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People say that the real estate in Tokyo has gotten exponentially cheaper in the past decade, so much so that apartments in Tokyo are cheaper, per square foot, than those in NYC, San Francisco, or even Los Angeles. Is this true?
It hasn't gotten "cheaper". It just hasn't risen at rates similar to NYC, SF, and LA. Japan is losing people and many homes across the country have been depreciating in value since the 90s. Central cities, namely Osaka and Tokyo, still have price increases in desirable neighborhoods. There are definitely relatively affordable places in Tokyo (Japanese standards, e.g. small units) that are safe, convenient, etc.
I don't really think Hong Kong belongs on this list right now. It's got a strong financial services industry and it used to have a massive entertainment industry (much truncated now), but it's not in the same overall tier the other four are.
Philly is severely underrated. America doesn't really have that many great walkable major cities, and Philadelphia is definitely among the best. It did take a huge hit in the rush out towards the suburbs, but the had started slowing significantly in the 90s and is now rebounding back up with net population growth in recent years after decades of falling population. It's also true that a good number of artists, artisans, designers and musicians that helped make NYC such a desirable place to live in over the last two decades are now getting priced out of the city, and a good deal of that overflow has actually been going down to Philly (which is much cheaper but still very much city living while still able to easily make it up to NYC). It's also been happening with the immigrant east and southeast asian communities which are growing quickly in Philly which means you have incongruously good pho in the city. Though NYC's treating me pretty well, I do feel Philly is pretty attractive with south philadelphia being particularly attractive to me.
Aw c'mon. Philadelphia is Center City surrounded by an enormous slum. Even in Center City, you're constantly faced with the squalor of homeless people, druggies, and street bums.
It hasn't gotten "cheaper". It just hasn't risen at rates similar to NYC, SF, and LA. Japan is losing people and many homes across the country have been depreciating in value since the 90s. Central cities, namely Osaka and Tokyo, still have price increases in desirable neighborhoods. There are definitely relatively affordable places in Tokyo (Japanese standards, e.g. small units) that are safe, convenient, etc.
Are flats in Tokyo cheaper than flats in a comparably nice and convenient part of San Fran?
Aw c'mon. Philadelphia is Center City surrounded by an enormous slum. Even in Center City, you're constantly faced with the squalor of homeless people, druggies, and street bums.
Not really true. In terms of areas near Center City, the slums are to the north of Center City (but gentrification has been pushing north and neighborhoods like Fairmount, Northern Liberties and Fishtown are doing great) and east across the river in Camden.
West of Center City has been Penn and Drexel stabilizing the area and the "nice part" of West Philadelphia has been steadily pushing westwards for a long while. South Philadelphia has some rough parts, but immediately south of Center City is great and is host to some of the cities best neighborhoods. Going past the ragged parts of North Philadelphia is Northwest Philadelphia where there are great streetcar suburb neighborhoods like Chestnut Hill and Manayunk/Roxborough.
Tokyo isn't very high up when it comes to percentage of public green space, but helped by its climate with ample precipitation and pretty moderate winters, streets and properties often have green popping out of places especially in potted plants which people outside homes which people don't wreck the way they do in NYC. Side streets with random plantings like this aren't that rare. I do wish it had more public green space though, which it is very incrementally adding.
New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo are seen as international centres but Hong Kong, an Asian one.
Singapore is more international than HK these days. Xi Jinping is an effing idiot who has no idea how to run a country, trying to run Hong Kong out of business and sabotage China's number one economic center. Brilliant.
That isn't exactly comparing like with like, though. That neighborhood appears to be Flatbush section of Brooklyn (?), several miles outside of the city center, whilst the picture he posted was from Shinjuku, one of the densest heartbeat areas in all of Tokyo, perhaps more like an equivalent for the heart of Manhattan though Tokyo isn't really built in that manner. I get what he is saying, and would agree that Tokyo and a few other global cities do better in that regard of greenery along the streets than some of their American similarly urban counterparts do.
That isn't exactly comparing like with like, though. That neighborhood appears to be Flatbush section of Brooklyn (?), several miles outside of the city center, whilst the picture he posted was from Shinjuku, one of the densest heartbeat areas in all of Tokyo, perhaps more like an equivalent for the heart of Manhattan though Tokyo isn't really built in that manner. I get what he is saying, and would agree that Tokyo and a few other global cities do better in that regard of greenery along the streets than some of their American similarly urban counterparts do.
No, it's not. I just dropped the Google guy and that's what I got.
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love newyork
