Reply #18: This is the sort of thing that get very hard to quantify ... [View All]

[surrealAmerican]

... when you have children. Yes, I could live in a cheaper neighborhood, but then I would have to send my kids to an expensive private school. It might not be safe for them to play outside, so I would need to pay for activities. They wouldn't be able to walk to school, so there would be additional transportation costs. By the time you add in the additional expenses, the better neighborhood turns out to be a bargain. There are also adverse psychological effects involved when your children grow up believing that they are surrounded by danger.