Unreal estate

I began officially looking for condos in LA this past weekend. Not encouraging.

Basically, my options thus far are as follows:

• buy a 1 bedroom I really can't afford in an area I really love (Santa Monica)
• buy a 2 bedroom I really can't afford (but could get a roommate to help) in an area I'm not so crazy about (San Fernando Valley)
• buy a 2 bedroom I could possibly afford in an area that would bore the ever living shit out of me (Thousand Oaks)

I'm left with 2 big questions:

• Why does it seem that happiness and responsibility are so often at odds?
• How the hell do so many people buy anything out here?