Yeah, the math doesn't always work out. In our case, it did: we spent six weeks in LA, and we paid a good $500 extra to live in a townhouse that had a grocery

Yeah, the math doesn't always work out. In our case, it did: we spent six weeks in LA, and we paid a good $500 extra to live in a townhouse that had a grocery store, mall and park within walking distance. What we spent extra on the location (I think) we made up in not having to pay for a long term car rental. If we were doing this long term and had to weigh against buying a car, I think the math would have worked out differently.