See? It's about spending not salary. There is not a law that states all rent has to be at least $4K and nobody put a gun to his head and made him sign a lease for $4K. That was a choice. Just like your car payments, food, etc.. they are all choices.
If you value lifestyle, then you are going to pay more, simple as that. People can find places to live and cars to drive that cost significantly less, but we don't want to downgrade our lifestyles so we act as if there are no other options.
Taking home $70K and having $4K in rent sounds like an irresponsible spender. SO yeah if you make $100K and live paycheck to paycheck, it's not the economy, it's not the cost of living. It's a person who spends too much and isn't financially responsible