Why are our prices so high?

I was sitting at a shady table on Murphy Avenue in Sunnyvale, waiting for a friend to join me for lunch. The temperature was in the seventies, the sky was blue, and the street was already busy with people enjoying the day. Many were obviously on their lunch hour from local businesses.
While I waited, I was reminded of a recent "opinion" from Bob Kieve, who can be heard on radio stations, KLIV and KRTY. He had just returned from five days on the East Coast, and was so grateful to be back in the valley. Without the extremes of weather...hot muggy summers and freezing, snowy winters...he commented that our lives are so much more uncomplicated.
No wonder so many residents are willing to pay a premium to live in a paradise where available jobs and a more relaxed lifestyle combine to make a better life.
And besides, think of all the money we save on winter jackets and snow shovels!