

[Flying Dream Blues]

60. yes, but Austin is very expensive... nt

[datasuspect]

22. the funny thing about chicago . . .

many, many "desirable" areas in the city were sketchy at best, downright slums at worst, 30 years ago.

i grew up there through the 70s and 80s - near southwest side, the next neighborhood over from pilsen between damen and western.

it used to be an affordable city, an edgy city, often a dangerous one. we liked it better like that.

recently though, the whole "economic cleansing/gentrification" thing has gotten WAY out of hand. the visual character and charm of the city has been scarred with the proliferation of shoddily built cinderblock condo monstrosities.

i rememer around 1995 or so when many independently owned businesses went under in LP and other near north side areas: that cool 24 diner with awesome lox and onion omelettes, gone; the independent bookstore in continuous operation since the 30s, gone; small businesses edged out and replaced with cancerous, ubiquitous national chains.

chicago to me is now a sewertrap of recent midwestern college graduates who want to replicate the experience they enjoyed from watching "friends" or "sex in the city." a transplanted replication of all the worst aspects of suburbia.

it's not the same place. i'm sure it's great though for people with money. but things are always okay if you can always pay.

[Hailtothechimp]

46. Knocking down the high rises like Cabrini Green helped a lot.

Chicago is not what is was, but what place stays the same over 30 years???

Gentrification has been rampant in the last decade. I won't deny that. But, at the same time, the suburbs are now getting some of the issues (street gangs and all the things they bring) that people once moved from the cities to get away from. Which is fine with me.

The schools still have a long way to go, and political corruption is probably worse now than its ever been. And of course the winter and summer extremes can suck too. But in between the coasts, there's no place else to live for me.

[skygazer]

11. I used to live in a lower cost of living city

Where there were no jobs. Which is why the cost of living was lower. When you're an unskilled worker, you have to go where the work is. It doesn't do any good to live in an "affordable" area when you don't have a job and so can't afford anything.

I live in a high cost of living area now - no way I'd ever be able to buy a home and I'm fortunate that I've found a rental that's reasonably priced. But my job pays me well and my hope is that I will be able to save enough money to buy somewhere more affordable.

[union_maid]

12. Long Island

I live in a very modest working/middle class area, or at least it was. Now even the areas with schools so bad the residents won't send their there are extremely expensive. Our has decent schools, at least. We bought our house 30 years ago, refinanced once, but for the minimum amount allowed, so the mortgage isn't too bad. 400K is about average for housing here, although with the slowdown, some small houses are dropping into the 350K range.

The mortgage isn't bad, but the cost of home heating oil, electricity and Long Island taxes brings the basic cost of running the house to over 2k a month. Of course, that's partly because a number of people besides my husband and myself live here and they all kick in. Otherwise we'd have moved to something much smaller by now.

I'd love to move to a different place. I hate the way it's gotten to be here. We're too old to move. Plain and simple, we have health problems, we're way above the age where it's easy to find work, too young and too poor to retire and we're lucky to be working and have health benefits. We also have grown kids, one of which lives upstairs with her family and she has a shared custody deal with her ex-husband for the older child. She's only allowed to move as far as 50 miles away. Fifty miles in any direction from here is only more expensive, not less.

[HockeyMom]

31. Hi Neighbor

Smithtown here. We bought our 3 bedroom, 2 bath in 1987 for $187,000. We sold it in 2004 for $450,000 (needed some work) to a flipper (found out later). No, we didn't make a killing since we had a lot of debt with my husband being in and out of work for years (High Tech). Anyway, the flipper practically put up a new house. He put it on the market beginning of the summer at $775,000. It is now down to $650,000. The fact remains, for all the improvements, it is STILL only a 3 bedroom Split, hardly a Mc Mansion.

My husband got a job down in Florida and I am renting here with my two daughters, one of whom is still in college upstate. My rent for a 3 bedroom attached house is $2,300 a month which includes NO UTILITIES. Well, you know what that can cost.

My husband found out that Florida, at least the Naples area, is NOT CHEAPER THAN HERE. One of his coworkers just bought a house down there for $500,000 which he says would fit into our old house here. My husband bought a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo, which is 800 sq. ft, for $250,000. Good buy? I don't think so.

My daughter will graduate college next year with a degree in Education. She is planning to move to Nevada. Looking at the cost of living there in comparison to both Florida and Long Island, we just may go with her.

[union_maid]

50. Right down the road from you

In beautiful Ronkonkoma. :) Sorry you're leaving. I know FL is no longer cheap. Used to be, but no more. My son-in-law's brother was just transferred to FL from Dallas. They traded in a big house in Dallas for a small one in Pensacola for about twice what they'd paid in TX. The housing situation is out of control. If a place has some jobs and lower costs the migration starts and the prices start marching upward. Even though the bubble is losing some air, things are still far from affordable.

[Speed8098]

73. We truly are neighbors

I'm also in Ronkonkoma. My street dead ends into the lake. We bought our house in '01' for $112,500, and today on Zillow it shows for $324,000.

We had a Century 21 realtor come in a couple of weeks ago and she told us that $320,000.00 was a fair price to ask if we wanted to sell in a reasonable amount of time. Personally, I would never pay that much, but hey, if the market demands that price, who am I to argue.:)

I stay here because with my level of education(high school grad, no college), in a lower cost of living area I would never be able to command the salary I get here. While it is expensive, I make enough money to be comfortable and still save some toward retirement.

Not to mention that I love Ronkonkoma. We are central to everything.

[Momgonepostal]

13. We don't quite make the cut, but...

an average house here (Northern CA Central Valley) is in the mid-upper $300K range.

When we moved back here in the mid 90's, and average house was maybe not even quite a third of that. All our family is here and we do have jobs here, although not great, outstanding jobs. We were lucky enough to buy a condo when things were quite a bit cheaper than they are now.

If it were up to me, we would have left for cheaper pastures 2 years ago, but my husband does not want to move. It's pretty tough to reach a compromise on this issue! He's currently working on a CA teaching credential, so that will tie us to the state for a while. We do like the state, we like being within a couple of hours of beach one direction, snow the other. We like that the public university system is very good and highly subsidized, so our kids will have the opportunity to go to good colleges that we can actually afford. And we like being near family. My mother's health is not what it used to be, so it's nice to be close.

I do like to torture myself and look up real estate websites in other states. It just about kills me to see thta for what we could sell our condo for, we could get a twice as big house, with a gargage and a yard in MANY other places.

[Nictuku]

14. San Francisco

Very expensive here. I live just north of the city across the GG bridge. I choose to live in this expensive town because it is beautiful. I love the trees and nature. I work in the city, the commute is only about a half hour. I feel I have the best of both worlds. Nature and then City Life if I want it. I pay $950/mo for rent (for a Studio, if you can believe that).

Could I afford to buy a home here? Only if the housing market busts. It is very depressing.

Would I move to a cheaper area? I don't think so, I think I would lose my mind if I had to live somewhere surrounded by cement and buildings and ... uggh, people.

[pnwmom]

15. Some of us do it because, just five years ago, houses were a lot

more affordable, and we already have them -- -plus jobs, and schools, and other ties to the community.

And we love the area.

A lower cost city wouldn't offer the same jobs or the same salaries, so I'm not sure what the benefit would really be -- until retirement.

[goclark]

16. I LOVE Los Angeles and I would never want to live anywhere

else.

In fact, I am happy when ever anyone tells me, " I would never live there because you have earthquakes and smog and too many freeways!"

I tell them, " You are right! You would never like it here!"

Then I laugh to myself because, I love to live here. I love " Bright Lights, Big City, lots of choices, lots of places to shop, the top of the limit in everything and then good old neighborhood favorites too. I love it and anyone that doesn't ~ please don't even visit us, you will hate it. :)

By the way, I know about living in the Mid West and the East and the South. Been there, done that.

[Scooter24]

23. I love LA

Just helped a friend move out there. We're both addicted to coastal areas and vibrant nightlife.

I wouldn't mind living out there, it's just the boyfriend and I have a business here in Dallas and we're just not ready to transplant there yet. Maybe in another 5-7 years. :)

[goclark]

37. OK, we'll let you come and live here

:)

You sound like you understand our wonderful city!

[mnhtnbb]

53. Left L.A. in 1988 and never looked back. Lived there 20 years.

Every time we visit I can't wait to come home.

[AllieB]

17. Northern Suburbs of Boston here

Even though the market has supposedly softened, home prices are still very high here. My husband and I work in the city, and we live right down the street from the commuter rail. It sure beats sitting in traffic 90 minutes each way to go 45 miles round trip! We chose this town for quality of life, access to public transportation, and excellent schools. My parents still live in the city, and because they live in a trendy neighborhood, their modest two-family house is worth close to one million dollars. They paid 18K for it in 1966. My neighborhood was mixed blue collar and middle class when I was growing up. Now it's yuppie/wealthy.

Even with two reasonably good incomes, it's a struggle to live in the Boston area. I really feel for working-class families trying to afford housing, car insurance and the cost of living here. We stay here to be close to our families, and because of the culture and education. The winters aren't as bad as everyone says, though now I've probably just jinxed us into record snowfall totals! x(

[Wickerman]

18. Rural Southren Minnesota here

the cost of living is out of hand!!1! The County fair is still free, but they insisted on making parking mandatory rather than a donation. Hell, for 2$ me and my family will WALK the 3 blocks!


:sarcasm:

Lived elsewhere, big city, small, north, south - this is some pretty damn good quality of life.

[LibDemAlways]

81. A free county fair? Really? I'm on my way.

Took my daughter and her friend to our county fair here in So. Cal and parking alone was $5.00. Entry was $8.00 apiece - cash only, please. So $29.00 for the three of us to get in the door and what did that buy? Nothing. Wristbands so the kids could ride the rides $15.00 each - otherwise $3.00 per ride. Food was outrageous, too. Ice cream cone $3.50. Slice of pizza $5.00. At night there was a "free" concert (advertised as being "for the whole family") by a group called the "All American Rejects." Lots of pushing and shoving in line. Fights broke out at the damn thing and lots of families with kids were treated to the lead singer's repeated use of the f-bomb and watching unruly drunk people being arrested. I spent close to $100.00 and all of my patience before I escaped. Then the "free shuttle" back to the miles away parking lot was a nightmare. Line backed up and one bus came around every 20 minutes. Took almost an hour.

Even a county fair is a shitful experience in the big city. Appreciate your quality of life. It's something that's sorely lacking here.

[Wickerman]

82. Ouch

reminds me of the Fiesta events when I lived in San Antonio. They were fun, but got more costly as the time went by.

To be accurate, here in the "country" we of course have our over-priced food and we also pay 3$ per ride - but we are limited to about 15 rides!

LOL, the AAR. I went with a friend of mine to see them this Spring. We were on parent patrol. His kids wanted to go but were too young. Constant mosh pit and continual "coarse" language. Not the best choice for a county fair.

Come on out to the Midwest - the living is good, the folks are friendly, he air is clean (well, except the occasional wafts of pig manure) and as the New Yorker once famously noted in a cartoon - Plenty of Free Parking!

[Missy Vixen]

19. We're natives

>Is it because you like the area or you have a good job there?<

DH and I were both born in Seattle and have lived here our entire lives. We'll be living in the house we're in, though, until we decide to leave. He works in the software industry. Every place else we could possibly live (and keep his job,) we'd be in the same boat -- his company has branches in San Francisco and London, for instance.

We live in a suburb of Seattle. We purchased our current home six years ago for $250,000. It's a nice house. We like it very much. At the same time, housing prices here have exploded to the extent that the next-door-neighbors sold their home (bigger than ours with more upgrades,) to the first people that looked at it the day they put it on the market and less than six months ago for $439,000.

>Ever consider moving to a lower cost of living city?<

I'm not sure where that would be on the West Coast, and we'd kind of like to stay here.
Julie

[Scooter24]

20. I live in Highland Park, TX.

former home of Cheney, a town located within Dallas, TX. Not sure of the average house cost but I would estimate it to be around $300k-$500k going up to the millions. We are currently looking for a house just north of here in the Preston Hollow area, and houses there average about $500k up to $10m+

I live here mainly because of the space and peace of the neighborhood. The community amenities are outstanding and the people are very cultured and nice.

[datasuspect]

24. isn't that where they have one of the earliest

versions of the strip mall?

some kind of master planned mixed use retail/commercial deal that was built in the 20s?

[Scooter24]

27. Yes.

The opulent Highland Park Village. http://www.hpvillage.com/

Where if you're looking to shop at Chanel, Escada, Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Harry Winston, William Nobel, etc., you'll be in heaven. :)

It opened in 1931.

[sabra]

21. North Shore of Chicago

Our house has gone up 50% in 4 years, which is great... but we can't afford to move anywhere else in the area.

[Marrah_G]

25. South of Boston

I live here because I love it and frankly I would never want to live anywhere else. I was born and raised here and I would never live anywhere else in the US besides New England.

I love the four distinct seasons.

I love the diversity that comes from people coming here from all over the world to study and then choosing to make it home.

I love the mix of rural small towns and big cities.

I love the mountains in nearby New Hampshire.

I love Cape Cod in the spring and fall.

I love that my family can live in peace without hiding that we are Wiccan.

I love that my friends can marry no matter what their sexual preference is.

[TayTay]

61. North of Boston

I have roots here that go back to 1636. Ah, I guess it's home, no matter the problems, no matter the seasons, no matter what. I love New England and would never, ever leave.

[Cobalt Violet]

74. I couldn't have said it better.

:hi: West of Boston here.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

26. Yup. Morris County. Northern Jersey Is Ridiculous In Costs.

Why do we? Cause that's where we have jobs right now. My wife is tirelessly looking for a new job so that we could move to an area where house prices and childcare are a bit more reasonable.

[mnhtnbb]

55. Take a look at Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. Grew up in Chatham, NJ

and after living in Southern CA (north San Diego County) L.A., Missouri, and Nebraska, I love Chapel Hill.

[aikoaiko]

59. My parents house in Bergen Cty, NJ was 55k in 1971, now....

....it just resold for 995,000k. :crazy:

I will never live where I grew up.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

62. My Wife's Parents Live There Too. The Prices? Holy Cow!

If I lived there I would enlist somebody to add a level or expand my house in a heartbeat, then flip it for a huge profit. Then I'd move a bit west and bank a ton of dough. It is amazing what some of the property values in Bergen are. But then when it comes down to it, even the prices in what used to be cheap as hell places like Blairstown are even becoming jaw dropping. I thank god I bought our house in Denville right before the boom. If I hadn't, we would've never been able to even afford a starter home. I feel for young newlyweds nowadays in the area, as they'll probably be stuck in an apartment for years.

[twilight_sailing]

28. Silver City, New Mexico

is so far from anywhere that you have to navigate by the moon and stars just to make the 50 empty miles to the Interstate. Movie buffs might recall that "Salt of the Earth" was about the miners here in Silver City. The mine workers are still getting a raw deal, by the way. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Silver City is listed as one of the best small towns in America but it is not as cheap as it used to be. Lots of folks from Califoria are selling their houses and move here, buying a house that looks way cheap to them with the profits. This has driven the price of houses way up. I saw this happen in Santa Fe years ago. The price of houses went up so high that folks who had lived there for generations couldn't afford to live there anymore. But, in the end, this will not happen in Silver City. We are not a tourist mecca, the countryside is not so beautiful, there are no jobs here. Things will level out eventually because this is absolutely the next to last stop before the end of the known Universe. We are the Pluto of New Mexico.

[Gormy Cuss]

36. Silver City had a great Mexican restaurant

Something with Jalisco in the name. I agree, there's little to make it your town a tourist attraction although it looked like a nice enough little town.

[twilight_sailing]

42. You're right,

it's Jaliscos. It's still good. They've been the most consistent over the years and that's saying something when one's talking about restaurants.

[newyawker99]

43. Hi twilight_sailing!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. You don't have to be metro

to find ridiculously priced homes. I live about 40 miles south of San Jose, Calif., in a rural town where the average home price is about $575,000.

Fortunately, I bought my home before the boom.

[Cleita]

30. $400K that low?

I live between Los Angeles and San Francisco that can be described as an agricultural area and vacation destination and $400K wouldn't buy you even a decent lot these days where I live.

[LiberalEsto]

32. Suburban Maryland

We have lived in the DC suburbs for 16 years. House prices didn't seem too bad to us when we moved here from central New Jersey, because prices there were about the same.

That said, we could not afford to buy our own small, modest house today. It has way more than doubled in price in just 8 years.

Of course, we couldn't afford to move back to NJ either, because a comparable house in a comparable neighborhood would carry close to $10,000 a year in property taxes, whereas in Montgomery County, MD, our taxes are only $2,600 a year.

What I really hate is that my kids will not be able to afford to live here, and apartment rents are sky-high as well.

[Dorian Gray]

33. I live in Brooklyn, NYC.

It's amazingly expensive, but worth every penny to me. It can be difficult to pay the rent at times, but I wouldn't give it up for any other place. I absolutely adore it here.

[smirkymonkey]

52. I live in Manhattan, NYC and even though I make more money

than I did in Boston or San Francisco, my standard of living is much lower. I can't afford to live alone (well, I could, but I wouldn't be able to afford anything else.) Even with a roommate, I still spend almost half my income in rent. It's out of control here - there are things I love about living in Mahattan, but it's starting to get to the point where it isn't worth it.

[theanarch]

34. actually, a relatively low-cost region...

of (southern) NJ--lots of poverty, crime, unemployment, brain-drain (the best and brightest leave asap); i stay because i have a great job (that can be transferred anywhere in the 50 states and Virgin Islands), what's left of the family is still here, and a pretty good cadre of friends/acquaintences...and the amenities of a social life have improved greatly over the past 5-10 years (art galleries, better resteraunts, cultural events). Philadelphia is only an hour away; NYC and DC three hours. Bought my house two years ago for $55K--a shoebox wreck next to an abandoned garbage dump. But the city owns 65 undeveloped acres right behind me that borders the upper end of a tidal river, with a nice bluff overlooking it. The commute to work isn't bad (15 miles); the cost of living is relatively low (gas is down to $2.159 as of yesterday); and i have a lot of privacy. Am only staying until (early) retirement--another 5-6 years, then i'll reappraise what i want to do, and where i want to do it...and won't be putting one more penny into this place than necessary until then...BTW: am paying off the mortgage this month, 27 years and 10 months early, with a savings of $67+K interest. Being an antimaterialist means i don't need anything fancy or that looks good...indeed, i prefer the 'tarpaper shack' effect, as it keeps my assessment low...on the other hand, taxes are outrageous ($1,900/yr on a $43.1K assessment), as are other fees (trash: $30/mo; water/sewer: $130/qtr.). But utilities are somewhat cheap (about $120/mo. for electric averaged over the year; about $500/yr. for heating oil).

[countingbluecars]

35. Yes, Loudoun County, Virginia (D.C. suburb)

This county has grown rapidly over the past 5 years. McMansions are popping up everywhere. The county recently made some list as the wealthiest jurisdiction in the nation.

[phylny]

78. We moved to Loudoun in 2000 and bought a Toll house that doubled in

price when we sold it and moved to NY in 2004. We're probably moving back to Virginia, and we would NOT be able to afford our old house :)

Having said that, we're probably going to find a small house in the Loudoun County High School area, since our kids are no longer little and we'll have two in college next year. It looks as though the prices have peaked and are either stabilized or coming down a little bit.

We loved Loudoun, btw.

[seemunkee]

38. Yes, Montgomery County MD

Grew up here. My mother lived here and my wifes parents are here.
This area is relatively recession proof due to the Fed govt. My wife works on govt contracts and so does my company. My wife would like to live somewhere warming and I would like to live somewhere colder so we're kind of stuck.

I got a maileer from one of the local realtors today and it showed houses selling for 20-30K less than the asking prices. Days on market are going way up too.

[yorkiemommie1]

40. Coastal So Cal

a modest house runs about 700k. we started in a single-wide trailer, moved to a modest house in an R-3 ( multi units possible ) zone, sold it, and bought this, yet another modest house.

we're not moving because we have deep roots in this city, true friends, good doctors/dentist/hospitals. shopping is on the next block, yet our subdivision is very quiet. there're several great neighors here that i have bush-bashing sessions with on a regular basis, and the great majority of the folks where i work are liberals.

and i'm too old to move!

[Fuzz]

41. Middlesex County, New Jersey

Right next to Somerset County. Bad here too. The taxes on our house are @6k a year and it's just a bi-level not so big house in a working class neighborhood. We were fortunate, really fortunate, to have purchased it at a decent price 5 years ago, but it appraises for over 200k more than we paid for it just 5 years ago, and we've made some significant improvements to the property.

Funny thing is if people were to hear our household yearly income they would think we are doing really well, but the cost of living here takes care of most of that. But the schools in this area are good, my wife's job is close by and she is doing well (pharmacutical industry).

I would love to move to someplace cheaper, more open with less congestion, but that will have to wait for now.

[AlCzervik]

44. i live in northern california right now but grew up in Mass. so it's

about a wash right now. I bought my house in 2000 for $209,000 and right now i could sell for $475,000 and maybe i could re-buy it but the property taxes would kill me, we have Prop 13 here which means that your property tax is based on the sales price instead of the assessed value so if you want to move your taxes will go way up in most cases.

[Pied Piper]

45. I live in Boston

Smak-dab in the middle of the city. I moved here in 1990 to go to grad school and fell in love with the place. The first 8 years I lived here, I lived in dumpy apartments in lousy neighborhoods, because that was all I could afford. But in 1998, I found an apartment in a high-rise that was owned by the tenants' organization. It's just about the only rent-controlled building in town anymore. I'm on the 12th floor, facing downtown, with floor-to-ceiling windows. It's only a studio, but it's huge, and I only pay $553/month for rent, heat and hot water included. From my perch, I can see the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall, and the Fenway. I can also see the scoreboard at Fenway Park (but I need my binoculars to actually see the score). I walk to work, or take the bus or streetcar. I don't own a car, but I frequently rent one. Adding up car rentals, taxis, and my monthly T-pass, my annual transportation costs average around $50/month (not counting airfare). So it is possible to be a little bit frugal, and still have access to lots of great things - for example, I have a $70 annual membership to the MFA, and I can go to the museum without further charge, whenever I want. For that annual fee, I also get 2 free tickets to every special exhibit throughout the year. Great dating material!!

I'm definately one of the lucky ones. I love my job, but the salary is not so great (however the benefits are outstanding). If I keep this job, I will never be able to buy a house here, but I'm not really all that interested.

I love Boston for all the reasons stated above by another poster above, so I won't repeat them. I moved here from hyper-conservative Grand Rapids, MI, and I just love the progressive attitude here. The city is vibrant (although we have lost some population in the last few years - the cost of living is quite high..) I'm lucky to live in such a great city at such a low cost (relatively speaking). If I was a bit younger and not quite so settled, I would love to live in NYC for a year or two. I love that place, but I don't think I would want to set down roots there.

I joke with my friends that the next time I move out of this building, it will be feet-first, under a sheet!

[converted_democrat]

79. You make it sound worth the cost, no matter how expensive..

Sounds like you really love where you live.. Good for you.

[musette_sf]

47. yes, in the SF Bay Area

i live here because it's been calling me for many years.

NY tri-state area 1953-1980 (NYC 1962-1980)

New Orleans 1980-1984

Houston 1984-1998

SF area 1998-

i like the area, i have a good job, and i did 14 years in a lower cost of living city. at this age it ain't worth it anymore to not be where i wanna be.

[EFerrari]

48. I live in San Francisco because my husband's work is here.

I'd love to give up this condo and move to a rural area but that's not going to happen.

And, I live at the heart of tolerance. I love that about our city. Leave your hatred at the border.

:)

[A Brand New World]

49. I don't but my son & his wife live in Sunnyvale CA where they pay

$1500 a month for a 1 bedroom apt. He works for Apple Computer as an engineer, which is his dream job. He's only 25 and has lived & loved Apple since he was 6 years old. I cannot imagine him working and living anywhere else. He gets paid well but I'm not sure they'll be able to buy a house anytime soon since a crackerbox in that area goes for $500,000. Ridiculous!

[AnnieBW]

54. Prince Georges County, MD

I live in a suburb of DC - halfway between Baltimore and DC. We paid $190,000 for our house in 2000. It was appraised earlier this year at about $390K. Obscene. I have a co-worker who is young and trying to buy a house. He's really having to struggle to find something that he and his wife - who just finished her master's and is looking for a job - can afford.

I would move to the San Jose or San Francisco area of California in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the high cost of housing there. I love it there, but it's just too expensive. Las Vegas, NV is also getting really expensive, too.

[haele]

56. San Diego here...

The job is the main reason for staying; in fact, the majority of the jobs in my field are here, or in other high cost of living areas of the country. There's also the fact that I have good benefits with my current job, and I'm relatively secure for the next couple years.

That's the problem with working in a field that spends a lot of time on the ocean.

There's also an issue with moving. We don't have enough money to move to a cheaper place to live within the city (if we needed to), much less move to another state where the cost of living is less expensive or less stressful.

Haele

[RB TexLa]

57. North Dallas/Addison pretty normal cost of living n/t

[bleedingheart]

58. High Cost of Living == Typically means A Really Good Place to Live

People who live in the expensive areas do so for many reasons and they number in the hundreds of reasons.

1. Location plays a factor
2. Jobs and lots of diverse and varied Jobs...allowing for easy career moves
3. The fun stuff, parks, symphonies, good music stations, restaurants to die for...etc
4. Academic centers
5. Great medical centers for your health
...the lists go on.


I live just outside Pittsburgh which is a gem of a smaller city and to be honest...I am waiting for it to get more expensive when people find out how nice it is here.

[anarch]

63. yes

I'm not entirely sure why I do it...a combination of a fairly decent job that would be hard to replace elsewhere, the fact that I have a lot of shit going on here and I do actually like the city, and ceilings on the rent increases. If it wasn't for that last one, there is no way I could still live in DC.

[soothsayer]

64. Arlington, VA, because I'm a local grrrl and this is my hometown

(and my family's all here)

[fleabert]

65. median house price: $755,000 san francisco - you couldn't pay me to move.

I have lived where the median house price is:

$133,000, San Antonio TX
$96,000, Louisville KY
$45,000, Buffalo NY
$188,987, Columbus OH
$197,871, Austin TX
$339,000, Sacramento CA

the only places I would even consider living again are Sacramento and Austin. That's only because Sac is close to the Bay and Tahoe, and Austin has family and friends.

the cost of living means nothing if you aren't happy with the living conditions. I would consider Buffalo again if it weren't for the winters. Love the people and love the rest of the seasons.

It's a bitch to buy a house here, but once you do, you are pretty much set to make a good profit someday. The market is finally cooling down here, perfect timing for a first time buyer like us...

I adore this city and area!

[alittlelark]

66. Los Altos. CA

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2005/snapshots/40020.html

http://realestate.yahoo.com/Neighborhoods/detail.html?csz=Los%20Altos,CA

Way overpriced, but our schools are A#1.



I would move back to NM in a heartbeat. Hubby is Stanford MBA deeply entrenched in technology.

We have been debating leaving this regional money pit for 10 or so years.... I'm losing thus far.

[MadHound]

67. I don't live in a city and you couldn't pay me enough to live in one again

Noise, traffic, foul air, packed and stacked into living arrangement akin to sardine cans, no thank you. Cities are fun to visit, but I intend on living in the country for the rest of my life. My stress level is much less living out here, it is beautiful country, fresh air and the cost of living in general is more than affordable.

I have a top notch college town thirty minutes away if I wish culture, fine dining, nightclubs, etc. But even it became entirely too big for my tastes at 100,000 people. Thus I moved out to the country, bought a house and three outbuildings sitting on twenty acres, all for less than $150,000. My nearest neighbor is over two hundred yards away, and in every other direction I see no visible sign of houses anywhere.

Cities were fun when I was young, but now I just find them more of a pain than they're worth.

[TheWatcher]

68. Seattle

Real Estate Fantasyland.

But one of the only safe places for a Transgendered person to live.

[OnionPatch]

69. My husband and I would love to move

If there were any decent jobs in our field in some, quieter, lower-cost places to live, we'd be there. I don't live in any of the cities you mentioned but I live in southern California and the cost of living is around what you describe.

I should mention that we moved here before it started getting so amazingly expensive. You could buy a home for around 150k when we first came here around ten years ago. We're hoping someday we can sell our home and make enough money on it to buy a place outright somewhere where the cost of living is much lower.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

70. I did (San Diego) but moved to crimson red suburbs of North Dallas.

Cost of living is mainly cheaper here because of houses being so much less than SoCal, other stuff is not that different.

Came here for a job. The job pays WAY more than any other job I've ever had, or likely to be able to get, and within several years I should be able to obtain a degree of security.

It's a major tradeoff. I'm surrounded by Fox news watching mega materialistic Bush worshipping zealots. Weather sucks and there's no scenery. Good shopping and above average restaurant selection. Despite the weather/scenery issues, by FAR the biggest hardship of me living here is being surrounded by these proud red state voters who are really nothing like me. Even my Bush voting colleague (he voted for Clinton before) who came out here from SoCal also feels the same way, though these people think somewhat more like him politically, it bothers him how mindlessly conformist they are and not ashamed in any way of that.

I still think the tradeoff is reasonable, provided a limited time period. The initial rationale for my coming here is valid. But I can't wait to accomplish my goals and move.

[RebelOne]

71. I live northwest of Atlanta and the cost of living

here is quite low as compared with Miami where I moved from in 1989.

[BIG Sean]

72. Staten Island, New York

I moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island in Dec. 2001. I would love to move to a lower cost of living city, but I have a good job, and I can not see myself making this kind of money away from New York City.

Now, granted, if I live away from New York, then I may not need the salary I make now, however, all of my family, and my Wife' family are here so that makes moving a near impossibility.

[Cobalt Violet]

75. At leat 50% of my income goes to rent. That will change someday.

I have a professional licence that is only good in this Massachusetts. I don't really want to leave New England at this point in life.

[DireStrike]

76. Job with 1199 health insurance!

Mom is afraid to leave this job. Rent on our STUDIO APARTMENT in NYC is near $800.

I kind of like this city. You really need either a really high income or a dual income to live here. I feel almost obligated to make it the former because of worries about divorce.

[FormerDem06]

77. Raleigh, NC here...

We live in a "bad" part of town. It's not bad because of the neighborhood, It's bad because the busing system the school system uses puts our neighborhood in schools with the truly poor part of town.

It doesn't bother us because I grew up really poor (a family of four living on 19K a year near Charlotte, NC). We bought our first house back in 2000 for 124K it was a 3 bedroom, 1300 sq ft house on .18 acres. We sold it last month for 160K. We bought a bigger house in the same neighborhood (since there are four of us, soon to be 5). It's right at 2000 sq feet with an extra bedroom and a dining room that we don't have now. it cost us 240k,

Our neighbors got almost the same house on a smaller lot in the "good" part of town for 310K in April. I think prices are heading for a correction so we hedged our bets and stayed in the lower priced area. My buddy is convinced his house is going to go up to 400K.

I just don't see it.

[LibDemAlways]

80. I live in a Southern CA suburb and have since

1979. When I moved in, this area was considered pretty far out in the hinterlands. Home prices were relatively cheap. Today the place is considered extremely desirable, and like all of Southern California, prices have skyrocketed. My 3 bdrm/2 bath modest tract house would sell for around $700K. I don't know how people do it. I sure as hell couldn't afford it.

Will retire to a lower cost of living area as much to get away from the congestion as to escape the higher prices for everything from gas to insurance that go along with life in the big city.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

83. Morgantown, WV......

The COL used to be fairly decent, but quickly becoming an expensive place to live. As of 2000, the median home price here was $95,000, but in the past 5 years (according to my realtor land-person) the cost of homes in the area has skyrocketed to the point where if you don't have at least $150,000, buying a non-fixer-upper is a pipe dream. I have also had this story corroborated by a person who recently moved here from Portland, Or and was shocked by the housing prices here. She told me that they were on par with Portland now.

There are career opportunities here, but the skillsets they are looking for is very limited. If you are in the medical, legal, and to some small degree, education fields, this is not a bad place to live. The schools are good, there is a major University here in town, we have four seasons here, and there are a lot of wild areas to enjoy within a few hours drive.

I figure I will have to leave here eventually. I have entertained moving back to Austin, or maybe even out to Portland (when has been a long-time dream). While those are not lower-cost cities, per se, they would certainly offer more opportunity for a college-educated person than working in a music store, which is what I got here.

edit: confounded grammar.