At Least You Don't Live in N.Y.C.

[3113]

Worried about making financial ends meet? If you're outside of New York City you may be in better shape than you think. Edited out from the New York Daily News:

....A new report shows just how ugly — and expensive — New York City can be, especially for the middle class, squeezed by skyrocketing living costs and stagnant wages. The study, released Thursday by the Center for an Urban Future, shows that New York City is hands-down the most expensive place to live in the country.

Among the findings:
-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.
-In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta.
-You knew it was expensive to live in Manhattan, but Queens? The report tagged Queens the fifth most expensive urban area in the country.
-The average monthly rent in New York is $2,801, 53% higher than San Francisco, the second most expensive city in the country.

...Other belt-tightening details include:
-New Yorkers paid about $34 a month for phone service in 2006. In San Francisco, similar service cost $17 a month.
-Home heating costs have jumped 125% in the past five years and are up 243% since 1998.
-Full-time day care costs can run up to $25,000 a year for one child, depending on the neighborhood, or about as much as some college tuitions.

Meanwhile, wages in the city have remained mostly flat in all boroughs but Manhattan — even during the boom years from 2003 to 2007....Researchers said the combination of skyrocketing costs, stagnant wages and a deteriorating quality of life forced hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to flee the city for cheaper areas during the boom years from 2002 to 2006.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

And those are just some of the things I hate about the place!

 

[DesertPirate]

I spent 5 months there in 77
Never wanted to go back

 

[sutherngent985]

I used to live in NYC...10 years. I can not understand what people see in that cesspool. Its dirty (yea even with the sanitation workers making upwards of $30/hr), crowded as hell and you need to own a gold mine to live there. When I moved to my current residence (midwest) I took a $4/hr pay cut but my real income (spendable) went up. Trust me, I will NEVER live there again. If my son wasnt there now, I would never go back.

When I lived there, I commuted 500 miles a week. Now, I commute half that in 2 weeks or about 125 miles a week.

 

[rgraham666]

Now, New York City serves a purpose. It unites the country in hatred.

Canadians feel the same way about Toronto.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Now, New York City serves a purpose. It unites the country in hatred.

Canadians feel the same way about Toronto.

What? Not Ottawa?

 

[rgraham666]

Nope. Like NYC Toronto is where the banks and stock brokerages are.

There are some people who hate Ottawa but I've found that most of them also think Ottawa is controlled by the canine-headed aliens from Uranus. So it's hard to take them seriously.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Nope. Like NYC Toronto is where the banks and stock brokerages are.

There are some people who hate Ottawa but I've found that most of them also think Ottawa is controlled by the canine-headed aliens from Uranus. So it's hard to take them seriously.

You mean it isn't? Darn! And I wanted to go there and see them, too.

 

[redpaint]

Glad I live in the middle of the nowhere in the midwest Sure is a lot cheeper.

 

[TE999]

Those prices are ridiculous...and they probably don't include the crushing taxes either. I wouldn't live there if you bought me a penthouse in the Trump Tower and paid all my expenses. That many people in one place makes me itch.

 

[SlickTony]

These are things I always knew...I have not heard one thing to cause me to alter my opinion. WRT NYC being dirty, I heard that the current craze for black wardrobes began there--the place is so physically grubby it's not worth it to wear anything else.

 

[R. Richard]

I lived in in NYC for a time. If you live in NYC, you pay federal taxes (Except for Democratic politicians,) state taxes and city taxes.

 

[Palba_Noruda]

Ottawa?

I spent a month there one night.

 

[DeeZire]

NYC does have its redeeming qualities - Seinfeld, SNL, David Letterman, Nerve.com, and we can't forget the rich musical legacy that brought us Dylan and Coltrane.

Plus there's this:
http://www.jordanmatter.com/view.as...pg&id=025_e&path=/exhibits/broadband/nudes_01

 

[3113]

and we can't forget the rich musical legacy that brought us Dylan and Coltrane.

But would a young Dylan or Coltrane be able to afford to live in NYC now and develop their music there as those two did back in the day? If not, then NYC has lost that particular magic.

 

[sutherngent985]

But would a young Dylan or Coltrane be able to afford to live in NYC now and develop their music there as those two did back in the day? If not, then NYC has lost that particular magic.

No they wouldnt. To get a studio apt in Manhattan, you will have to pay $1500-$2000 or more and that after a wait of months. And the village now is alot more than that...its a yuppie thing. To my way of thinking, anyone who lives in NYC, esp after 9/11, needs to rethink why they are there. Is it really worth it? Yes I lived for over 7 yrs after 9/11, but then no one ever said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer

 

[DesertPirate]

NYC does have its redeeming qualities - Seinfeld, SNL, David Letterman, Nerve.com, and we can't forget the rich musical legacy that brought us Dylan and Coltrane.

Plus there's this:
http://www.jordanmatter.com/view.as...pg&id=025_e&path=/exhibits/broadband/nudes_01

Sorry darlin. John Coltrane is from right here in High Point, NC. There is talk of making the house he grew up in a museum. There is a statue of him on the corne of the City Hall lot and the transportation center for furniture market.

 

[john-the-author]

Glad I live in the middle of the nowhere in the midwest Sure is a lot cheeper.

After living in Seattle for 24 years, I was truly amazed at how cheap it was to live in Indiana: the house I spent $225,000 for would've cost at least $600K in Seattle and that was before the housing boom that would've doubled it. And when all was said and done, I was really glad to get the hell out of the Midwest and back to the 21st century, even if it did cost more to live there.

 

[sutherngent985]

After living in Seattle for 24 years, I was truly amazed at how cheap it was to live in Indiana: the house I spent $225,000 for would've cost at least $600K in Seattle and that was before the housing boom that would've doubled it. And when all was said and done, I was really glad to get the hell out of the Midwest and back to the 21st century, even if it did cost more to live there.

For me, after having lived in NYC for 10 years, it is such a breath of fresh air to be in a small (225,000) town in a sparsely populated state. As an example...the state university has a football stadium here, it holds about 80000 people. During football season, when the stadium is full, it is the 3rd largest population center in the state.

 

[DeeZire]

Sorry darlin. John Coltrane is from right here in High Point, NC. There is talk of making the house he grew up in a museum. There is a statue of him on the corne of the City Hall lot and the transportation center for furniture market.

I was speaking in general terms about the music industry that is based in NYC, and the jazz clubs that brought unknown artists to the public's attention. Back in the day, it was the little labels in NYC that were making the records we now consider classics.

I do feel bad for the musicians/artists based there now. A drummer friend of mine moved there about a year ago. His wife works in the healthcare sector, so they may do okay, especially since they found a place in Harlem, but I keep expecting to see him back in town. The weird thing for musicians in that town is cartage. He had to sell his van, since there was no place to park it, so now he has to throw his drum set in the back of a cab to get to a gig.

There are also the stories circulating about musicians getting their gear ripped off while loading out of a club. Apparently, you need an armed guard, or at least a boota-esque bouncer watching your gear at all times.