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You have to understand than in a city like New York, you are a second class citizen working as a "blue collar" worker. The people New York work well for are the best, brighest, and most ambitious, because of all the advancement to high level jobs that aren't available in other areas of the country (high finance, investment banking, etc). A HVAC technician has the exact same job duties and advancement as anywhere in the country. But if your in Corporate American, the opportunities to climb the corporate ladder are limitless, and that is where the advantages are.
A good compromise is a city like Chicago.
But yeah, when my grandpa took me from out of the quite side of Astoria Queens to Manhatten to see an old friend of his, I was charged up with enthusiasm and was spontanious to be a part of the rustle and bustle of the city. I'm willing to sacrifice living space,having room mates, and high cost of living just for the NYC lifestyle. But my brother on the other hand is thinking about commuting from New Jersey to New York.
Yep. If you can survive and survive well, it is a magical place to live. If you can deal with the sacrifices, there's nowhere better. It's the only city where I feel wide awake and alive.
If you can afford 3K to move into a closet then by Golly move to NYC. or if you like to live like a cramped sardine with 5 room-mates from hell in Manhattan then come to this wonderful grimmy city full of wonderful Piizza.
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNigh
If you want affordable living for lower / mid class and still have a new york like urban living style you should check out philadelphia.
I agree. You can live somewhere in Center City. And the good thing is that Manhattan is accessible either via AMtrak (1 hour away comfortable train ride) or various bus (about 2 hours ride - also comfortable with bathroom, wi-fi, etc, rate can be as low as $2 one way trip!!! - Megabus, BOLT, Yo!, etc)
In fact, correct me if I am wrong. I heard from somewhere that it usually is faster to get from Center City Philly to Manhattan than from other boroughs of NY (such as LI) to Manhattan.
Last edited by asiandudeyo; 04-26-2013 at 12:40 PM..
I agree. You can live somewhere in Center City; just like me. And the good thing is that Manhattan is accessible either via AMtrak (1 hour away comfortable train ride) or various bus (about 2 hours ride - also comfortable with bathroom, wi-fi, etc, rate can be as low as $2 one way trip!!! - Megabus, BOLT, Yo!, etc)
In fact, correct me if I am wrong. I heard from somewhere that it usually is faster to get from Center City Philly to Manhattan than from other boroughs of NY (such as LI) to Manhattan.
LI isn't a borough.
But in way yes, you are correct. But comparing apples to apples, no you are not. Taking an amtrak that takes an hour to get from philly to manhattan, would be faster than taking a bus or bus to subway, etc. from an outerpoint of a borough. But if you take a bus from philly, that takes 2 hours, there isn't anywhere to my knowledge in NYC that would take that long to make it to manhattan.
But in way yes, you are correct. But comparing apples to apples, no you are not. Taking an amtrak that takes an hour to get from philly to manhattan, would be faster than taking a bus or bus to subway, etc. from an outerpoint of a borough. But if you take a bus from philly, that takes 2 hours, there isn't anywhere to my knowledge in NYC that would take that long to make it to manhattan.
Right.
Also, LI is huge. Some parts of LI would be less than an hour to get to Manhattan (ie Westbury which is ~40 minutes) while others would take much longer (ie Montauk ~3 hours).
Me and my brother were having an extremly long debate of whether or not it's even worth it moving to New York City. Long story short, I believe that moving to NYC for the convenience of buying consumer products within a walking distance, dining out to the many ethnic authentic cuisines, participating in many community events almost daily, and working in the city with the fastest growing rate of tech jobs in the United States of America is a huge pull factor for me.
community events = free
consumer products = not THAT different from the prices you would pay elsewhere
ethnic authentic cuisines = prices all over the place, lots of affordable, lots of variety
NYC is an expensive city. You can have a full life of all the things that are "pull factors" for you even if you will never leave the wage-work rat race.
It depends on what you expect to get out of it. If you want a boring life of working as a air conditioning technician, or whatever other hum drum boring job- want to retire at 65 and then watch TV until you die - then yes, moving to NYC does not make sense.
If you want to take a gamble, have adventures, date tons of people, make friends, experience defeat, have your heart broken, fall in love, Soar to the highest highs and lowest lows- then NYC is the only place for you.
Life is not just about earning a wage that is marginally above the median and wasting away in some provincial backwater- it is about getting out there and mixing it up and then seeing what you end up with.
My two cents.
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