FlyerInHi wrote:njtosd, I was

[njtosd]

[quote=FlyerInHi]njtosd, I was making a broad statement. University towns are included in what I mean by desirable cities.
In fact I have a cousin who works at Indiana university. And I know that cook engineering is there. It’s an ok town. Very boring! But guess what? University towns are expensive![/quote]

You didn’t say desirable cities. You said “coastal gateway cities”. By gateway I assume you mean major arrival departure points. Other than Chicago, the places that I mentioned really don’t qualify.

Re: Bloomington being expensive – it sounds horrible with a cost of living 7.9% below the national average: http://www.forbes.com/places/in/bloomington/ and a lower than average crime rate. Or University towns generally – speaking of the MM house in another thread at 850,000 – this house in AA looks like a steal, especially when you figure in the quality of the schools and the classmates that inhabit them: http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Ann-Arbor-MI/24702999_zpid/8097_rid/4-_beds/42.289858,-83.756987,42.278126,-83.772436_rect/15_zm/0_mmm/

Your “oh, I have a cousin” comment reminds me of a line from Holidays in Hell by PJ O’Rourke. Cab occupant in Lebanon says “why are they leveling an anti-tank gun at us?” to which the cab driver responds “Oh yes, I have a cousin in Detroit!”. Same level of responsiveness. So I will say it again – have you actually spent any time in any of the places that you so quickly dismiss?