The crazy cost of real estate is far more hindering IMO. Average student around here is 25k. Average house (detached) price is over 1.3 million. Toronto area, for reference.
The #1 reason why in-demand markets are that way is jobs. Moving out of these areas is not an easy answer.
Part of me would love to move back to KY where I'm from, but where would I work? That's the reason I left in the first place, no good jobs.
Salary seldom keeps up with real estate costs. The real estate cost difference can be a factor of 10, but you won't see that difference for salary.
Lots of low-cost areas will specialize in an industry. You shouldn't expect to pick a random low-cost area and find the industry you want, but the industry you want is probably in at least one low-cost area. Find that area, move there, and do well in life.
The popularity of wanting to live in Toronto makes detached housing for everyone who wants it untenable. There just isn't enough space.
There is plenty of "space;" Toronto, like many municipalities, just makes increasing the housing supply illegal: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/24/17896482/b.... When supply is restricted in the face of rising demand, prices rise. This is what existing owners want: http://cityobservatory.org/homevoters-v-the-growth-machine/ and that's why we're getting it. Baby boomers are, sometimes literally, forcing their own children out of the city.
YIMBY or bust.
There may be a billion people who would move there now if they could afford it. The additional units required to get things into the affordable price range would degrade the experience though, causing most people to reject the result.
So what this accomplishes is the destruction of a desirable place to be. The smaller buildings and easier parking are inherently part of the desirability. Even the exclusiveness itself is part of the desirability.
For you, maybe.
I know it sounds obvious, but if you haven't looked into it in the past year, I think you'll find it's easier now more than ever to manage the (admittedly many) logistics of finding a new area for yourself and your family. Tons of tools for each aspect.
I was fortunate to attend a state school before the tuition exploded.