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With such a high cost of living and cold weather, what keeps you in NYC? There are cities like Dallas/Houston/Chicago for low cost of living and LA/SF/Miami for warm weather. Is the pace/excitement really that much greater than economic freedom or being outdoors?
NYC pays the highest salaries in the world outside of Switzerland. That kind of opportunity flows through the rest of the local economy and justifies people moving to the area in search of opportunity.
I am a soon to be college grad with a job offer in Dallas. One thing that concerns me about Dallas is that it doesn't have a fast paced city culture and is more family oriented. That will be great in 15 years, but I don't want to suffer during that time. I love the NYC lifestyle with all of its variety reducing my inclination towards boredom. Can Dallas keep someone who needs a constantly changing atmosphere entertained, or is it more a culture of stability and security? Also, Dallas is seen as a family town, how many 20 somethings are actually living here and what do they do for fun if there is a large population of them?
I justify living in NYC by all the variety it has to reduce my inclination towards boredom.
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With such a high cost of living and cold weather, what keeps you in NYC? There are cities like Dallas/Houston/Chicago for low cost of living and LA/SF/Miami for warm weather. Is the pace/excitement really that much greater than economic freedom or being outdoors?
Because I can afford to. I can afford to live in the best city in America so that's what I'm doing.
Los Angeles is Detroit with warm weather. It has the highest poverty level in America. And the Los Angeles city council believes the city is experiencing Detroit-alike decline:
Where would I work? In the last two decades the number of Fortune 500 companies in Los Angeles has dwindled from 13 to 4. During the same period, NYCs increased by 10 to 55. It's not a place that attracts smart people.
And I don't want to spend half of my life stuck in traffic. Too sprawled too.
Dallas, Houston are horrible places. There is nothing there. Very ugly and extremely sprawled. I've been to both many times and they remind me of wastelands.
Chicago? Ugh.
Miami is the third world. Too poor. It's a low wage city. It's also oppressively hot. And besides, I want to live in America. If I wanted to live in Cuba I would actually move to Cuba. I was there last week and went to a UPS and no one spoke English. I will never get over that. No one in a national public traded company like UPS that could speak English!
San Francisco is not warm at all and it is like a wannabe New York. Too small and it feels like I'm settling for something second rate. I'm going to be paying high prices I want to live in the real city... New York City.
Where would someone who wants to live in a walkable city with the best in terms of dining, entertainment, shopping, excitement and culture live? New York of course . Any other questions?
I grew up in Chicago - great city. But I've been in NYC 30 + years, got married here and raised two kids here. Both our kids live in Brooklyn, so that's a big plus.
We love living here and we can afford it. We own our house free and clear. I don't drive - well, technically, I have a driver's license but I really can't drive! - so in that respect NYC is ideal for me. I can walk or take public transportation everywhere. Everything is just so convenient. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool urbanite and what better city to live in than NYC?
Sure, there are cheaper cities, but at our stage in life, with a paid-for house, the cost of living is not such an issue. Our real estate taxes are quite low.
I can handle the weather here. We had a tough winter this year, but most of them aren't that bad. It certainly isn't enough to make me want to move to red states with icky bugs like Florida and Texas.
Why would you prefer these other cities? Miami, Dallas and Houston can be unbearably hot for half the year and people I know stay indoors during most of the warmer months. Chicago is colder in the winter and just as hot in the summer. Except for San Francisco (which is just as expensive), the salaries are also considerably less than New York.
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