You can rent in the Boston area for very reasonable prices relative to salaries, but yeah, the costs of owning a home are in the stratosphere. Those amenities (and they are wonderful) are enough to keep 20-somethings and empty nesters in the state, but people without a lot of money who are concerned about having a home for their kids are trading in the big city glamor for a place they can afford to settle down. Boston isn't so exciting if you have to settle 40 miles away to buy a home.
Many other states that people accuse of being liberal hell holes are in fact states full of freedom loving Americans who are outnumbered by city dwelling Liberal elitists, their illegal immigrant nannies, and their welfare-dependent ghettos filled with block voting minority "clients".
Leave San Francisco and go 100 miles East and your in the middle of the Sierra mountains. A lot of hardy, independent hard working conservatives live there.
The 2004 by county map.
What does a typical apartment run for in a decent area?
In Little Rock, $600/mo (give or take a little) is pretty typical for a typical 500-600sq ft apartment in a decent area.
I guess that's the other catch...in Arkansas, my mortgage isn't much more than my rent was, and I went from a 1 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom house.
"Boston isn't so exciting if you have to settle 40 miles away to buy a home."
You are right, I had a small home in Plymouth, great place, but the commute to Boston was 40 miles one way and three hours total....that sucked. And the politics suck, you can't be a conservative in Mass. So I moved, to CT, which isn't much better politically--but the commute is much better, nice place to live, you can raise a family and have family time. I live in a good conservative town.