[krschultz]

Exactly. When I lived in the suburbs I had a 3 bedroom condo, and my wife and I owned two cars. I moved to the city and we now have a 1 bedroom apartment and no cars. Total cost of living is roughly the same. My happiness in my living arrangements is about the same. A cost of living calculator would make it look like we are getting absolutely hosed.

Our take home $ into bank accounts tells an entirely different story. The raise more than made up for any increased cost of living.

It kind of makes sense too, if it didn't make sense, people wouldn't be doing it, there wouldn't be so much demand, and prices would fall.

[jarek]

You can also live in the city with no cars in midwest or many other places with lower CoL than Bay Area