[dragonwriter]

> Plus, even if your housing cost doubles, other expenses don't. Food costs, gas, vacations, and everything on Amazon is the same.

Well, perhaps less than double, but still higher overall (except, obviously, stuff on Amazon will probably be the same, as I don't think they've implemented destination-specific pricing.) Gas is definitely higher in California than the national average, and higher in the Bay Area than the statewide average. Vacations will depend on where you want to vacation. Lots of services will be more expensive, because the people selling those services need to make enough money to live in the area. (Similar with goods where locally-sourced labor is a significant factor to the total cost of getting the good to you.)