I wish more people would talk about this.<p>I&#x27;d <i>love</i> to live downtown, and am actively trying to do so. But it&#x27;s the worst decision I could possibly make in every measurable metric.<p>Living downtown triples my housing costs. Even if I downsize 50% of my current living space, moving  downtown would still double my housing costs. Working downtown cuts my salary by ~15%, and I&#x27;d loose my good health insurance for some fake HSA. I&#x27;d love to raise my child downtown, but the school systems are significantly worse in every metric.<p>Yes, I could give up a car. That would save me about $350&#x2F;month in total expenses. But to <i>live</i> downtown would cost me an extra $1000&#x2F;month in housing costs, and cut my income by about $900&#x2F;month (pay cut + benefits reduction + increased taxes). Loosing $1,900&#x2F;month to save $350&#x2F;month is insane.<p>And taking public transit, while slightly cheaper and healthier than driving, would increase my commute time by 2 hours every single workday. (How much is an hour of your time worth? How much is <i>40 hours per month</i> of your time worth?)<p>---<p>I&#x27;m still trying to live in an urban area -- it&#x27;s been a goal of mine for my entire life. But it feels like all of society is working against me for trying to do this.<p>Our perverse incentives are setup in such a way that suburban sprawl is the most <i>rational</i> choice for non-subsidized individual households to make in the vast majority of the US, despite all of the problems associated with it.