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As my name suggests, I am from St. Louis.
St. Louis suffers from a major inferiority complex, mostly coming from the suburbs. In that, the "push west" has gotten strong over the years. West St. Louis County (St Louis is an independent city and is not merged with the county) attracts business.. Huge office parks, businesses moving from downtown and 25 miles out into the burbs. As an urbanite, it annoys me. I come to you, New Yorkers, to get some answers.
#1. Are there several suburbs stretched around NYC that try to take business and entertainment options away from the city?
#2. Does the typical suburbanite around NYC have a fear of the city? Did you live in the burbs and people looked at you like you were nuts for wanting to move to the city? Does the typical suburbanite think that you must fight for your life every day and be heavily armed to walk from your condo to a grocery store?
I was just wondering because obviously, NYC is a world class city. Are the suburbanites there smart enough to know that NYC has a little bit of everything in its neighborhoods? Dangerous, safe, etc? St. Louis Countians don't.
Of course, St. Louis received our designation as "America's Most Dangerous City" a couple years back...so, does that come in to play, or do you believe it is a suburban attitude as a whole?
The city absolutely does not suffer an "inferiority complex" with regard to the suburbs. Quite the opposite, in fact. Manhattan residents have a derisive term for suburbanites who come to the city for entertainment: "Bridge and Tunnel Crowd"
The city is still a very important center of business. Manhattan has commuter access that can't be found in the burbs, and has prestige as a business address.
However, the suburbs have corporate HQs and major employers too. Because of commuting issues, if you work in Jersey -- you probably live in Jersey. If you work on Long Island, you probably live there. Manhattan workers come from all over, because the commuter trains all lead there from the surburbs.
The metro is so big compared to a mid-sized metro like St. Louis, that it is nearly impossible to commute one end to the other. For example, if you live in Suffolk County, Long Island, forget about accepting a job in Westchester - unless you want to spend 3 hours getting to and from work!
Regarding city vs. suburbs attitudes, I don't think that one group is necessarily coveting the others' lifestyle. If one stays in a particular area when he'd rather live somewhere else, this is usually due to affordability related to living space, schools, and again, the ever-present commute. Some city residents and suburbanites think each of his lifestyles is superior to the other. Search this forum for some of the arguments
NYC region will likely face a few changes in next few yrs....in era of a changed financial industry; higher taxes on affluent; more street crime; and many affluent considering moving out of NY to lower-tax, lower-cost Greenwich
Need to consider that some 40% of NY's tax revenue is derived from financial industry....some 40% of NYC region's biggest hedge funds are already based in Greenwich (largely b/c of lower state inc taxes, less regulation and nr homes of many senior executives)
Financial industry is fairly virtual and global....and can easily move to suburbs...or to states w/more favorable taxes (e.g., IL or TX)....and closer to leafy suburbs in which many senior execs w/families prefer to reside anyway
As my name suggests, I am from St. Louis.
St. Louis suffers from a major inferiority complex, mostly coming from the suburbs. In that, the "push west" has gotten strong over the years. West St. Louis County (St Louis is an independent city and is not merged with the county) attracts business.. Huge office parks, businesses moving from downtown and 25 miles out into the burbs. As an urbanite, it annoys me. I come to you, New Yorkers, to get some answers.
#1. Are there several suburbs stretched around NYC that try to take business and entertainment options away from the city?
#2. Does the typical suburbanite around NYC have a fear of the city? Did you live in the burbs and people looked at you like you were nuts for wanting to move to the city? Does the typical suburbanite think that you must fight for your life every day and be heavily armed to walk from your condo to a grocery store?
I was just wondering because obviously, NYC is a world class city. Are the suburbanites there smart enough to know that NYC has a little bit of everything in its neighborhoods? Dangerous, safe, etc? St. Louis Countians don't.
Of course, St. Louis received our designation as "America's Most Dangerous City" a couple years back...so, does that come in to play, or do you believe it is a suburban attitude as a whole?
I consider Piscattaway, NJ to Bridgeport, CT to be Metro NY.
The city absolutely does not suffer an "inferiority complex" with regard to the suburbs. Quite the opposite, in fact. Manhattan residents have a derisive term for suburbanites who come to the city for entertainment: "Bridge and Tunnel Crowd"
The city is still a very important center of business. Manhattan has commuter access that can't be found in the burbs, and has prestige as a business address.
However, the suburbs have corporate HQs and major employers too. Because of commuting issues, if you work in Jersey -- you probably live in Jersey. If you work on Long Island, you probably live there. Manhattan workers come from all over, because the commuter trains all lead there from the surburbs.
The metro is so big compared to a mid-sized metro like St. Louis, that it is nearly impossible to commute one end to the other. For example, if you live in Suffolk County, Long Island, forget about accepting a job in Westchester - unless you want to spend 3 hours getting to and from work!
Regarding city vs. suburbs attitudes, I don't think that one group is necessarily coveting the others' lifestyle. If one stays in a particular area when he'd rather live somewhere else, this is usually due to affordability related to living space, schools, and again, the ever-present commute. Some city residents and suburbanites think each of his lifestyles is superior to the other. Search this forum for some of the arguments
Wow, I'm impressed!
An even handed assessment of the NY metro. Who would have guessed?
This is a rare commodity in the provincial mine field of NYC.
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A better question--
