As a Pittsburgh native who still cares deeply about the city, I was pleased to see the following headline as I scrolled through post-gazette.com on Dec. 13 from my exile in Northern Virginia: "Ravenstahl Envisions a City That's Affordable, Fun, Smart." It was encouraging to see the mayor articulating goals for the city that are not only attractive to folks in our age group (mid-20s) but that also have universal appeal.

		Matthew R. Dillon, a native of Mt. Lebanon, is a financial analyst at The Mitre Corp., a non-profit research firm (dill607@aol.com).

One detail in the article stood out: Mayor Ravenstahl said that he and his wife had considered moving Downtown, but decided they couldn't afford to buy into the burgeoning Downtown condo market. But as the article noted, the mayor's salary is $96,500 and his wife works as a beautician. If the Ravenstahls, certainly earning over six figures a year, can't afford to live in the city center, how are other twentysomethings supposed to afford it? Believe me, based on what I know about pay scales in Pittsburgh, a majority of twentysomethings are lucky to be making a third of that figure.

But I applaud Mayor Ravenstahl for at least realizing the paradox here. According to the article, "The mayor wants people earning $50,000 to be able to consider the center city." I also agree with his efforts to consider tax abatements for developers Downtown.

But the bigger issue here is not the affordability of brand-new luxury loft condos Downtown. It's about the overall affordability of the Pittsburgh region -- a place that claims, over and over, to have some of the most affordable living in the nation -- for young, college-educated professionals.

We've all heard of our brain drain: young, college-educated talent leaving Pittsburgh to begin and, many times, finish their careers. What amazes me is the fact that this has been going on for nearly 30 years starting in the 1980s after the collapse of the steel industry, and it continues today.

After nearly 30 years, why are young people continuing to leave Pittsburgh? The answer may surprise you:

They can't afford to live in Pittsburgh.

What? Wait! Can't be! The cost of living in other cities is so expensive! Anyone can tell you that! You must be crazy!

Well, in absolute terms, housing is more expensive in areas such as New York, Boston, Washington and Chicago. But thinking in absolute, black-and-white terms is just as bad as accepting conventional wisdom. You have to understand relative terms. So how can moving to an expensive city be more affordable?

Relatively speaking, the answer is quite simple: Companies in other cities tend to offer not only more, but higher-quality jobs that pay significantly more than companies in Pittsburgh -- more than enough to offset the increased housing costs.

When they move out of Pittsburgh, young professionals are finding that they have a better standard of living, coupled with an increase in discretionary income. Yes, an increase in discretionary income. In simple terms, young people's money many times goes further in cities with a higher cost of living because they make significantly more.

How do I know this? Because I moved from Pittsburgh in 2004 to the Washington, D.C., metro area, increasing my salary by $20,000. Had I taken my life in a different direction, I would have accepted a job making $25,000 more. Same degree, same experience. Here's the kicker: the job making $25K more was located in Memphis, Tenn., a city that has a lower cost of living than Pittsburgh. Go figure that one! I wish I could tell you that I'm exaggerating these figures, but I'm not.

In Pittsburgh, had I not lived with my parents, I would have been hard-pressed to afford basic expenses: rent and food.

In the D.C. metro area, where housing is indeed expensive, not only can I afford basic expenses, I can afford a new car. I can afford to eat at expensive restaurants. I can afford digital cable: I can afford to take a vacation. I can even afford to pay back $20K in student loans. None of this would have been possible on the salary I was making in Pittsburgh.

Don't get me wrong, I love Pittsburgh. My fondest memories of friends and family all take place in Pittsburgh. One day I would like to move back and raise a family in the city that prides itself on being affordable.

Ironically that time will come when ... well, when I can afford it.