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Comment by gravypod | Hacker News Reader

You can rent-to-own a 6br house on a 6k+ sqft lot with a detached garage in NJ with a ~1hr commute to Manhattan for $3,500/month in NJ. $3k/month on an apartment gets you a luxury huge 2 to 3 bedroom with in unit w/d and bowling/swimming in the basement or something in Hoboken with a <25min commute to Manhattan.

Thinking 36k/year (more then the total comp of many workers in America) is cheap housing is a Bay-area distortion.

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who wants that long of a commute? It's all relative and the salaries here more than make up for it. I'm sure someone in the texas exurb would think you're nuts for paying that much in hoboken.

I think it's nuts too. I'd rather work from home and live in the middle of nowhere. 3k/month is a mansion in most parts of the world.

As someone who grew up in NJ about an hour south of Manhattan, that sounds like a living situation that would make me very unhappy as an adult (don't get me wrong; I had a great childhood). But I have some dear friends who lived in San Jose for several years and then ended up moving back to rural South Jersey, so, clearly, to each their own.

Even the 25min commute from Hoboken would make me sad. I want to be able to walk or take local transit to where I want to hang out.

> Thinking 36k/year is cheap housing is a Bay-area distortion.

I don't think anyone's making that claim?

>I have some dear friends who lived in San Jose for several years and then ended up moving back to rural South Jersey

That's a hell of a jump. What about rural South Jersey appealed to them?

Ive lived in San Jose and I can assure you that besides jobs, San Jose kind of sucks as a place to live. It's mostly just strip malls and good weather, imho. Campbell was a little nicer and had some cute shops.

Mostly proximity to extended family, and in general just indifference toward many of the trade offs between city and rural living. Those trade offs matter a lot to me, but not to them.

I live in the area and I think this is a bit exaggerated. I dont think the commute is 1hr door to door either. It's almost 1hr d2d from Harrison and I know you arent talking about Jersey City / Newark / Harrison / Bayonne

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