High Rent District

New York, Los Angeles, Olathe?

Comment (from Tom): Top ten dumbest article I've ever read. I mean mind-boggling. I know New Yorkers can't get off their island without taking out a second mortgage to pay the bridge tolls, and I know you need a private plane (or at least a helicopter) to live in affordable housing and work in Los Angeles or San Francisco, but I got news for our friends on the coasts, you can drive to and from Olathe, Kansas with ease. Indeed, my next door neighbor drives 40 miles each way to go to work in Olathe everyday. Forty miles is 40 miles, but it's all open highway with very little traffic.

And I speak from experience here, you can find extremely affordable housing in Kansas (and Missouri) that is a heck of a lot closer to Olathe than 40 miles away. When they say the average home in Olathe costs $350,000, that doesn't really explain much. The reason the average new home in Olathe costs $350,000 is that the average new home in Olathe is really, really nice. Go to this webpage do a search and see what I mean. Furthermore, you could do real well in Olathe for significantly less than that. As in--and this is where all the evidence points in the article, despite the conclusions--you can buy a smaller house and build equity instead of being forced to rent a cheap apartment and pour your money down a drain, which is apparently a sign of progressive thinking.

But, sure, Ms. New York Times reporter, go find someone who is barely making minimum wage and report their sob story about how they can't afford to live in one of the most affordable places in the country. Unbelievable.

Actually, on second thought, I take it all back. Kansas is an expensive craphole with no good jobs and filled with ugly cornfields and bigots. It's terrible. Stay away. Especially if you are from New York.