Or possibly my income is closer to the poverty level than I had previously thought.

I remember some years ago a friend in LA descrbing his paycheck-to-paycheck cramped studio apartment living situation, and then I found out he was making more than $15K a year above the salary that was keeping me in a pretty airy 2BR apartment with lots of disposable income. Varying regional costs of living make a big difference.

People in NY and SF spend a much higher percentage of their income on housing than the rest of the country.

But it is somewhat offset by other things, like not owning a car.

Okay, Salary.com tells me that the median income in San Francisco for (more or less) what I do is double (or more) what I make here in humble Ohio.

Rents make more sense now. t /bumpkin

I pay about $1000 for my mortgage, three bedroom 1600 sq ft., on .30 acre.

But on the cross side, the telephone company and the United States postal system won't come out here, and my dirt road is nearly impassable every time we get a shower.

When I was in San Francisco, it seemed as if everyone I knew who owned housing lived in the East Bay and commuted to the city, and most people who rented lived in the city itself. Plus the temps I knew all rented in the city and the permanents all were East Bay folk.

The commute isn't bad at all if you take BART and live near a station.

But on the cross side, the telephone company and the United States postal system won't come out here, and my dirt road is nearly impassible every time we get a shower.

But you can still get telegraphs, right?

No, that would involve wires. Semaphore, sure.

(eta: And of course some one quoted me before I edited my thinko.)

I pay $650 for a centrally located 2-bedroom apartment in Carrboro (next to Chapel Hill). It's about $100-200 below market for the area, but it's a small complex, and the owners would rather have people they like for a long time, for less money. I can walk to everything but work and my hairdresser (who moved into the next county, darn it).

I haven't really followed purchase prices in my area, other than establishing it was no way, no how on my current salary, a couple of years ago. I guess that could change. However, some building projects that might have pushed the cost of condos down seem to be on hold right now, due to the economy. Meh. I'm not in a rush to buy into home repairs any time soon.

But it is somewhat offset by other things, like not owning a car.

I do think that's the kind of thing that people don't take into account -- insurance and gas, even if the car is paid for. (Of course, my NYC brain almost said something about the cost of a parking space, but I bet that doesn't come into play much in other places....)

Oh my. This is a harsh headline: Sprint to give 8,000 employees unlimited free roaming time