It's not surprising given the author's background. What I don't get is the part right before about not being able to afford a family-sized house in Palo Alto. G

It's not surprising given the author's background. What I don't get is the part right before about not being able to afford a family-sized house in Palo Alto. Guessing the answer is yeah, they could afford it, but they don't want to pay that much for something still not very large.