Living in an expensive city has been the main way for millions to get ahead for decades. After all, most of the high paying jobs are all in expensive cities, which is why they are expensive in the first place!
When asked about career advice, I always recommend people follow the money. Go to where the wealthiest, most powerful people live so you can take advantage of the most opportunities.
New York City has all the financial firms. San Francisco has all the tech, internet, and venture capital money. While Washington DC and the surrounding suburbs have all of our tax money to spend on massive government contracts!
I’ve lived in all three types of cities for extended periods of time. In my experience, I’ve seen massive fortunes made in multiple ways.
If you want to “get lucky,” then you might as well go where there’s the most opportunity in an expensive city. Because twiddling your thumbs in a dying town, complaining why you can’t get ahead doesn’t make sense. We live in a free country with no state border controls.