An article appeared on February 6 in The Daily News, Money section. The title was: "N.Y.C. so costly you need to earn six figures to make middle class." It quotes a study done by the Center for an Urban Future. Thanks to my daughter for the tip on this. You can access the full article here: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/02/05/2009-02-05_nyc_so_costly_you_need_to_earn_six_figur.html
Just to give you a little taste of what the study concluded:
A New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston.
You knew it was expensive to live in Manhattan, but Queens? The report tagged Queens the fifth most expensive urban area in the country.
In short, the article tells us New Yorkers something we've already intuitively grasped in trying to live in this city: there's a real added cost if you choose to live in NYC. Makes me wonder just why so many people ignore the obvious and still maintain that only NYC will do.
10 comments:
Ha! Was planning on writing about this. :)
Looking forward to your take on this Ezzie.
No surprise to me. It's one reason we moved to NJ. Even with high real estate taxes figured in, we bought a fairly new big house for way less than half of what an old fixer upper would have cost us in Flatbush or even in KGH. It also doesn't hurt that we like the neighborhood much better here. Our rent in Bklyn was more then our mortgage payments here.
Not being a New Yorker I would have to say that the only reason that New Yorker's feel that nothing better will do, is because they are New Yorker's.
No other logic for it.
There are jobs outsides of NY. There are other big city, big Jewish communities outside of NY. Yet, when speaking to New Yorker's you get the distinct impression that nothing else exists outside of NY.
Public transit that runs all night. Public transit that runs on Sunday.
Walking distance to a number of shuls.
I don't drive.
thanbo is correct. in new york we take 24/7 subway service for granted. and it's still relatively cheap even with proposed fare hikes.
Lion,
Let's not be so quick to equate 24/7 subway service with all of NYC. SI is part of NYC and our public transport is neither convenient nor cheap. Express buses are required from most areas to get off the Island and to anywhere else, and at $5 each way before the hike that is not inexpensive. Nor do they run at all hours. In KGH you have to take a bus to the subway, and those buses don't run 24/7. Only in some parts of the city is public transportation convenient and cheap. Not to mention the bridge tolls in SI which go to subsidize the transportation for all of the rest of you. That money does not stay in SI.
There are plenty of other conveniences that NYC affords that just aren't available elsewhere. Especially for orthodox Jews. Not saying it isn't a tradeoff, but some think it's worth it.
PROFK:
"Only in some parts of the city is public transportation convenient and cheap."
ok, i should have said that for most new yorkers it is convenient and cheap. it's still a better situation that anywhere else.
i haven't travelled that much, but i remember two cities:
1) atlanta: has only 2 (!) subway lines covering the entire city
2) london: trains are not 24 hours. and they're can be fortune depending on the hour you are travelling and how many zones of the city you travel through.
(and of course in israel public transportation is not 24 and is generally not 7)
how many other cities--i won't say no other city because i'm sure you'll name me 1 or 2--have a public trans. system that is as extensive as new york's (in terms of coverage, frequency and 24/7) and as cheap?
-LOZ
(my atalnta reference is as of the late 90s, when i was there)
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