This article reflects my wife and my experience: just a month ago we left San Diego for a small town north of Salt Lake City. We make over six-figures and San Diego held only poor economic prospects for us. We'd have a very difficult time buying a decent home (2000 sq ft, good neighborhood, reasonable commute) for a price which wouldn't jeopardize other essentials like retirement savings, kids college savings, savings in general, and debt payoff and avoidance. When a small box in Clairemont (neighborhood of San Diego) cost $500-600K you know things are out-of-wack.

Things are more reasonably priced here, but probably still higher than their intrinsic value. However, at least we can afford them without mortgaging our (and our kids') future.

The truth is that this isn't a situation the government has shown any ability to solve for. There are a myriad of reasons, but ultimately my feeling is that federal housing policy is deeply flawed.

Inevitably, by necessity, the solution to this mess will come from all those in the middle class who've been forced to find another way. Our voting with our feet will shape the next ten to twenty years in ways which are hard to predict. One likely outcome is that big cities will not be able to maintain their current housing price structures. A tipping point will come. You can't build a viable local economy only on the top and bottom of the income spectrum. You need a robust middle class. Otherwise the absence of the middle class creates a vacuum, and conditions for an implosion into that vacuum.