If you could earn a New York or Boston salary and live in Erie, would you do it?

I posed that question in this week's "Inside Erie" newsletter and received some great responses from readers.

The overwhelming sentiment was, yes, it would be great to be a telecommuter who works in a home office in Erie -- especially in light of Erie's relatively low real estate costs.

But those costs don't compare well with everywhere -- at least according to reader Lyn Willis.

Willis said new construction in Erie is actually more expensive than it is in some of the East Coast's most desirable locales -- including Cary, N.C., the corporate home of Lord Corp.

Willis writes:

"The builders in Erie are charging outlandish prices for new construction. I did my homework and shopped around, only to find that a new home built with builder's grade materials in a nice neighborhood in Millcreek or Fairview would have been at least $125 a square foot.

"When the new opportunity presented itself we found ourselves in a new situation; shopping for homes in Cary, North Carolina. Our home in Erie is currently under contract and last weekend we went to Cary in search of a new home. I was amazed to find that we were able to buy a brand new home with lots of quality upgrades for less than we could have built a new home for in Erie. I would have to say that the markets are comparable, and if you are shopping for new construction you can definitely do better outside of Erie."

I have not had that experience during my time in cities like Boston and Washington. But there are clearly some growing areas of the country that can stand strong against Erie in terms of real estate costs.