Everything. Utilities, groceries, housing, dining--the whole shibang. That is absolutely untrue. There is a huge regional variance in pricing, even in chains. You can argue that there are a few rinky dink type deals where you can get cheap fruit and whatnot, but that's about it. I've lived in many places across the country, and it is by far the biggest rip off. Especially considering the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village area that I lived in. Very posh, comfortable community, but the social crowd is also very bourgeois--growing more and more bourgeois as you move eastward. Everyone's big on metaphorically comparing penis size. I can't stand that pinky-up-in-the-air tooly bullshit. "Blanket statements, blanket statements everywhere," you say, but that sociological attitude is definitely characteristic of the area. Salaries may be nominally higher, however there are much better places to live with a much higher salary to cost-of-living ratio. Not to mention the unemployment rate there. LA and surrounding areas are becoming grossly overpopulated. There's no doubt in my mind that it's going to become a crowded NYC-like area within my lifetime. I understand that there are also more affordable areas, however the whole crowd still isn't my type.
Why didn't you mesh with them? And I just stay indoors all day long anyway, so nature isn't a very good selling point.
