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.
Right, rob. Employment opportunities, current economic environment excepted, abound here even if you have to pull pints or wait tables. We will be back to good times. It’s called a cycle.
“it’s also the easiest place to sell people faux drugs and make a ton of cash.”
You better watch yourself, Rob. You might acidentally piss off the wrong people.
The “massacre” of new condo prices (see Toll Brothers story, above) should prove a good and wholesome corrective to these brutal disparities, at least for the rich who fancy themselves middle-class because they can afford a million-dollar condo but not a two-million-dollar condo. Bring on the massacree!
“the same quality of life that costs $50,000 a year in Houston will run you $123,322 in the Big Apple”
Yes true, but you must live in Houston to obtain this “windfall.”
im gonna be brutally honest with you people. i moved TO nyc because it was the cheapest alternative when all things are considered. tho i did just move from across the river in jersey. i dont know, i mean you make more money here, there are more services available. also if you are that destitute it’s the easiest place in the WORLD to panhandle for money. what does anger me the most is that we have the highest taxes for cigarettes and other vices. grrrr. but because of the influx of bumbleheads from across the country who want to fuse a sex in the city lifestyle meets weeds, it’s also the easiest place to sell people faux drugs and make a ton of cash. okay that was a total tangent… point being, yeah it’s difficult, but it would be much more difficult to live in a place like buffalo. so big deal rent their might be 300 instead of 3000. unless you have a ton in savings, how the heck are you going to make that 300 unless you work from home? and dont get me started on people who work from “home”. ha.
*r*
But sam, a lot of that depends on what line of work you’re in. Our whole firm could up and move to podunk but we’d be in an environment where we would have no day-to-day interaction with others in the business.
And why do any of the trades stay??? people like electricians, plumbers, welders? As hard as it often is for many people to keep up a “middle class” lifestyle, they still love being in NYC.
For me living in NYC is not about opera or fashionista events or anything really hip or cool any more. IT is about the diversity of the community that I live in, about the friends I have in my neighborhood, and the fact that everything I could ever need is within 5 blocks of me.
New York looks like it may be starting to be over. This is the point I was making last night on another thread. At some point the equation changes and people will start moving away rather than moving in. The quality of day to day life is just not that great here to warrant such a high cost. To some, who must be see at the latest restaurants or fashionista events or be walking distance to the Opera it may be worth it, but to those of us who prefer good, un-fancy food, never go to fashionista events and think one opera every three or so years is just right, it is beginning not to make too much sense to stay and put up with all the hassle and attitude.
How Much Does it Take to be Middle Class?
Lodi, NJ ——————- $12.48