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Hi,
Big decisions to be made, and I thought I'd consult with you peoples
25 yrs. Originally from Atlanta, I moved here bright eyed and bushy tailed in January (from California).
I did the whole first year in NYC thing, you know, 8 roomates with 1 bathroom in Bushwick, I now live in a closet in Williamsburg, eating lots of canned food and Ramen noodles, you know the story...
Question...
Do I hate this place because I'm still in my first year? Did everybody hate this place their first year? Yeah the night life is amazing, the culture and everything is second to none, the opportunities for work are endless (I just got laid off - long story but it is a good thing and not a factor in this. I found a job after being here 2 weeks in JANUARY when it was all crashing down. I'm not too worried about finding another). But I'm kind of outdoorsy and more and more I see myself walking around Manhattan and wanting to jump on the first Metro Rail out of here to anywhere with trees and less people. But everybody says the first year is really hard. The first 5 months were a honeymoon phase, the last 5 I have become really bitter and depressed. Do you get used to it?!?! I'm usually a VERY happy person, but its fading quickly.
transplants that have stayed or gone - Is this normal your first year or is NYC just not for me??? I can't tell because everybody says the first year is hard. Tell me your stories!!
All I want to do is leave, but theres so much oppourtunity here I work in music. But does that even matter when you get SO excited about leaving?!?! (i get out for a weekend about every month or two as friends suggested)
I WANT to like it here soooooo bad, but I feel this place is eating my soul...
Last edited by wowthisplaceisbig; 11-01-2009 at 11:11 PM..
As an ex NYer who grew up there and moved to Cali, I would say move. Its not gonna get much better. After living there for awhile.eventually you realize the city gets a little glamorized on TV. It has its good but to be honest, with the exception of a few single people here and there, only couples who combine to have an upper middle class salary can really enjoy that city without being strapped for cash or live comfortably. I don't know one single person in that city who owns any property unless they inherited it. NYC is a great little vacation,but living there and living there comfortably is a completely different ball of wax
Hi,
Big decisions to be made, and I thought I'd consult with you peoples
25 yrs. Originally from Atlanta, I moved here bright eyed and bushy tailed in January (from California).
I did the whole first year in NYC thing, you know, 8 roomates with 1 bathroom in Bushwick, I now live in a closet in Williamsburg, eating lots of canned food and Ramen noodles, you know the story...
Question...
Do I hate this place because I'm still in my first year? Did everybody hate this place their first year? Yeah the night life is amazing, the culture and everything is second to none, the opportunities for work are endless (I just got laid off - long story but it is a good thing and not a factor in this. I found a job after being here 2 weeks in JANUARY when it was all crashing down. I'm not too worried about finding another). But I'm kind of outdoorsy and more and more I see myself walking around Manhattan and wanting to jump on the first Metro Rail out of here to anywhere with trees and less people. But everybody says the first year is really hard. The first 5 months were a honeymoon phase, the last 5 I have become really bitter and depressed. Do you get used to it?!?! I'm usually a VERY happy person, but its fading quickly.
transplants that have stayed or gone - Is this normal your first year or is NYC just not for me??? I can't tell because everybody says the first year is hard. Tell me your stories!!
All I want to do is leave, but theres so much oppourtunity here I work in music. But does that even matter when you get SO excited about leaving?!?! (i get out for a weekend about every month or two as friends suggested)
I WANT to like it here soooooo bad, but I feel this place is eating my soul...
No I think New York is not for you. Most people that like "the first year" and end up staying here dig the roommate thing and living off canned tuna and ramen noodles. You seem to hate it and are forcing yourself to like it. It's not for you. Don't feel bad about it, New York isn't a good fit for a lot of people, heck there are tons of people who live here and have not realized that yet.
If you're living in a tiny place in Bklyn, still eating canned food/ramen noodles after a year, I would say move. You can't afford NYC.
Right, and to take it a step further, who would like any place they lived if they were still living in a closet, eating ramen at every meal? That ain't living, man, that's sustaining.
We did it for 2 years in El Paso after I got out of grad school and was trying to grow a business. We hated El Paso more than you could possibly imagine, or maybe exactly as much as you can imagine. I'm certainly not suggesting that El Paso is in the same stratosphere as NYC, but we hated it because we'd get up, go to crappy underwaged jobs, come home to crappy living conditions, eat $1/meal canned something or other, watch network TV, go to bed, lather, rinse, repeat. On weekends, we heard awesome stories about what our friends with money were doing (going to Mexico, eating out, going skiing, etc) and it just made it worse.
Now, a whole different lifetime later, we're in NYC with a much better income situation and I have to say...I can't imagine living here on what we were making back in El Paso. I'd move in a heartbeat.
We often ask ourselves why we waited so long to move here, loving it as much as we do. And the answer we keep coming up with is...if we had moved here any sooner, especially right out of college, we'd have run screaming back to Redneckia, declaring NYC the biggest pit on Earth since we couldn't have lived the way we are now. Can you get by here? Oh sure. Can you enjoy all NYC has to offer without money? I don't see how.
Hi,
Big decisions to be made, and I thought I'd consult with you peoples
25 yrs. Originally from Atlanta, I moved here bright eyed and bushy tailed in January (from California).
I did the whole first year in NYC thing, you know, 8 roomates with 1 bathroom in Bushwick, I now live in a closet in Williamsburg, eating lots of canned food and Ramen noodles, you know the story...
Question...
Do I hate this place because I'm still in my first year? Did everybody hate this place their first year? Yeah the night life is amazing, the culture and everything is second to none, the opportunities for work are endless (I just got laid off - long story but it is a good thing and not a factor in this. I found a job after being here 2 weeks in JANUARY when it was all crashing down. I'm not too worried about finding another). But I'm kind of outdoorsy and more and more I see myself walking around Manhattan and wanting to jump on the first Metro Rail out of here to anywhere with trees and less people. But everybody says the first year is really hard. The first 5 months were a honeymoon phase, the last 5 I have become really bitter and depressed. Do you get used to it?!?! I'm usually a VERY happy person, but its fading quickly.
transplants that have stayed or gone - Is this normal your first year or is NYC just not for me??? I can't tell because everybody says the first year is hard. Tell me your stories!!
All I want to do is leave, but theres so much oppourtunity here I work in music. But does that even matter when you get SO excited about leaving?!?! (i get out for a weekend about every month or two as friends suggested)
I WANT to like it here soooooo bad, but I feel this place is eating my soul...
No this place is not worth it. Whatever it is your feelilng it's normal and sometimes it gets better for a some people. Once they adapt, have a great job and great new friends they love it here for other's it remains the same or gets even worse that's when you decide it''s time to go...
But all the aggravation, stress, people, traffic, mess, disorder, pollution and every other crap that happens in the big apple is not worth it at all. The weather doesn't help neither. Sorry
I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else. Its difficult because my family and friends that live here just CAN'T imagine living anywhere else!!! Every time I say that I'm not digging it, they tell me I'm crazy "its New YORK, the greatest city in the world!! Its just your first year you'll learn to love it." But no... I don't think I will ever love it. I am just too laid back, I just don't find joy in having my face in a man's armpit on the way to and from work on the L... The smells of Brooklyn, the dirty warehouse parties (were cool at first), inhaling fumes as I race the J train on my bike going over the Williamsburg Bridge (still has to be one of my favorite things to do though), Did I mention trying to get to Central Park with my girl while the Puerto Rican Parade was happening? She started crying... I could go on for a while.
I don't regret it, I think everybody should do it, I'm pretty sure it has made me stronger, more resourceful, i've grownup a lot... But I think sometimes you just have to say that the challenge isn't worth it, its gotten to the point where its not making me stronger anymore its making bitter and broke. BITTER AND BROKE I tell you!
TunaBoy - your right. As much as I loved the outdoors in Cali, I didn't really dig the L.A. sprawl and traffic.
Austin however was one of my favorite cities I've been to. Seattle too, I have a girl I love very much in Seattle. Does anybody know if Seattles music scene has died after the 90's, has Austin's surpassed it? I am attracted to Seattle for the trees, ocean and skiing, and oh yeah that girl I let get away a year ago But Austin I know is cheaper... and sunnier.
NY is brutal when you don't have $$$...my first 6 months in NY, I was broke and heartsick...bleak, bleak days! But I did eventually settle into a nice groove and I found it did get better. I think it's all about quality of life. You don't have to be a millionaire but if you can find a decent place in a nice neighborhood it can be pretty pleasant. I lived on the Upper West Side for over a decade, you may want to spend some time there and see if you like it more. Plenty of nature up there too...
I couldn't imagine living in any other US city other than New York. I find them all lackluster.
But New York probably isn't for you.
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