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Also see the comments. Same as what is discussed here on several threads. I mentioned on another thread that when my lease is up next summer, I will be moving to a place with saner rent. [shameless plug] And isn't City Data a great website to at least get started on a search. [/shameless plug] Where to move is obviously a personal matter, and one has to take into account one's circumstances (do you have children or are single? looking for work or a place to retire? what kind of weather do you like? do you want the amenities of a city or the open spaces of a more rural setting? etc etc etc) But for me, it boils down to rent. I want the amenities of city life (no car; with shops, restaurants, bars within walking distance) BUT with saner rent.
NYC should force or make it attractive to developers to create new apt buildings in the non-sex and the city areas. The reason why rent is increasing is to keep in par with the rents of these new luxury/modern buildings. I wonder if the landlord explained the reason of the increase to the tenants.
Also see the comments. Same as what is discussed here on several threads. I mentioned on another thread that when my lease is up next summer, I will be moving to a place with saner rent. [shameless plug] And isn't City Data a great website to at least get started on a search. [/shameless plug] Where to move is obviously a personal matter, and one has to take into account one's circumstances (do you have children or are single? looking for work or a place to retire? what kind of weather do you like? do you want the amenities of a city or the open spaces of a more rural setting? etc etc etc) But for me, it boils down to rent. I want the amenities of city life (no car; with shops, restaurants, bars within walking distance) BUT with saner rent.
Good luck. It's not going to be as easy as you think.
Almost all of the cities that have the qualities you would probably want(amenities,NO NEED FOR A CAR,shops restaurants,dept stores,bars,etc within walking distance,a viable mass transit system,good econmomy,etc (i.e.,truly dynamic urban environments) are either already more expensive or only slightly less expensive than NYC and are experiencing the same phenomenon of rapidly escalating rents.Boston,SF,DC,Chicago,etc rents are going through the roof.
Most of the cities in the US either have no urban core left,no mass transit,economies much worse than NY's or all or some combination of the above.
In essence,any city you would want to live in is expensive.In the few that you might want to live in that aren't too expensive, you will definitely need a car.
Are rents going up in other areas as well, or just Manhattan?
They are going up across the city as far as I can tell.
The rents in my rather out of the way non trendy Bronx neighborhood have gone up AT LEAST 10% in the last year or so.
Living in Manhattan is in essence a glorification of the great American social disease: pay more and get less to entertain the fantasy that you are special and bound to become a famous star any day now.
It's the illusion of a race to the top, belied by the reality of a race to the bottom.
The problem isn't so much the high rents. It's that there isn't an alternative.
Owning a home/property is just as expensive. Owning a home/condo in (even) a decent neighborhood across the 5 boroughs is not a reality for most middle class earners. First, few have the down payment necessary (around 100k at 20%) and secondly, owning a decent home will cost you 2k in mortgage a month alone (even at a 3.5% rate).
They spend 50% or more of their earnings on rent or live multiple people to a room.
I know of it firsthand.
If you're willing to pay most of your earnings for rent, then making even 30k is enough.
Well, unless they have parental help, you can't spend 50% because they verify income information. At least that's what they did to me in Manhattan (they used my parents income).
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