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ok i give this advice if your family there in the windy city stay and be with them ..yes at time it might be something you should done but time with family is more inportant that anything else ..
i would the world everything i own to show my wife and mother & dad there grandkids and show them how well thing are going for them but i can not and at times i get so mad that i can show the simple things that they should have been allowed to see but that life and i have to deal with that fact on it ..
New York is a very, very, different place from the Midwest. Hasn't been "working class" per se, like the Midwest for a few decades now. You can get by on 40k in the Midwest. East Coast 40k you may as well kill yourself. People are different, pace is a lot faster on the Coasts, etc.
New York is a very, very, different place from the Midwest. Hasn't been "working class" per se, like the Midwest for a few decades now. You can get by on 40k in the Midwest. East Coast 40k you may as well kill yourself. People are different, pace is a lot faster on the Coasts, etc.
The median income in NYC is 50K. So I think there are a lot of "working class" people still in the city.
People just get caught up in the Sex in the City mirage and suffer because of it. You said you have friends and family in chicago and based on similiar money it sounds like a much better option. Why would you want to be lower middle class in one area when you wouldn't have to struggle so much in another. Also without friends or family,areas can get very lonely.
Personally I'd rather live in the place with a lower COL. The COL is a huge part of why living in NYC is so stressful. And by cost of living I mean everything not just rent. It's a huge peace of mind thing to not have to worry about that stuff. You can always visit NYC and enjoy the best parts of it anyway which many of us who live here don't get to enjoy because we have to work so hard because of the COL and never have the free time or the energy to take advantage of the city.
Just one man's opinion.
Last edited by NooYowkur81; 05-29-2011 at 07:32 AM..
I guess the other thing that I should point out to anyone who is confused by my long list of contradictions- when I last lived there I certainly wasn't making anything near what I mentioned above. The city looks a lot different on 60K than it does on what I was making at the time. With that kind of income I wouldn't have to have roommates (although I'd obviously be far out in one of the outer boroughs). It would open up possibilities to me that were out of reach prior. I'm not saying 60K is all that much money, but it definitely is a game-changer from where I was at before. And what I was most unhappy with of everything was the neighborhood I lived in. It's really easy to sit back and judge me for that, as has been made clear by some of the comments here. It's easy if you've been in NYC your entire life and know your way around. It isn't easy when you are new to the area, still learning how things work. And to those who moved to NYC from somewhere else, I'm sure there was a point for most of you when you were new to the city and you fumbled around and experienced the same awkwardness. I don't think most people just figure it all out right away. You do the best you can at the time. I will give you partial credit and admit I was stupid to live in Manhattan. I should have gone to Brooklyn or Queens like some of the people on here were trying so hard to tell me. I should have listened. Let that serve as a warning to anyone on here contemplating a move to NYC.
My financial situation trapped me in that neighborhood. I lived there for 8 long months. I could have stayed longer I suppose if I was really hell-bent on it. But why? I knew what I was doing wasn't working and that I needed to go back to school. It isn't that I 'failed' at it, it's that I realized I wasn't going to get the job I wanted at the salary level I needed (have you seen the post about the 25-40K jobs... I don't think I'm alone here). The economy sucks balls right now, but ultimately that's the thing that is pushing me and driving me harder. So yes, I suppose I could have stayed living like that. But why? Just to prove something?
I think the thing that concerns me the most at this point is how many accountants in the FD were laid off post-crash 2008. It makes me question what kind of job security I'd have, seeing that so many more experienced people are fighting for the jobs right now. But I suppose many would say you can't live your life in fear like that, even though the threat is very real. If there is anything that makes me go to Chicago instead, I think it will be the realization of how unstable Wall Street really is (and how dependent my livelihood would be on it). The people on the bottom of the food chain go first, so if there was another big shake-up that would probably mean me. Perhaps I should just trust my instinct, and not come back to NYC until I am further along in my career. It's a lot easier to get by in Chicago should you have the terrible experience of getting laid off. It's the kind of place where I could wait tables and bartend to survive if need be and get by just fine. In NYC that would be much harder. In Chicago you don't see employers requiring you to 'only have Chicago experience' very often. For the restaurants and bars that pay the real money in NYC, the employers tend to only hire those with NYC experience, and a very good amount of it. Which I suppose they can afford to do, seeing the competition out there. But that puts in me in a very shaky situation, one that I shudder to think about living again. Evidently to those employers I am a backwards hick just because I come from the Midwest. I forgot about that pleasant little stereotype.
That was one of the better post i read on CD; well articulated and gives a better understanding of the dilemma you face... In my opinion you should stay in Chicago. One thing I have learned from this economy is stability trumps everything else in life; if you can accomplish it at a young age, that is a huge bonus. It sounds like you have stability in every way. You are near family, have a decent paying job (maybe well paid for Chi town standards). You are also fully confident you can bounce back, if things hit the fan (not many people can say that, even some millionaires). I personally can't see the logic to passing all of that up to live in a place that you had a bad experience in. Believe it or not, West Harlem is fairly indicative of NYC. Diverse, both culturally and ethnically, relatively safe (that particular area you resided), and poor quality of life (which is true of almost every neighborhod in NYC, including downtown Manhattan). In all honesty, I can't understand how your heart can still be in NYC, as nothing happened while you were here to sustain those emotions. If you said you were not a quitter and it didn't sit well with you that you failed and you wanted to prove to yourself "you can make it anywhere", that would be a bit more understandable, but even in that case I would say your best bet is Chicago, as that relies far too much on emotions, than logic.
The city looks a lot different on 60K than it does on what I was making at the time. With that kind of income I wouldn't have to have roommates (although I'd obviously be far out in one of the outer boroughs).
Depends on if you want to come back to your old hood! I'm a young white guy living in West Harlem (the W 140's and Broadway) and I think it's pretty good. Sure, I'd prefer to live in the village or something, but I have a nice 1 bedroom for $1125.
I make roughly $60k as well and I put 5% of my pay into a retirement plan, invest $5k annually to my Roth IRA, put around another $5-$6k a year into a regular savings account, paid off my 3 year car loan in a year and a half and still go out at least a couple times a week! And I have no roommates (besides my girlfriend [who I also support]).
I can tell you're still clearly smitten with NYC despite all the protests under your current and former screen names about how much it sucks(ed).
I get it though; you lived there long enough for it to get under your skin and enchant you with it's spell, and now other places seem boring and blah. It's the bad boy (girl?) that never treated you right that you still wanna conquer and have loud hate sex with, while Chicago is the safer, tighty whitey or granny panty wearing one that doesn't quite knock you out and never will, but offers other comforts and advantages nonetheless. I met a lot people who felt that way about the place. One chick literally started crying to me about how much she LOVED New York one night while I was out getting boozy at bar on Bedford Ave. It was cute. I was touched.
I have pretty much the same dilemma about Portland, OR, which I've been back living in for about 6 months now and is more or less "home" for me. I lived in Brooklyn for about the same length of time you lived in NY and wasn't supposed to leave, but I did as well for various reasons, and a sprinkling of bad decisions I now regret. Here in Portland I have close relatives, a stable job, nice apartment, drive an M3, and have longstanding friendships to fall back on. Does this mean I'm happier now than I was in my crappy apartment in Williamsburg with no wheels but the Subway? Ehhh. I'm more comfortable, yes. More fulfilled with a greater zest for life? Not sure I'd go that far...it's the same ole crap I left behind. You/I/we tend to appreciate most the things that require the most work and perseverance to achieve, and choosing the easier route does not always a happy boy or girl make. You'll really just have to decide where your priorities lie and go from there.
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