“[W]hen you are comfortable spending money” is the kicker, though. Unfortunately, the Bay Area is oppressively expensive, and the same can be said about places

“[W]hen you are comfortable spending money” is the kicker, though. Unfortunately, the Bay Area is oppressively expensive, and the same can be said about places like New York City. High housing prices puts a major strain on the ability to enjoy restaurants and paid entertainment. Also, because the restaurant owners and workers need to pay high rents, the food prices are very high. It’s hard to enjoy $3000 studio apartments, $12 burritos that used to only cost $8 before the pandemic, and other high costs when you’re not rich. I make a low six-figure salary as a professor in the Bay Area and I’ve had to cut back on eating out in the past year since the prices have gotten obscenely expensive. It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Tokyo is a vibrant metropolis that is also relatively affordable by global standards. The key to this is sensible housing policy that doesn’t inflate the cost of living to oppressive levels. What keeps me in the Bay Area besides being tenure-track are proximity to family, the acceptance of multiculturalism, and (as an academic) California’s support for academia in a national political climate that has become hostile to academia. But financially I wish the price of rent, food, and other necessities weren’t so oppressive.