I think the definition of "an area which one may want to live" has drastically narrowed. It used to be widely known that living in NY was very expensive and not something everyone expected to do. Now that seems to be table stakes. It's as if the image of upper class life got so normalized that middle class people no longer even realize that striving for it will send you to the poor house. I know a lot of people who have spent tons of money on international travel, justifying it in part by saying that housing is too expensive so might as well blow the money on "experiences". Those people live in NY and SF. They could have a bought a house very easily with the money they spent on travel (or a wedding as per the OP) if they were willing to live somewhere other than the most expensive places on earth.