Thanks for the replies and the link HawkeyeNFO and queensborocorp!
We've also found the same thing as the article. We live in the Bay Area, Silicon Valley to be exact, and there are so many great things to do around here and within a short drive that travel doesn't feel necessary or even desirable anymore now that we've visited all our favorite places. Once the housing is taken care of, life here is pretty inexpensive. Well, okay, labor is very high so getting things done for the house can be quite expensive if you source it out so we try to only source out what we can't do ourselves.
And this place just feels like home. We've contemplated a move several times and each time came home feeling like this is where we belong.
I do have to say that NYC came in at a close second. I LOVED that city! And I haven't been to DC or the Virginia area but I can imagine that it's a pretty exciting place to be.
Silicon Valley can be pretty suburban and spendy but we live in a little pocket neighborhood that is affordable (as much as it can be here), dense, diverse and walkable. Lots of people walking to the little market around the corner, kids playing at the school, older people taking their daily walk around the block, and lots and lots of diversity in terms of ethnicity and economics. We love it. Now if we could just get the transportation options that NYC has and the culture that DC offers - well that would be quite something! :)
ETA - I'm thinking of moving this thread to either Share Your Badassity (where fellow HCOL mustachians can share their accomplishments) or Throw Down the Gauntlet (where fellow HCOL mustachians can help each other out in reaching specific goals or challenges.) The reason I'd like to do a specific thread on it is that sometimes HCOL has it's own challenges that lots of mustachians in the general population can't relate to. The high labor cost comes to mind - so when we need to do a project our costs are going to seem astronomical and foolish to those in LCOL. Things like that.
Feedback would be much appreciated.