>>>For that kind of dough, a monthly commute would sound reasonable.
>>
>>All that extra dough could be washed by CA metro housing costs. An acquaintance of mine is paying around 1,500.00 per month on a 2 bedroom apt in San Jose. And from what I understand San Jose is "affordable".
>
>Yikes. Vancouver housing prices are getting up there too.

Those rates aren't that bad Evan. Depends where you live. Here, I've got a ten room brick home with 12 years left on a 15 year mortgage. The payments are a touch over $600US.