New York has been getting less dense though, which is the point of TFA. As demand has outstripped supply, prices of real estate and everything consequent to tha

New York has been getting less dense though, which is the point of TFA. As demand has outstripped supply, prices of real estate and everything consequent to that (labor, professional services, retail goods, transportation etc.) will increase in price as well. "Costs" in Houston don't look so much better than NYC when you add the significantly higher transportation expenses to their lower rents. Also, local salaries are a third less, so you have that much less money for everything.