It's freezing here ad I must play with mittens :)

[geoschmo]

Here in Dayton, Ohio that $1700.00 a month will get you a nice house AND a good looking woman to keep you warm so you don't have such an outrageous heat bill. But on the down side it's a 14 hour drive to the nearest ocean, so I'm not sure it's such a great deal after all. We like to say it's a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit there.

[Kimball]

In Des Moines (western 'burbs actually) $1700 will get you a new 2000 square foot house on less than a quarter acre. The housing market here is ridiculous compared to the average household income ($45,000 +/-). According to some of internet search engines, it is more expensive to live in Des Moines than any of the surrounding cities, except Chicago. Oh well, it's better than living in "dueling banjo" country. (odd coming from an Iowan, eh?)