I think costs in New York can be crazy if you live a certain kind of lifestyle. But I think we're just used to living with less of certain things (mostly due to

I think costs in New York can be crazy if you live a certain kind of lifestyle. But I think we're just used to living with less of certain things (mostly due to our space restrictions) that don't necessarily translate well across other cities (We rented a whole house in Cambridge when we were there for YC last summer for about what you'd spend on an apartment 1/3 the size in New York). There are certain things that augment the high cost of living though: * We don't drive cars and most of us take mass transit most of the time. * We buy fewer possessions (no place to put them). A side benefit is that when you do buy something, you tend to buy better quality. * When we do buy something, it usually involves recycling or selling what we had before. * We don't see our living space as our own private paradise. We don't tend to duplicate resources the public already has. We have parks instead of lawns. We'll use taxis and zipcar when we need them instead of owning cars. * We tend to live very close to where we work and could walk there if necessary. * Restaurants face a large amount of competition. You can get excellent food with excellent ambiance for less money than I was used to paying for a comparable experience elsewhere. * Lots of free or nearly free experiences. Art, museums, concerts, performances, groups, and lectures. The way I feel about (or rationalize) New York City is that I get to live in a place that offers so much more for only a slight premium on what I'd pay to live in San Francisco. The big down side is that you miss out on the tech community in SF, although others argue that this can be a net positive.