[rafaelmn]

I didn't pick Vienna as a comparison, I just said that cost of living and living standards between two are very much out of proportions.

But you can compare to cities in Italy, Spain, Greece, etc. the choice is nuanced and based on what you value. It used to be a clear win for Croatia a while back.

[keiferski]

“Living standards” includes things like access to the sea and better weather.

Not everyone cares about having access to the urban amenities that Vienna has. Split is also a pretty nice place, even off-season (I once lived there for 3 months February-April.)

That is why the costs of living between the two are not as disparate as you might expect.

[rafaelmn]

Yes but you can also live in other cities in Europe on the coast with similar or lower prices and different tradeoffs. This is my entire point - this was not the case a few years ago - I would say all the comparable coastal regions in the EU were more expensive.