Out-of-town homeless families are flooding New York City shelters

[Admiral Yi]

Dude, 2 different stores in the same city will charge different prices.

Shit, now I really wish I had said "about the same" instead of "exactly the same."

[dps]

Dude, 2 different stores in the same city will charge different prices.

Shit, now I really wish I had said "about the same" instead of "exactly the same."

It's not even "about the same".  I've seen convenience stores charge twice as much (or even more than that) as supermarkets.

[Admiral Yi]

It's not even "about the same".  I've seen convenience stores charge twice as much (or even more than that) as supermarkets.

Well sure.  But I don't see how that advances the argument that basic food prices are wildly different by geography.

Batteries cost more in a convenience store, but surely no one is going to claim that battery prices vary wildly by geography.

[DGuller]

To put it simply, Yi claims that if price of bread is the response variable, then geography offers no predictive power once all the relevant explanatory variables have been controlled for.

[Admiral Yi]

Not quite.  That the corellation with housing cost is positive but low, and certainly not sufficient to deter a panhandler from an otherwise rich feeding ground.

[garbon]

Homelessness Life is a complex phenomena, that embraces a wide range of personal circumstances.

FYP

Nope I think you'll find my original post is indeed correct; homeless people aren't just a bunch of whino-sitting around the streets getting drunk, stoned or violent, there are all sort of homelessness situations other than the caricatures that sometimes get trotted out on this forum.

But by all means, don't let me get in way of a good Garbon 'au contraire' moment/post, you do it so well, so often, it's as if one didn't need to see you posts, just that you've posted in a thread and from the subject matter one could guess what the content of you post will be.

Au contraire? My point was that life was complex, so not really a big epiphany that homelessness is complex.

[garbon]

But I don't see how that advances the argument that basic food prices are wildly different by geography.

So my statement about cereal was irrelevant?

[Admiral Yi]

So my statement about cereal was irrelevant?

It was potentially relevant but tainted by the unreliable source.

[garbon]

So my statement about cereal was irrelevant?

It was potentially relevant but tainted by the unreliable source.

Played around with a few sites and here's what I got:

http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/des-moines/new-york-city
NY Price - Des Moines Price - Price difference

Daily menu in the business district    $14.91    $10.00   49%
Combo meal in fast food restaurant (Big Mac Meal or similar)    $7.30    $5.86   25%
1/2 Kg (1 lb.) of chicken breast    $5.02    $3.35   50%
1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk    $2.73    $1.54   77%
12 eggs, large    $3.18    $1.79   78%
1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes    $4.29    $3.87   11%
500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese    $6.66    $4.44   50%
1 kg (2 lb.) of apples    $3.82    $2.91   31%
2 kg (4,5 lb.) of potatoes    $4.39    $3.17   39%
0.5 l (16 oz) beer in the supermarket    $2.45    $1.75   40%
1 bottle of red table wine, good quality    $17.41    $12.03   45%
2 liters of Coca-Cola    $2.33    $1.62   44%
bread for 2 people for 1 day    $2.94    $1.67   76%

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+States&city1=Des+Moines%2C+IA&city2=New+York%2C+NY
Des Moines price - NYC Price - Price Diff

Milk (regular), 1 liter    2.00 $        1.50 $         -24.99 %
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g)    2.37 $        2.84 $         +20.10 %
Eggs (12)    1.63 $        3.30 $         +101.99 %
Fresh Cheese (1kg)    12.86 $        10.97 $         -14.73 %
Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg)    5.77 $        7.17 $         +24.28 %
Apples (1kg)    2.00 $        3.73 $         +86.50 %
Oranges (1kg)    5.50 $        3.55 $         -35.46 %
Potato (1kg)    0.77 $        1.71 $         +121.20 %
Lettuce (1 head)    0.84 $        1.85 $         +121.26 %
Water (1.5 liter bottle)    1.83 $        2.27 $         +23.98 %
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range)    14.25 $        13.92 $         -2.30 %
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)    2.52 $        3.02 $         +19.60 %
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)    3.08 $        4.28 $         +39.11 %
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro)    5.88 $        12.24 $         +108.29 %

[Admiral Yi]

You win. 

[Syt]

For example, to keep the same standard of living that would require $36,000 in New York City you would need to make just about $23,076 (€18,723) in Vienna.

[HisMajestyBOB]

On the other hand, a new iPhone costs about the same here in Shanghai as it does in the States. 

[garbon]

On the other hand, a new iPhone costs about the same here in Shanghai as it does in the States. 

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?