What is the meaning of "si vivo donde vivo"?

Question

Tengo fama de cicatero porque nadie puede imaginarse que sea tan pobre si vivo donde vivo, y la verdad es que una noche como aquélla estaba muy por encima de mis recursos. (Memorias de mis putas tristes, Garcia Marquez)

The English translation (Grossman) I find for the bold part says "if I live where I live", but it makes no sense to me, it is like saying "if I am the one who is writing this". Grossman's translation for the whole sentence is:

I have a reputation as a miser because no one can imagine I'm as poor as I am if I live where I live, but the truth is that a night like this was far beyond my means.

The whole sentence is somewhat hard for me to understand, also because the author brings the reason for being famous for stinginess as "people would not believe how poor I am if I live where I live."

Answer 1

As user says, the expression means that the person lives in a place that makes impossible to think that he/she is poor. It's like saying "people can't imagine how poor I am if I live in Beverly Hills".

This kind of expressions can be used in any context. Some examples:

¿Cómo puedo tener deudas si gano lo que gano? (It is implied that the person earns a good salary.)

Fulano cogió cáncer a pesar de llevar la vida que lleva. (It is implied that the person lives a healthy life.)

¿Cómo puede seguir sobrio si ha bebido lo que ha bebido? (It is implied that the person has drunk quite a lot.)