The cost of living argument doesn't make sense, at least not to me.

We are all being paid in dollars here in the U.S. There are no currency adjustments. Everything costs about the same nationwide, except for housing, and pricier housing means higher returns.

A box of cereal or an oil change or a t-shirt costs the same in California and New York as in Michigan. The only difference is real estate, which, again, has much higher year-over-year returns, so while more expensive, it's a better investment. It's like comparing Apple stock to Yahoo stock or the Swiss Franc to the Colombian Peso and concluding that Yahoo and the Peso are better investments just because they're cheaper.

And in Metro Detroit, good neighborhoods with top school districts, and solid real estate appreciation, aren't cheap. Good luck getting a decent-sized home for anything less than 500k in Birmingham. Good luck finding new[[er) construction in Novi or Rochester Hills for less than 500k.