Just when you thought those 200-mile commutes to New York City were mind-boggling, here comes California: The high-paying gigs in the San Francisco area induce people to fly in from other states:

[Hospital nurse Ann] Inman spends $400 a month flying between Las Vegas and San Jose, where she keeps a car. Factoring in her $500 share of the Sunnyvale rent and the Nevada mortgage, Inman and her husband are spending nearly $2,000 a month more than they did living in California. But at least they will own a house when she retires, and a lot nicer one than a $4,000 monthly mortgage payment could get them in the Bay Area…

She shares her one-bedroom crash pad with a colleague who comes in from Phoenix for a week at a time. Other Stanford nurses fly in from Salt Lake City and from Alabama, likewise staying cheaply nearby.

Is it really worth all that travelling wear-and-tear, just for the sake of owning a house? I have a feeling a lot of these road warriors are going to be knocked for a loop when the housing market stumbles.