Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Love Manhattan, Love Boston, DC is nice too but it's no Manhattan or Boston..
The problem is that living downtown in any of the major East Coast cities is priced out
of reach for even well paid working professionals.
In Manhattan the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 100k-110k.
Yet 400 sqft studio apartments are renting for $2,900 and 600 sqft 1br apartments are renting for $3,800.
2BR? Try $4,700 per month!
In Boston the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 90k-100k tops.
Yet nice 600 sqft 1br apartments in the heart of the city rent for $2,800-$3,600. 2br? Try $4,000 per month!
In DC the same story..
So what gives??
Renting downtown in any of these cities is priced well outside what employers are able/willing to pay.
How do people afford to live downtown in any of these major East Coast cities?
Has downtown become a reserved location for only the multimillionaires and people engaged in vast illegal activities?
Your argument is full of holes. For starters, how do you suppose jobs are filled in these cities if they're so "unaffordable"? Contrary to your assertion no doubt that people live 3 and 4 per apartment in order to survive, many are able to rent (or gasp, even own!) places to live by themselves. Secondly your rental rates are inflated conservatively 30% higher than the reality. Where are you quoting your rental rates from? Perhaps you should look at some nice third-tier suburban Sunbelt cities that won't test your fortitude quite so much.
Did you intentionally omit the 2nd largest East Coast city with the 3rd largest downtown population in the US? It's pretty common knowledge that Philadelphia is still relatively affordable.
What are you definitions of "downtown" in these areas? Where are you getting these rental rates from?
I was looking at 1br rental prices (over the internet) around West 57th Street in Manhattan. I am betting anything in the nicer (but not prime) areas of Manhattan are priced similarly. Brooklyn/Queens/JerseyCity may be cheaper but they are not Manhattan.
I think the OP is on to something. Downtown dwellers in Manhattan, Boston, and DC either have very high paying jobs, or they are being subsidized by someone (family, corporation, foreign government). When I worked in Manhattan as a young professional, most of my piers lived in the other boros or had somehow found something to sublet via some obscure and fortuitous connection, and that was usually with a couple of roomates.
I didn't mention Phili because I have never visited there to know what it is like. I didn't want to include a city I know nothing about. Phili is a Major East Coast city for sure. Baltimore is too small IMHO to be considered a major East Coast city.
I know someone who recently moved from where I live to take a job at the New York Times in Manhattan.
He was offered 100k and he had to rent in Brooklyn AND get a roommate to afford to live there.
My argument is not full of holes. A 100k-110k salary does not get you into Manhattan without roommates.
The lawyers making $160K+ their first year out have to account for less than 1% of the population.
I didn't mention Phili because I have never visited there to know what it is like. I didn't want to include a city I know nothing about. Phili is a Major East Coast city for sure. Baltimore is too small IMHO to be considered a major East Coast city.
Baltimore and Boston are pretty much the same in terms of population within city limits.
Love Manhattan, Love Boston, DC is nice too but it's no Manhattan or Boston..
The problem is that living downtown in any of the major East Coast cities is priced out
of reach for even well paid working professionals.
In Manhattan the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 100k-110k.
Yet 400 sqft studio apartments are renting for $2,900 and 600 sqft 1br apartments are renting for $3,800.
2BR? Try $4,700 per month!
In Boston the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 90k-100k tops.
Yet nice 600 sqft 1br apartments in the heart of the city rent for $2,800-$3,600. 2br? Try $4,000 per month!
In DC the same story..
So what gives??
Renting downtown in any of these cities is priced well outside what employers are able/willing to pay.
How do people afford to live downtown in any of these major East Coast cities?
Has downtown become a reserved location for only the multimillionaires and people engaged in vast illegal activities?
I understand and appreciate what you're saying. From my experience there are a number of explanations which, when taken together, explain the situation.
Your definition of "well paid" is relative and not all that accurate for some metro areas. In large metro areas "well paid" can easily mean $250,000 and more. To me, "well paid" is relative to the job and the job's location. In some communities "well paid" can be $40,000 while, in other communities, the same job is "well paid" if it garners $100,000.
Landlords/Property Mgmt. Co's. price rents knowing there are many people looking for housing and making a whole lot more than $100,000. Rents will remain relatively high as long as vacancy rates don't drop significantly.
Also, you jump from rentals reasonable for someone making $100,000 to "downtown become reserved location for only the multimilionaires...". You skipped over all those people making between $100,000 to $3,000,000, presumably, to make the situation seem that if one can't get a rental on $100,000 income one must make multi-millions. It doesn't exist that way. If it were that there are 15,000 people living in NYC that make between $250,000 and $1,500,000 it becomes easier to see why rents might be as they are. No, I don't know the actual numbers....they're probably higher.
Love Manhattan, Love Boston, DC is nice too but it's no Manhattan or Boston..
The problem is that living downtown in any of the major East Coast cities is priced out
of reach for even well paid working professionals.
In Manhattan the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 100k-110k.
Yet 400 sqft studio apartments are renting for $2,900 and 600 sqft 1br apartments are renting for $3,800.
2BR? Try $4,700 per month!
In Boston the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 90k-100k tops.
Yet nice 600 sqft 1br apartments in the heart of the city rent for $2,800-$3,600. 2br? Try $4,000 per month!
In DC the same story..
So what gives??
Renting downtown in any of these cities is priced well outside what employers are able/willing to pay.
How do people afford to live downtown in any of these major East Coast cities?
Has downtown become a reserved location for only the multimillionaires and people engaged in vast illegal activities?
2800 a month for a 1BR in the hot parts of DC (like NoMa) will get you an apt in a brand new superyuppie building loaded with amenities. You can probably find something quite decent for less. Come to the DC forum and ask.
Love Manhattan, Love Boston, DC is nice too but it's no Manhattan or Boston..
The problem is that living downtown in any of the major East Coast cities is priced out
of reach for even well paid working professionals.
In Manhattan the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 100k-110k.
Yet 400 sqft studio apartments are renting for $2,900 and 600 sqft 1br apartments are renting for $3,800.
2BR? Try $4,700 per month!
In Boston the top IT jobs requiring 10+ years of experience and a masters degree pay 90k-100k tops.
Yet nice 600 sqft 1br apartments in the heart of the city rent for $2,800-$3,600. 2br? Try $4,000 per month!
In DC the same story..
So what gives??
Renting downtown in any of these cities is priced well outside what employers are able/willing to pay.
How do people afford to live downtown in any of these major East Coast cities?
Has downtown become a reserved location for only the multimillionaires and people engaged in vast illegal activities?
I have lived in Manhattan and DC, and none of this seems that accurate to me. I think you need to do some more research.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
