][<en writes (about NYC):

>For those who do not have these sorts of problems: there was a time not
too long ago that if you lived outside of NYC and worked within the 5
boroughs that your paycheck was taxed. This is more interesting for the
fact that the majority of commuters who live outside of the city do so not
simply because they love the fresh air of suburbia (like Ralph -- in my
case it is the freedom of yard decadence that is appealing), but sometimes
because they cannot afford to live in the city.<

Here in the Washington, DC area the same thing is happening. I have had
several clients this year who work in Arlington and cannot afford to buy a
place to live there that meets their needs. These were people in an up to
$200,000 price range--there are condos, a few townhouses and the occasional
very small house in that price range, but not much of a selection). They
started out looking near work and end up in the distant suburbs, adding to
the already notorious traffic (said to be the 2nd worst in the nation but I
don't know by whom or what place is worse). Some people choose to live far
away because of a perceived higher quality of life (whether more open
space, bigger properties, less crime, whatever) but many are now forced
there by the high prices. This is especially true of lower-income people (I
do not mean "poor people") who have good jobs & can buy a home, but whose
price range is too low--which areound here means under $400k. Half a mil
just buys an average house in a lot of the area. 

One client of mine moved here from central Florida, where she had built a
3br/2 bath house on 1/3 acre for $65,000. The same house in this area would
be about $350,000 close in and $250,000 far away. I have been here too
long--I find it hard to imagine that anyone can buy a house fit to live in
for $65k or even $200k. I tend to assume that nice places cost the same
anywhere as here. Of course, real estate prices tend to match
employment/income opportunities, but it has always seemed to me that the
ratio was perhaps more favorable in some places than in others. 

Another couple were both civilian employees of DoD who told me that what I
was showing them was like what they had lived in when they were first
married 30 years ago. They left a house in Texas that was like a palace
compared with the hovels they could afford here. 

There are also people commuting from West Virginia, Pennsylvania or even
Delaware, predominantly higher-end Feddies and corporate types. Although I
have also read that much of the construction workforce comes from rural
Virginia (that which doesn't come from Central America). 

One of the many arguments advanced for the (fortunately) lost cause of DC
statehood is that the state of New Columbia could impose a commuter tax on
non-resident workers. Of course this would probably just accelerate the
outflow of jobs from DC as any company not directly doing business with the
Feds (and many who do) would reason that they might as well be in Virginia
where most of their workforce would live anyway. And among the many ideas
floating around since September 11 is the dispersal of government (Senator
Byrd could find room for more of it in West Virginia, I'm sure). I have
also heard it suggested that the financial district of NYC is an
anachronism that should be dispersed. Of course, that just creates more,
but smaller, targets to defend. And it ignores the advantages to those in
an industry of it being centrally based (mobility from company to company
and communication being some). 

Egregious personal note: Living less than a mile from the Pentagon (I could
hear all the excitement that morning), I am once again thinking (as I often
do), "why am I still in the DC area?" I can't afford a house here either.
There have always been great reasons to live here, even for someone like me
who doesn't work for the gummint, but I am ready to go back to New England
once I figure out what I can do there for a living and how I'm going to pay
for the transition. 

Don