[ghaff]

It’s really difficult to compare city statistics. Boston includes some really pretty poor areas like Roxbury and Dorchester that don’t have a real counterpart except for very small areas of SF. The 80% high end of the median only differs by about 10%.

I agree that Boston is very different both because of industry diversity and fewer geographical constraints other than the ocean. But the fact remains that although there are some very expensive communities, many though not all on the ocean, an hour drive gets you to some pretty reasonable pricing—say $500K on multiple acres.