It's Tough Out There for a Middle-Class New Yorker
Income levels that would enable a very comfortable lifestyle in other locales barely suffice to provide the basics in New York City, says the the Center for an Urban Future in a new report that merely provides data to back up what all city residents already new. The group estimates that the same quality of…
Income levels that would enable a very comfortable lifestyle in other locales barely suffice to provide the basics in New York City, says the the Center for an Urban Future in a new report that merely provides data to back up what all city residents already new. The group estimates that the same quality of life that costs $50,000 a year in Houston will run you $123,322 in the Big Apple; San Francisco is a distant second at $95,489 with LA at $80,583 and Philadelphia at $69,196. In addition, many New Yorkers put up with commutes that double the national average of 25 minutes. One Brooklyn Bridge Park even gets an unnamed reference: “If it wasn’t already clear that the cost of living in New York City is greatly out-of-whack with the rest of the country, it certainly became apparent in early 2008 when a new condo development in Brooklyn Heights began selling individual parking spaces—not apartments, parking spaces—for as much as $280,000.” So it’s no surprise that the report finds that many people have been giving up on New York. In fact, twice as many people with bachelor’s degrees left New York in 2005-2006 than in the prior two-year period. So what’s to do: Among other recommendations, the report suggests diversifying the economy, focus on basic infrastructure and quality of life issues rather than building flashy new projects and increase housing stock that is affordable to the middle class.
> “A family MUST have two cars in Houston.”
True. The city ain’t my cup of tea (or bottle of Lone Star), but but housing is plentiful and cheap.
new york has always been really expensive.
I knew this when I moved so im not blown away by these numbers. And when New York was cheaper so was SF and Boston.
I remember when I was growing up outside of Oakland my dad considered moving to these new condos in SF and they were around 250k and fit our family of 4 (around ’87). These places were on the water and amazing and still looked amazing last time I was in SF around 2000. They have to be well over a million now.
“Hey Sam, Remember that a lot of us are here because our friends and families are here and have been for generations. Most of us could give a shiit about the fashionista events that you now seem to be getting over, maybe now that you’re a bit older. It’s better that people like you feel that New York is over. Go ahead, leave please. Take all the temporarily, trendy, super-interesting stuff you brought to this city and move on to the next cool place and set up there. Just remember, New York will always be here in one form or another and I truly believe that it takes a real New Yorker to understand this concept. It’s a constantly changing place and unless you are from here you probably don’t get that. Things get better and things get worse, better and worse… You either have an extremely short memory or you haven’t been here for long, am I right? Finally, most of us don’t even notice the hassle and attitude, whataver that means, perhaps because we don’t involve ourselves with whatever crowd of transplants you seem to be having a bad time with?”
Brownstoner this is the QOTD!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end..
Unless you’ve spent some time exploring Houston don’t knock it. I know I’m going to get flack for this but here goes…Houston is a huge metropolis city with museaums, art galleries, restaurants gallore (real foodie ones, not just Olive Gardens!), great nightlife, theaters, opera, farmers markets, histrorical sights, sports arenas and very cool multicultural enclaves.
Please, don’t let George Bush ruin Texas for you!
As someone who visits Houston fairly often (pity me, folks!), I question these numbers. A family MUST have two cars in Houston. That alone would really drive up the cost of living. One of the things that makes NYC living is that you don’t NEED a car. You might want one, but you can absolutely get by without it. (And yes, I have two children. It can be done.)
And I’ve seen you post some of the dumbest crap on this blog than I have ever seen anywere. I’m no princess- I don’t know any either, but it’s obvious there are a few queens around here. You’re hardly an innocent poster- no one makes the kind of comments you do without knowing exactly what they are saying and why they are saying it. You do it all the time- you love baiting posters and your record of comments proves it.
“No rants today. I will let the data speak for itself…”
should probably do a re-write……
“Nothing on topic today, Just the usual rant. I’ll just cut and paste something that everyone is already fully aware of.”
Hey Sam, Remember that a lot of us are here because our friends and families are here and have been for generations. Most of us could give a shit about the fashionista events that you now seem to be getting over, maybe now that you’re a bit older. It’s better that people like you feel that New York is over. Go ahead, leave please. Take all the temporarily, trendy, super-interesting stuff you brought to this city and move on to the next cool place and set up there. Just remember, New York will always be here in one form or another and I truly believe that it takes a real New Yorker to understand this concept. It’s a constantly changing place and unless you are from here you probably don’t get that. Things get better and things get worse, better and worse… You either have an extremely short memory or you haven’t been here for long, am I right? Finally, most of us don’t even notice the hassle and attitude, whataver that means, perhaps because we don’t involve ourselves with whatever crowd of transplants you seem to be having a bad time with?
“telecommuting princesses”
HEEEEEY!I’m a princess!