Quote:
Originally Posted by Design7
The vast majority of New Yorkers are working class and have always been. Because of certain business sectors such as Wall Street and the large number of corporate headquarters that make their home here, salaries in some fields are higher than normal. But that is not the case for the vast majority of working people who must have two or three working people in a family to own a home or pay the rent. Very few families can live here for long on one income. Truthfully, most cities in the US offer a better lifestyle for less income (I speak from experience). The candy coated stories in the media do not reflect the lives of the average New Yorker.
This article in The NYC Daily News offers a more realistic view of life in NYC. The following quote
"In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta," actually understates the issue in my opinion. |
First of all,let's be real.The days of a general "upward mobility" in the US are over.It's not just NYC.There has been virtually no upward mobility in the US for almost 10 years now.Even advanced education is no longer a guarantee of employment,let alone some kind of ticket to riches.Anyone who moves to NYC or anywhere else within the US because they are "looking for wealth" would be better off at a gaming table in Las Vegas.
New York can be very expensive but it doesn't have to be.I live decently on a teacher's salary.I pay less than 20% of my income on the mortgage and maintenance for a very large and comfortable apartment and my commute to work is only about 15 minutes.Practically everything I buy on a daily basis is at least 30%,often more than 50% cheaper in my neighborhood than it is in Manhattan stores.
We are not all(and the vast majority of us are not) spending 50% of our income trying to squeeze into shoeboxes in Manhattan and less than 1/2 of us commute to Manhattan every day anyway.Millions of people live in Queens and work in Queens or live in Brooklyn and work in Queens or live in The Bronx and work in The Bronx or live in The Bronx and work in Queens,etc,etc.
The article bases it's conclusions on a lot of hypothetical worst case scenarios that are not really how most NY'ers actually live.
The truth leaks out in the part where they admit that Queens is only the 5th most expensive urban area in the country.Where does that leave Brooklyn,The Bronx and Staten Island ? 8th,9th and 10th ? 10th,12thn and 15th?18th,19th and 20th? They don't want to get into that because it wouldn't bolster their storyline.The "average rent" figure of 2,800/mo that they threw out is for Manhattan,not the other boroughs and not even a citywide average.The interchanging of "NYC" with Manhattan figures is a clever trick to prove some false point.
Here is a link to a report that lists NYC as 14th in average citywide rents when compared to other US cities ,with an average citywide rent of $1,313/mo.Boston ,SF and LA are among the many places with higher average citywide rents.
http://www.wtnrradio.com/story.php?story=355
Yes,NYC is expensive and CAN BE extremely expensive if one choses to live an expensive lifestyle.I think a 6 figure income is probably required for a middle class life in Manhattan but not for most of the rest of the city.
Sick of reports and stories that assume or imply that all of NYC is made up of people stupid enough to spend 50% of their income on a $2,800/mo shoebox and spend 1.50 for a roll of toilet paper 2.00 for a 12 oz bottle of water or 10.00 for a beer.There are 8.5 million of us living here and less than 1 million live the kind of extravagant life described.
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