Yes, home prices here are high, but we could be worse off. We could be La Jolla.

Coldwell Banker's national survey of 2,200-square foot homes finds that La Jolla is the most expensive place in the US: A four-bedroom pad there costs an average of $2.12 million. San Francisco's four-bedrooms are practically cheap by comparison, at (only) $1.36 million.

SF is (only) the 6th most expensive place in the country. Neighbor Palo Alto is 4th, and San Mateo 10th.

Our state, in fact, is quite a stand-out. Of the 10 costliest markets in the country, only two (Greenwich, CT, ranked 3rd, and Boston, 7th) are outside California. The Golden State also boasts the biggest price gap, a nearly $1.96 million difference between La Jolla's four-bedrooms and Lancaster's (a steal at $165,205).

An even bigger steal is Grayling, MI, which Coldwell Banker calls "the most affordable market in America"--you can swoop up the same sized house for a mere $112,675.

Where does NYC fit? The study excludes Manhattan because of its lack of sprawling single-family homes.

Many out-of-towners I've talked to can't believe that multiple offers and cash bids above the asking price are still common in SF. The headlines about incredible housing deals just don't apply to us, unfortunately. Last month, 536 homes were sold in the city, with a median price of $650,000--only a tad less than the median of $675,000 in September 2008, according to real estate reporting service MDA DataQuick.

For the Bay Area as a whole, the median price paid in September was $365,000, about 9 percent lower than the price a year earlier, MDA DataQuick says. State-wide, the median price was $251,000, down 11.3 percent from September 2008.

Rent continues to decline. San Francisco rent--which averages $2,270 a month--has dropped 5.6 percent during the past year, says the SF Chronicle, citing a real estate report.

That's of little solace to tenants, though, who've faced a 26.4 percent surge in rent over the last four years.

The SF-Oakland-San Jose area's IQ is 165 (out of a max 200), putting us second in the country in smarts.

The Daily Beast news website's survey examined the per capita college and grad school degrees, nonfiction book sales, universities and voter turnout in 55 U.S. metropolitan areas with populations of at least 1 million. Raleigh-Durham, N.C. was the smartest, with an IQ of 170.

But the ratings came with a mind-blowing conclusion: The Bay Area fell short of Raleigh-Durham "because of a relatively low score in political engagement," according to the news site run by former New Yorker editor Tina Brown. The Beast admits its methodology is "flawed" and plans to refine it--maybe next time it should check out our persistent sidewalk petition-signature solicitors, letters to the editors and Civic Center rallies.

More outside validation that San Fran is the place:

--To Visit

We're the best city in the U.S. to visit, according to the Condé Nast Traveler's 2009 Readers' Choice Awards.

Actually, nothing new here; this is the 17th year in a row that the magazine's readers have awarded this title to SF. Our restaurants are a big factor, but we also rate high in atmosphere/ambiance, culture and sights, friendliness, accommodation and shopping.

After us come Charleston, S.C.; Santa Fe, N.M.; New York; and Chicago.

--For Brains, or Brain Studies

In neurotechnology (the study of the cranium and nervous system), the Bay Area is the world's leader, ahead of such rivals as Boston, New York, London and Los Angeles.

The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO)'s ranking considers a place's neuroscience-centric companies, local risk capital and related infrastructure (universities, hospitals, research institutions).  Neuroscience is big business; nearly 2 billion people worldwide suffer from neurological disease and mental illness, NIO says.

Naysayers might grumble that SF had a home-team advantage, though, because NIO is based here.