I live in Boston, Just about as far away from SD as you can get. All this talk makes me want to move there. I mean Homes, Rent, Insurance, Taxes, Politics, Traffic, Gas Prices are pretty much just as bad here as there but here it's friggin cold 9 months a year. Just Maybe i'll go with you DesignerChick. :)
In Boston there are expensive individual neighborhoods but in general the overall metro is less expensive than most places here in CA. I've done detailed comparisons. One thing I find is that the places in Boston with long standing name identification as being "places to be" are unthinkably expensive versus "newer" places without the status in the name. It's not that way out here. Any good neighborhood, new, old, known or unknown is very, very expensive. Any neighborhood above a slum is expensive unless you live in the boonies. And as for the rest - well, if you want to live like a gang banga film ... ;)