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Several Reasons (in no particular order) -- applys to most of the NYC metro area (5 Boros of NYC, Long Island, Westchester/Rockland, & North / Central Jersey) why many NY'ers are getting the hell out of the NYC metro area:
1) Rents are completely outrageous and the justification is always -- 'But it is so much cheaper than buying' -- Sure if you don't find 'renting' a tiny one bedroom apartment on Long Island or Eastern Queens for a minimum of $1,500 a month and pay the outrageous "Broker Fees". I am sure that most realtors in NC don't charge 15% of the annual rent to allow you to rent an apartment from one of their listings.
Forget about buying anything here unless you make in the six figures or are a trust fund baby.
2) Taxes are ridiculous -- state, local + federal = close to 30% of gross pay withheld for a single person making $80,000 a year. You really need to make more than six figures to be successful. Cost of living anywhere in this area from Long Island --- Sussex county NJ is the highest in the country. People who are doing well in the NYC metro area are making between $250,000 - $600,000 a year. 5 figures is considered poverty and I feel sorry for anyone who raises kids on less than $100,000 a year.
3) People are rude and extremely hostile, & agressive toward others not in their little circle..
4) The consumerist spending culture. Like its normal to be 25 making $100,000 a year with $50,000 in credit card debt alone.
All of what you say is very true and yet im moving back to Bayonne in a month. Call me crazy, but there are many many advantages to the NYC area. It took me a year and a half of living away from NYC to realize how much I love it and how much a part of me it is.
New york is a great place , incredibly great just like any other city. If you can afford it that is. I'm originally from Long Island, i'm an easy going guy, very respectful to others and not looking to destroy or bring down anybodys property. But everybody has to remember " We are all the same, All of us are Americans " So any state & city nomatter where it is , we have the right to move there and do our best. And thats what i'm planning on doing.
So i'm not sure what you heard about NY, i guess crime, yeah thats true, but its a huge state, and NYC is overcrowded and that will bring crime, just like LA Cali. I'm currently in Las Vegas and i'll tell you this , Long Island is much safer, cleaner, nicer people, but again. The homes are overpriced and the taxes are a joke.
New york is a great place , incredibly great just like any other city. If you can afford it that is. I'm originally from Long Island, i'm an easy going guy, very respectful to others and not looking to destroy or bring down anybodys property. But everybody has to remember " We are all the same, All of us are Americans " So any state & city nomatter where it is , we have the right to move there and do our best. And thats what i'm planning on doing.
So i'm not sure what you heard about NY, i guess crime, yeah thats true, but its a huge state, and NYC is overcrowded and that will bring crime, just like LA Cali. I'm currently in Las Vegas and i'll tell you this , Long Island is much safer, cleaner, nicer people, but again. The homes are overpriced and the taxes are a joke.
Hope that info helps, again i'm coming in peace.
New Yorker on the way. PM me if you wish.
You are right, "If you can afford it". I don't know anywhere else where if you make $60,000 - $80,000 a year, you feel like you are living in poverty and 80% of all housing is completely out of your price range (except for maybe Southern CA.)..
I have found that many people want to move out of this area but are afraid to because they think that the only work available is minimum wage jobs. That isn't true at all. Many other cities in the west & south have much higher job growth than the NYC metro area (with major companies) and the cost of living is a fraction. Your cost of living will easily drop 50%. Something to consider before paying $300,000 for a one bedroom 'co-op' apartment around here or $500,000 for a condo.
Always get shot down wherever I mention things that most NY'ers know are true but can never admit or like good automons just take it without question --High ridiculous & confiscatory taxes & utility rates (the highest burden in the country), horribly overpriced crap housing that costs close to $2,000 a month to rent with another $200 or more in monthly commuting costs + 2 hours each way every day to commute to Manhattan each month(with the mandatory 15% standard brokers fees), and astoundingly rude people who care about nothing else other than buying designer clothes on credit.
Those would be reasons that anyone would want to leave. You have to make over $300,000 a year to enjoy the above enough to stay in the NYC metro area.
Five figures or anything below $100,000 for a single person means feeling like you are living in near poverty and being taxed out of the ass while having to rent some **** apartment forever (if you can even find a place that you can 'qualify' to rent)
Good one. Your right. Its crazy. I lived in suffolk & Nassua and yes the areas were incredibly safe, never had a problem even walking around at 3am. But the cost of live - Forget it.
So I am supposed to see my hometown ruined with these kinds of people so LI will be a better place to live?
Honey I think you need to worry about the "kinds of people" who are commiting the homicides, robberies and home invasions in your hometown. I hope you are active in crime watch as much as you are concerned with zoning laws. You cannot zone out these "kinds of people".
This may come as a terrible shock to some of you, but just because you can't afford to live in New York, does not mean that it's too expensive. It's only expensive for you. When someone can no longer afford to live here, they will sell their house to someone who can. There are people with money, and plenty of it; you're just not one of them.
NickL28, again, all of what you say is true. everyone agrees. so when you say, "i feel like i touched a nerve here" it dosent really make sence. we are saying that even though you are right we still love it.
i also think you are a little off on some things. me and my girlfriend bring in about $150,000 a year and we dont feel like we live in poverty at all. we both have nice cars and have a beautiful 2br apartment 15 min from NYC.
sure we can have a huge house in raleigh or somewhere else for the same money but to be blunt, these other places are nothing like NJ/NYC. i would rather pay more and live pretty much at the center of the world then pay less and live in the south.
you seem a little mad at NYC and NJ people in general. thats fine. we dont like you much either. have fun living in the woods. i will pass..
Honey I think you need to worry about the "kinds of people" who are commiting the homicides, robberies and home invasions in your hometown. I hope you are active in crime watch as much as you are concerned with zoning laws. You cannot zone out these "kinds of people".
dont take offence to it. that is the common "southern attitude". they would never say it to you though. instead they smile and when you walk away they talk about you to there other southern friends. lol.
Another thing about NY is that it is very unfriendly to small business, and business in general. Other than flashy marketing and investor offices in lower Manhattan, there are very few businesses that are actually headquartered here.
I have a small business and it is almost like Albany goes out of its way to make things difficult. Different taxes are all handled out of different offices, all with different due dates that are different from the federal payments. My favorite is mandatory disability insurance I have to carry for my one-person company, that does not cover the owner and sole employee, me!
At the end of the day, NY has it's benefits: lots of people, things to do, museums, etc. and it's drawbacks: crowded, crappy infrastructure, etc. For me, the drawbacks are outweighing the benefits to a large extent, and even if I was making $600K/year, I would still "seek my entertainment elsewhere."
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Why is New York such a bad place to live?
