Thus the surplus of people working at least 2 jobs to support a family. I think that there are lots of areas for sure that you can live that is a metropolis with a lower cost of living.

Example houston or dallas. Pretty reasonable. Or Portland, Oregon, etc. Even other major cities in the midwest and southern states.

That’s a choice people can make to live somewhere they can work and go to school. In high COLA there is no way to work and go to school. It’s either or. When rent in CA costs $1400/month for a 1 bedroom it doesn’t allow for paying for tuition and living expenses.

But then, the problem I see isn’t so much about living in places that have high COL (though that is a problem, too). The people I know that have problems are those that live in places with very low COL, but few job opportunities and who can’t afford to move to higher COL places that might have better opportunities (including access to college). Unfortunately, that’s the usual trade off: low COL, low/few paying jobs. I hope that the internet will give people in low COL areas more opportunities, but unfortunately, a lot of internet/home-based jobs don’t pay much either or take a lot of high level skills — and they’re just as easily shipped overseas.

Many people in Hawaii want to leave but lack the ambition to leave. It is very easy to save $1k and move to the Mainland US. But they choose not to.

Thus they only have themselves to blame with regards to the high cost of living. No one is telling them to live in hawaii. It’s a choice.

I feel great sympathy for people in Hawaii but first and foremost it’s a choice. 1 out my 7 cousins moved back to hawaii. He works 2 jobs to make ends meet. That is a choice. He has a college degree like the rest of the family and his brother has a different life in Las Vegas.

So it’s about choices. I believe that choices for poorer people is limited. They are less informed about college and scholarships out there. But they also realize that there are different lower cost of living.

I’m all for weighing all one’s choices and I really respect those who choose to make big sacrifices to fulfill a dream. I just hate how sometimes some talk of choice turns into “Well, we shouldn’t worry about helping so and so type of people because they *choose* to live like they do.” Especially when the people talking haven’t had to make such large sacrifices themselves. That’s why I think any talk of choices needs to include some perspective on how tough some choices really are — not to give people excuses.

Note, I’m not talking about anyone here in particular. I saw the attitude in college where a lot of students from well-to-do families would talk about how they understand why people would choose not to go to college or would say that it was people’s fault for being poor if they didn’t go to college.

I, myself, came from a rural area where most people didn’t even think college was an option — and by the time people realized that they needed to go to college, it was almost impossible (and maybe impossible for many). Many of my current friends are working their way through community college. But though they are very, very hardworking and determined, they’re having a really tough time of it.

You lucky thing. Hawaii is the most beautful place on earth….. Perhaps you can move to a LCOL area and then be able to visit Hawaii every year.

I also HATE the cold and snow, and by late Feb/ early March I develop depression and get pretty bummed out and have to go to a tanning salon just to keep my sanity. I hope to move somewhere warmner someday, but we have good paying jobs and a cheap house so it is hard to leave…..

How do you think immigrants feel? My DH knew he wanted to come to the states and saved up a ton of cash as a college student. Over $20k in cash to come and move with deposits, etc. And no credit score.

But he knew what he wanted and did it. So I don’t believe anyone is forced to stay put. You choose to stay put. And it can be a huge sacrifice.

Moving is expensive and risky. Not everyone can afford the travel costs but even in town moves can be hard due to first’s month’s rent, a security deposit, possibly breaking old leases (or trying to sell a house), etc.

Plus you have to find a job elsewhere, which can be hard to begin with, but harder if you can’t visit the area for job interviews.

I’m not saying there’s no choice, but I think we all need to realize how very, very hard some of these choices are and that for some people they may literally be so hard as to be impossible.

On a personal note, my husband and I considered moving earlier this year. Even though we love where we live, his company wanted to move him to headquarters as part of his promotion. The raise might have seemed like a great deal at first, but we quickly realized that his raise would end up losing money on the move. Fortunately, he was able to talk them into promoting him without moving us.