when I moved to Illinois, fast food prices shocked me…I was paying around $7 for a value meal back then in my home state but then I get to Illinois and they were like $10-11. This was 2018.
My ex and I had considered moving to CA for about 5 seconds…a quick glance at home prices killed that idea fast…was like $1.5M for a 900 square foot home.
A neighbor in my condo complex has put her apartment on the market as a rental. $3,700/mo for a 900 ft 2 br apt. I expect there will be a tenant there by mid-Sept.
My apartment is twice the size of hers.
Living where people want to live costs a lot of money. What amazes me is the number of people who have enough money to live where they want to live.
I could sell my apartment, without using a realtor in a couple of weeks because I am in a place where people want to live.
Where I would want to live if I sold it is a question I cannot answer.
The new townhomes near me start at a bit over $800K; I think about 2000 sq. ft.
Built on a former Superfund Site.
Next to a railroad track.
Under the flight path for the nearby airport.
IOW, one of the cheaper areas around.
Michigan is gorgeous…you have the clean, white sandy beaches in the summer (it’s 90F today), skiing and sledding in the winter. Property taxes aren’t outrageous and the entire state, mostly surrounded by water, is a vacationer’s/explorer’s paradise. I was never so happy to get back after 4 years in IL…had no idea how good I had it in my home state!
You can get a 2300 square foot home for about $350,000 in my area but prices vary greatly higher and lower (especially when you consider all the lakefront property on inland lakes and on the great lakes).
It was “59, 79, niiinety-nine” in Alabama. I still sing that jingle to my children to remind them what Taco Bell should cost.
Got a BK Whopper combo in Nashville recently. It was $13. Compared to $8-9 for the same at home.
ETA:
Fast food chains in California – and many other places, such as near popular tourist sites (i.e. the Grand Canyon, which is in Arizona for those who can’t keep our big rectangular states straight) – were refusing to honor the nationally advertised deals for many, many years before California decided to pay fast food workers a livable wage. Before I moved to California, I used to criticize its people and policies, too, but without any real knowledge or facts. Businesses face high costs wherever they are located.
Another problem is that in many small or medium-sized cities – regardless of which state they are in – all the outlets of a franchised business often are owned by the same crappy franchisee, so you get the same poor service, unhappy employees and high prices regardless of which one you go to.
Yeah, there’s always locales where the prices are higher (see new york city), but usually not a state as a whole.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they specifically did that ad because they’re unhappy about the fast food wage policy in cali, since they mention just cali and not “pricing higher in cali and select locations.” I’m sure manhattan pricing is also higher because rent is crazy and they have to pay higher than minimum wage to get anyone to work there.
California has high prices, but it also supports more social services, which I don’t appreciate until I participate in forums and realize many states don’t have what we have. Some people don’t want to support social services, but that’s a whole nother debate. I do like the services and don’t mind paying my share to support them. I do pay a lot of taxes. I might have more money if I didn’t pay taxes, but I’m not broke because I pay taxes, so they can have some of it.
I agree 100 percent. Prices are higher, but we have a solid social safety net and a robust economy. And that gas tax really does pay for a lot of necessary road improvements. I do wish drivers would slow the heck down, though. 
There are pros and cons to any place. I’ve lived in several different states, large and small, during my lifetime, and could make a long list of pros and cons for each.
Surely you meant to include a “winky face” after that, right? 