Garance discusses variations in costs of living. There has been a lot of discussion about high housing prices lately and of course it should be pointed out repeatedly that the housing boom isn't happening everywhere.
A missing part of the discussion is that it isn't just people who are willing to pay high rents, it's also businesses and firms. Sure some local commerce is going to be generated naturally by all those people who want to live in fine California weather, but local retail generally isn't on its own enough to sustain a local economy except in prime tourist locations. It isn't just people who are willing to pay obscene rents in Manhattan and other high priced cities, it's also businesses.
