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There is an older lady in my building,in The Bronx,who hasn't left the neighborhood in over 20 years. Forget leaving the city,she hasn't even been to Manhattan in that time.She is perfectly capable of getting on the subway and going but she doesn't see any need.She walks everywhere except sometimes she takes a bus over to Riverdale to visit a friend.
LOL! I think NYC is one of the few places in the world were one doesn't have to leave their neighborhood. It's remarkable. All of your needs are met with the conveniences found within a 5 block radius. Also, there is so much density that you can have competing stores or even the same store chain within that 5 block radius and they are all equally successful and crowded.
As for the OPs question about the no car thing, no one in my office (who lives in Manhattan) has a car and they are ALWAYS on the move on weekends- especially during the summer. People in NYC are very use to taking public transpiration. If we want to get out of town we take the bus, the train, or a plane. Shoot, I have friends that don't even know how to drive! They never needed to learn.
Edit: And when I mean "they are on the move", I mean they skip out to the beach. Montauk was the big thing this year for the 20 somethings in my office.
Ever heard the story about Woody Allen not leaving Manhattan for over ten years? I wonder how common this is with a class of people who are true and blue New Yorkers.
If you live in Manhattan getting out of the city is extremely difficult if you don't have a car. Car Rentals are very expensive and traffic is terrible. And why leave the Big Apple, everything is there for you.
Are you like Woody Allen and pretty much stay put in Manhattan? Have you even been upstate? Is Rural visiting relatives once a year in Fort Lee New Jersey?
What observations do you have about Manhattan residents and leaving town?
I've never owned a car and have lived in Boston, Honolulu, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Seattle and DC. I leave Manhattan far more often than I did in any of those places because it's so much easier to travel by public transportation here. If you're in a city like Minneapolis without a car you're really stuck.
I'm one of those people. Me nor my family ever owned a car...it's too expensive to upkeep and keep one here in the city, plus to real reason to have one since public transportation is so widely available. The only times I've gotten out of town was through someone I knew who had a car, or we did car pool rental to get out. The ones I DO know who get out of town frequently/road trips are the ones who live far out in BK/Queens where owning a car is almost a necessity and they use their parent's car to go places. My ex owned a car and we would leave the city every week or so....I MISS doing that so much!
If I didn't have to pay a cent for a car, I would love to have one at my disposal. Aside from that I do travel overseas once a year though.
I don't have a car and definately get out of town from time to time, but mostly to places where I don't need a car. This really limits your options in the US.
What observations do you have about Manhattan residents and leaving town?
Also, of you're considering only Manhattanites, they tend to be affluent and have a culture of leaving the city on the weekend. Nearly everyone on Fire Island or in the Hamptons on a Saturday in the summer is from Manhattan.
I have a couple of older relatives who rarely leave Manhattan, when in residence, to the point where going to a relative's in Riverdale or Douglaston (with their own vehicle) is an ordeal, yet they will run to various parts of the globe as if they were headed to Lincoln Center.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Never owned a car. When I've needed to go out of town by ground, train or rent a car. Car rental can be $100-150 for a day but it's a lot cheaper than spending $1500 on insurance, $400 a month for a parking spot, $5000 or so per year for car depreciation.
$100-$150/day is for the weekend. You can get a car for around $400-$500 per week in Manhattan. It is expensive but completely doable.
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