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.
i cannot stand people using the phrase “middle america” as some socially acceptable put down. please change middle america to jew, black, asian, or anything else and you’ll see how gross it is. it’s the phrase that insecure people use to feel better about themselves. do you really think that everyone on the east coast is in some way smarter, more interesting, and better educated on the whole than people elsewhere? really? chicago is a gigantic cultural center and certainly their improve, 19th century modern art, modern architecture (frank lloyd wright anyone?) blues and futures markets are unique to that city and leads in those areas in the US. so, just give it a rest.
and travel has way more to do with money and time, then anything else. the majority cannot afford to fly out of the country. be realistic here.
i am absolutely tied to NY for work, and could not find the same opportunities in my field in another city, but would not rule out moving if that changed. i personally just love everything out west from the rockies to LA to Seattle, and, yes, of course, Las Vegas!
i’ve been a new yorker for forever and love NY, but enough with the name calling.
sixyearsandcounting is right. My midwestern friends are more travelled than some NYC natives. Rob is a perfect example.
cmu, I have an afterquestion: A very good friend lives in SF, makes $50,000 a year, and complains she can’t afford to buy anything. She doesn’t want to live in a studio, but otherwise is open. I think the bank would approve $130,000 or so. I bought an 1,100-sq foot one bedroom in Queens for $195,000. Does she have any options?
quizzote:
I’d argue that more people in New York have been to other cities around the country and the world than the typical American, thus say they prefer it here because of experience.
A lot of “middle America” have barely left their home state, much less the country, so of course they don’t think that NYC is the be all end all
want to hear something funny? and it’s sad at the same time. i’ve never been on a plane, ive never been more north than vermont and more other ways than cape cod and and ive never been more south than barnaget nj. :-/ it’s kinda lame i know, but you have to realize that a LOT of people just live in nyc cuz well, that is the area they are from, comfortable with, and like it so much they dont really want to move. in college all my professors told me i;d LOVE california. hmm perhaps. i dont know, but then my friends who do live there say how much i’d hate it. who do i believe? it’s not like i can just pick up out of nyc and go there you know? and i think many people are in the same boat. we are stuck here. but we LIKE being stuck here. if i grew up in the midwest would i come here? i dont know. if i grew up in cali would i come here? no clue either. point being, i am here, and i like it, and deep down inside i do like transplants… hells i am one being from jersey i guess.
my grandmother is STUCK down in south carolina. she HATES IT! no offense to people down there but she has told me some nasty things about it down there and do you know she actually asked me if we could get an apt together in nyc or northern nj? when i told her i cant do that it broke my heart.
the funny thing is that i always thought she was the biggest racist EVER! and i hated that side of her. but now all she complains about are white people down there. she says the black people down there are great but that they act in ways that she isnt used to. i dont know what means either. maybe someone can chime in. i love my grandmother but the thought of us sharing an apt in nyc circa 2009 is just crazytown!
*rob*
“A lot of “middle America” have barely left their home state, much less the country, so of course they don’t think that NYC is the be all end all.
Because they haven’t been here.
Or much of anywhere.”
Are you for real?
“Have you ever been to Middle America and actually talked to people there?”
Now why would I EVER want to do something as silly as that ;)?
Seriously, that sort of statement is meaningless. Of course I (as far as I’m representative of a New Yawker/big city person) “know” well enough that there’s different sensibilities, desires, environments and values in this large country. But how, unless I want to conduct research or be a national politician, does it matter if I never experience this diversity firsthand? And that’s not the same as being close-minded.
The point is that mostly people tend to live in environments that they are comfortable with, and befriend people with like values and feelings. Same for travel. I’d feel much more at home in Paris, London or Mumbai than in Bismarck, Atlanta or Salt Lake City. That does not make me provincial or unwilling to expose myself. It merely means that, given finite time and resources, I will spend my time where I am most comfortable and where I feel most fulfilled…in cities mostly, and on occasion in naturally beautiful areas, but rarely if ever in the great heartland or suburbia.
Finally, your Palin comment threw me…are you an admirer of hers or are you using her as an example of provinciality?
11217 more or less proves my point. Lots of *New Yorkers* have never left their home region (most have been to NJ and CT), and if they go anywhere else, it’s Florida. Have you ever been to Middle America and actually talked to people there? Lots of them have seen far more of the USA than the average New Yorker. Believe me, I ask my students this question every so often, and I teach in a school with 4200 kids from every possible socioeconomic group. I share lots of my own travel stories, and the most common reaction among colleagues and students is one of fear – I’ve never met so many people afraid of travel as I have here in NYC!
It’s true that something like 20% of Americans have passports, and I would say the percentage of native-born New Yorkers (not immigrants and dual citizens) with passports is quite similar. Also, up until 2007 you could travel to Mexico, Canada, and (I think) many Caribbean countries without a passport. Thus there were millions of Americans whose only experience outside of the USA was in those countries, and they didn’t have passports. This will now change since you have to have a passport or passport card to go basically anywhere.
If I’m not mistaken, Palin had been to Kuwait and Germany in her capacity as Governor, but had never traveled as a private citizen.
Damn, 11217, where are all those tourists in midtown from then?
Thanks, cmu. I’m surprised. Good to know.
I’d argue that more people in New York have been to other cities around the country and the world than the typical American, thus say they prefer it here because of experience.
A lot of “middle America” have barely left their home state, much less the country, so of course they don’t think that NYC is the be all end all.
Because they haven’t been here.
Or much of anywhere.
I’m not saying that to degrade anyone, but it’s the truth. I think 20% of Americans have left the country before or something like that. Maybe that’s the number that have passports. I remember reading it when it was discovered that Sarah Palin had never been out of the country before.
I’d guess that a huge chunk of those who travel often live in NYC, San Fran, LA, Boston, etc.