You seem to have read parent as saying "if you can afford to live in the city, it follows that you are doing something fantastically productive". I initially r

You seem to have read parent as saying "if you can afford to live in the city, it follows that you are doing something fantastically productive". I initially read it as saying "if it is important that you be so close to so many others, it follows that you are doing something productive, and it follows from there that you can afford rent." I wonder now which was meant.