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Definitely not worth it. Once you don't need NYC to make money, it's time to flee.
I'm certainly not moving there to make money. I just work remotely and have always wanted to live there. The biggest holdup for me is the downgrade in lifestyle.
What appeals to me is the food, and more importantly, the types of people that live there. Chicago was full of what seemed like your average Midwesterner who loves sports and who wasn't doing anything interesting with their life except getting a 9-5 and starting a family. The culture was just slow paced and uninteresting.
Having never lived in the east coast, I like the energy of NYC, the possibility to meet so many interesting people, the proximity to other cities, the number of places to visit, and just the melting pot culture down there.
Another holdup is that it just feels too large. It's definitely life changing having lived in Chicago 8 years, and then going to somewhere as large as NYC where I know nobody.
$2.5k (with utilites/internet) in Chicago would get me a high floor in a highrise with a patio and top of the line appliances
$2.5k (with utilities/internet) in NYC would get me an apartment with a tiny kitchen and a view of an adjacent brick wall, with a higher chance of bugs and thin walls.
That's why people live in affordable apartments in Staten Island and always have. When I was a kid in the 1950's, Paul Newman lived in our building at 30 Daniel Low Terrace in St. George Staten Island. I lived in Brooklyn and Staten Island for 36 years before I retired. Had a great job and raised three kids with my wife there. My son lived in Staten Island and commuted to and graduated from Hunter College, one of the colleges of the City University of New York. It never even crossed my mind to live in Manhattan. My wife and I were both born in Brooklyn, and my son still lives there.
NYC includes all five boroughs. Almost everyone I knew and worked with lived in the outer boroughs. NYC was a great place to work and live. The main reason we left after I retired is we could live cheaper in NJ as retirees. Selling our house in Staten Island let us get a nicer, newer house with more property and privacy and quiet. As much as I enjoyed all the great ethnic restaurants and entertainment, and the pure rush of all the people, great places to walk and the beauty of the harbor and buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I have only been back a few times since we retired and relocated to southern NJ 13 years ago. Been there, did that. That said, I still think NYC is the greatest city in the world.
Excerpt: Do you feel that the perks of living in NYC outweigh the reduced quality of life?
Response: Opinion
Born,Raised and Retired New Yorker. Probably living in this city than most posters.
Airborne nailed it. Once you don't need the money it's time to hike it.
The lure of New York is now all but dead and gone.
You can thank the two clowns in office.
Yes, it's the only place I can stay indoors for weeks if I have to and not feel depressed. The view outside my window and all the services and restaurants available to me makes it worth while. Oh, and the diversity and generally open-mindedness of the city is priceless, "anything goes" (e.g. underwear guitar guy). Once people start flooding the streets again all the crazy homeless and savages will start to hide again hopefully which are are basically the only factors for lower QoL for me. But the positives still outweigh the negatives.
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