As a counterpoint, my wife and i are both professionals, though well below the pay scale of physicians. We now make collectively $190 K per year. We've been in Seattle for 26 years., bought our house in '95 and paid it off in about 12 years. The house is small (1300 SF) but nice and in an excellent neighborhood.
For most of that time, we weren't making quite that much.
We have never felt the slightest financial pressure from the cost of living here. Far from it, we were able to save voraciously, and have achieved financial independence quite readily beyond our expectations.
We love living here and consider ourselves very fortunate. Part of our luck is buying when we did and it's probably true that someone in our circumstances today would have a tougher time getting situated. Also, we have one child who has benefited from a great public school district and all the area has to offer.
Traffic has gotten worse in recent years, though it's not unbearable. Homelessness is a burgeoning problem that is only getting worse.
Hope this helps in your decision and best of luck to you.
It's my honest opinion that which one you choose is not nearly as important as how you handle your yourself once it's been made.