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How I envy you guys that live there. It was a real treat staying there for 5 days. I am from a small boring state, I immediately loved seeing people walking, the diversity, all the different places to go to. Walking in the same block everyday can be a different experience. I am from NC, you can't really go anywhere here without a car, places are limited, and living here can be so predictable and boring. The main thing I noticed was how wrong most of the negative stereotypes were.
I understand that visiting there and living there are entirely different experiences. I do have questions for the people that live here though. Everyone there seems very busy between working long hours, commuting, and standing in long lines. With all of this, is there time for a social life? my second question is do you guys manage to save money and have a vacation fund? Living there can be very expensive, no matter how I calculate it, I don't see how I can go on without at least living with a roommate. The way I viewed it, I can live there, but won't be able to buy things for fun or go on vacations. Am I overthinking it? I work in IT, mostly support, and I wouldn't mind living away from the city, but I still couldn't find a way to make it work like it is working out in NC
Hiya! So back in July I moved from Raleigh, which is where you are. North Carolina is awesome, you live in a very cool place...but yeah I get what you mean.
NYC really is a wonderful city, and it's definitely true that places are often not what people stereotype them to be. I actually had extensive experience visiting (7 months over 6 years) before moving here, but you are right that living and visiting is completely different.
I can only answer for myself, but I do have a social life. I work 40 hours, never any OT, and my commute is 30 minutes. I do have a roommate, but I'm OK with that. There's definitely some sacrifices you have to make living here. Only you can decide if they are worth it.
On a side note, I am paying the same for all my bills every month as when I lived in Raleigh. A car was a huge expense. And an apartment with a roommate here pretty much costs what'd you pay for a high-end apartment down in NC.
Your material standard of living in NYC will not be as high as it is in most other parts of the country - at least, you'll probably have a much smaller place to live.
But the non-material quality of life is in many ways much higher. There are so many life experiences you can have in the city that you can't get in most other parts of the country. The cultural opportunities (theater, music, art, museums) are immense. The food scene is excellent. It's a great city to be based in for international travel, because you've got three airports, lots of nonstop flights, and a good deal of competition to bring down prices. And, perhaps most importantly, it's one of the few places in the US where you can find large numbers of cosmopolitan, interesting people who don't drink the USA-JESUSLAND-WE'RE #1 propaganda.
Also, it's not necessarily as expensive as the reputation suggests. In the first place, once you leave Manhattan and the wealthier parts of Brooklyn, rents tend to get much cheaper. You don't need a car - $110/month gets you an unlimited Metrocard, and that covers all your transit. There are lots of dive bars and cheap restaurants, particularly in the outer boroughs.
And of course people have time for a social life. People who live in NYC tend to like going out - if they just wanted to stay home, they could do that for a lot less where you live. True, the finance and biglaw sociopaths work all the time, but they're boring and generally horrible people, and you don't want to go out with them anyway. And NYC is one of the few places I know in the US where you can go out by yourself and actually strike up a conversation with other people, which is nice.
That said, there are other cities in the world that probably tick all the right boxes for a lot less. If my job would let me, I'd move to Toronto or Montreal over NYC in a heartbeat. If you want to move out of NC (and who can blame you), I'd take off the US-centric blinders and get out of the country entirely. You can have a much better quality of life - lower cost of living, less crime, better health care, more opportunity for upward mobility - outside the US, but most Americans have drunk too much Kool-Aid to realize that fact.
Btw, since you're from NC, take a look at this. Political scientists no longer consider your state to be a full democracy, based on republicans' efforts to take total control:
You might enjoy it for now but it gets old. You'll soon be like other grumps here dreading to leave the area.
Everybody thinks they are in like fantasy land when they get here then a few months later the smile on the face is gone and they look like any other NYer that can't put on a smile.
Competition for everything, there's competitive walking, competitive shopping, and competitive work culture. I don't think most Americans can't handle the never ending competitiveness culture here. You think your NC IT work ethnics would last over here? I give you 3 months before realizing working in NYC is no joke. You can kiss your 9-5 mentality goodbye. Most NYers here like me are tired of working with Southerners who clock out at 5 and can take any stress.
Wait til you get hurt or injured and see how hospitals are like here. I bet most non-NYers would quickly pack up after they go through an injury or illness in a NY Hospital.
You might enjoy it for now but it gets old. You'll soon be like other grumps here dreading to leave the area.
Everybody thinks they are in like fantasy land when they get here then a few months later the smile on the face is gone and they look like any other NYer that can't put on a smile.
Competition for everything, there's competitive walking, competitive shopping, and competitive work culture. I don't think most Americans can't handle the never ending competitiveness culture here. You think your NC IT work ethnics would last over here? I give you 3 months before realizing working in NYC is no joke. You can kiss your 9-5 mentality goodbye. Most NYers here like me are tired of working with Southerners who clock out at 5 and can take any stress.
Wait til you get hurt or injured and see how hospitals are like here. I bet most non-NYers would quickly pack up after they go through an injury or illness in a NY Hospital.
I'm surprised you haven't left already. That's one bitter post.
You might enjoy it for now but it gets old. You'll soon be like other grumps here dreading to leave the area.
Everybody thinks they are in like fantasy land when they get here then a few months later the smile on the face is gone and they look like any other NYer that can't put on a smile.
Competition for everything, there's competitive walking, competitive shopping, and competitive work culture. I don't think most Americans can't handle the never ending competitiveness culture here. You think your NC IT work ethnics would last over here? I give you 3 months before realizing working in NYC is no joke. You can kiss your 9-5 mentality goodbye. Most NYers here like me are tired of working with Southerners who clock out at 5 and can take any stress.
Wait til you get hurt or injured and see how hospitals are like here. I bet most non-NYers would quickly pack up after they go through an injury or illness in a NY Hospital.
You are just projecting your own bitterness and disappointment onto everyone else.
How I envy you guys that live there. It was a real treat staying there for 5 days.
OP, if you do decide to move here, please do us all a favor and let a documentary movie-maker track your progress from a chirpy and excited newcomer to grumpy, angry New Yorker.
You will leave New York hating the world. Welcome, friend.
NY is nice to visit on occasion, but I wouldn't want to live there. My family is originally from "the city", I was born and raised on Long Island. The city is a huge pain to get to, and around, and back out of again. Traffic is horrible day and night, mass transit is overcrowded and slow, everything is very expensive. No one cares about anyone. Once the excitement wears off, no one is happy.
You are just projecting your own bitterness and disappointment onto everyone else.
So you enjoy paying taxes and letting DeBlasio being Santa to at the poor?
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