I dunno, in my view this seems like the sort of thing that should show up if you are relentlessly auditing your life - surely one of the pillars you would optimize for is stability, and thinking 'hey, what happens if one of us gets laid off' or 'hey, what happens if I get pregnant' or both at the same time sort of thing. Once you've worked out what the current fires are in your life, it makes sense to work out where fires could come from and do some prevention (to torture the metaphor a bit here)

> You suggest (by placing those two quotes together) that seeking happiness in a less expensive area will put people in financially precarious situations.

That may be true.

The Bay Area has expensive housing, but a lot of things cost the about the same everywhere in the country -- an iPhone, a Honda Civic, a lawnmower, a water heater, clothing, school supplies, etc.

The salaries in the Bay Area are also a lot higher than elsewhere. People spend a lot of money on housing, but all of the other stuff they buy costs a smaller portion of their income than it does in other places.