> your decision to live in a high CoL city is no different from your decision to live on expensive oceanfront property.
That's certainly possible.
Of course, that would incentivize people to move out to cheaper areas, which would reduce the demand on expensive big cities, with the end result being that the price delta would become somewhat reduced.
Yeah, there are a lot of complex dynamics going on and things will play out over quite a while in a way that doesn't lend itself to absolute statements. That said, I tend to think that, even if a handful of large West Coast employers (and NYC fintech firms) tend to continue paying top-of-market rates, you're probably going to see some equalizing of salaries across the US overall (and perhaps some but less equalizing of CoL).
That's certainly possible.
Of course, that would incentivize people to move out to cheaper areas, which would reduce the demand on expensive big cities, with the end result being that the price delta would become somewhat reduced.