Imagine if taking a pay cut meant that you had to leave the city you lived in your entire life. Not just the suburb, the whole city. You'd have to quit your job anyway.

Another thing to consider is that this might be a symptom of squeezing out the middle class alltogether. It would be just one more barrier between the rich and the poor. How do you start at the bottom and work your way up if the city you can afford to live in only has a bottom?