Though, many ordinary people would not be able to buy what they currently own today.
That occurred to me. I think $420,000 in 2000 was affordable to a lot of people in the Bay Area, but $1.38 million today can't be. Salaries are not *that* high.
As for the Midwest - I've lived in Madison, WI (5 years) and spent a lot of time in Rochester, MN (in-laws) and Grand Rapids, MI (I've taught a two-week course there every two years since 1998... gearing up for 2020 now).
They are all perfectly livable, even wonderful places -- if I had other hobbies. As I know from my niece, who went to Case and then worked for GE in Cleveland, there's a big difference between Cleveland and Columbus, Madison, Rochester and GR.
Still, if you don't care about mountains and ocean, there's a lot to be said for the Midwest.
I had a bumper sticker that said: "If you live a good life, say your prayers and go to church, when you die, you'll go to Nebraska." I was recently moved back from living in Switzerland driving through the flat cornfields of Nebraska, thinking about how hard it would be for me to live there, and stopped for gas, saw the sticker, bought it and walked out and put it on my car.
I was on my way to a conference. My major professor a church-going Christian, son and grandson of missionaries, was there. He read it. Paused about one second, and then said: "So that's why you don't go to church."
But then I moved to the Bay Area, and I ran into so many people from Nebraska who were itching to move back. Why? Hunting, fishing, riding motorcycles, schools, housing costs, family. Lots of good reasons. It started to make me feel ashamed of the sticker. When people would ask if I was from Nebraska, I would answer honestly: "No, I was just driving through and loved the bumper sticker."
And THEN there were the Californians, unable to contemplate the horror of living in one of those flyover states. Strangers would walk up, pause, read the sticker, pause, then say something like: "So. Uh. Is that. Well. Is that a joke?"
To which I would say, "No, Nebraska is a fantastic place. Have you ever been?"
To which the answer in 100% of the cases was, of course, "No." Overall, having that sticker made me feel more positive toward Nebraskans and less positive toward Californians!