Over the past couple years I have made an informal, half-assed study of NYC, based on three personal visits spanning 9-10 days (depending on how you count), reading New York newspapers, and talking to locals. I believe that all Americans should "understand" NYC, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, in the same way that we should understand the Constitution, because those cities are so important to the culture of the country (I'm being generous here).
For what it's worth, some good things about NYC:
It has incomparable opportunities to enjoy American culture and entertainment. Whether your passion is music, graphic arts, theater/film, sports (both spectator and participating), food, literature, or architecture, there is simply no place else that has New York's resources. As they used to say, "Enjoy." If you can't Enjoy in NYC there is something wrong with YOU.
While exploiting New York's mass transit resources can be trying at times, you can get anywhere in the five boroughs inexpensively and in a "reasonable" time. And the taxis and Ubers are surprisingly reasonable, compared to some other big cities around the world.
The neighborhoods are fabulous. No matter what sort of community you want to live in - ethnic, age based, interest based, whatever - you can find it in New York. I personally say, to hell with the "melting pot" metaphor; New York is a mosaic of cultures that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.
From what I saw, the NYPD is doing a pretty good job.
The amount of green space, parks, athletic venues, and running/walking/biking paths is amazing. You could take a different path every week for a year - and that's dedicated pathways, not on city streets.
But New York has some serious, serious problems.
The real estate market is much more fcuked up than anyone is willing to admit. Apartments are grotesquely over-priced, whether you are talking about rentals or condo/coop purchases. With AT LEAST 50% of the "white collar" world never going back to their respective offices, who do they think will be lining up to pay $4,000/month for a crappy little apartment in Manhattan? It cannot last. And the office vacancy rate is - to be honest - at least 50%, Most large employers are catatonically uncertain about where to go from here. Their most valuable employees will tell them to go fcuk themselves if they are ordered back to their expensive offices - which are now sitting empty, though rented. Again, the status quo cannot last.
Government employees (including employees of the scores of "authorities") are bankrupting the city, in several different ways. The wages, benefits, and retirement programs are simply unsustainable, even with massive state and federal help. It is impossible to pin down exactly, but I've heard it estimated that fully one-fourth of the New York population is either paid or supported with public funds. In addition, the NYC bureaucracy is the most obstructive web of interference since the fall of the Soviet Union. To illustrate the point, it took TEN YEARS simply to get the permitting for the building that replaced the WTC. In mass transit circles, it is known that building a subway line in New York is at least twice as much per kilometer as anyplace else in the world - including London, Paris, Singapore, etc.
Worst of all, unless you are one of the fortunate ones who has latched on to some sort of massive revenue stream, the cost of housing is simply crippling (while everything else is also quite expensive). If you are a working-class person without some family-based housing advantage, you will be living in a space that would simply be unacceptable for someone at a comparable economic stratum, anywhere else in the country.
Bottom line: there are a lot of people who are thriving in New York, but how they manage to do it is a mystery to me. I will only go back if I can manage to do it on an expense account, which is unlikely since I'm retired.
For what it's worth, some good things about NYC:
It has incomparable opportunities to enjoy American culture and entertainment. Whether your passion is music, graphic arts, theater/film, sports (both spectator and participating), food, literature, or architecture, there is simply no place else that has New York's resources. As they used to say, "Enjoy." If you can't Enjoy in NYC there is something wrong with YOU.
While exploiting New York's mass transit resources can be trying at times, you can get anywhere in the five boroughs inexpensively and in a "reasonable" time. And the taxis and Ubers are surprisingly reasonable, compared to some other big cities around the world.
The neighborhoods are fabulous. No matter what sort of community you want to live in - ethnic, age based, interest based, whatever - you can find it in New York. I personally say, to hell with the "melting pot" metaphor; New York is a mosaic of cultures that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.
From what I saw, the NYPD is doing a pretty good job.
The amount of green space, parks, athletic venues, and running/walking/biking paths is amazing. You could take a different path every week for a year - and that's dedicated pathways, not on city streets.
But New York has some serious, serious problems.
The real estate market is much more fcuked up than anyone is willing to admit. Apartments are grotesquely over-priced, whether you are talking about rentals or condo/coop purchases. With AT LEAST 50% of the "white collar" world never going back to their respective offices, who do they think will be lining up to pay $4,000/month for a crappy little apartment in Manhattan? It cannot last. And the office vacancy rate is - to be honest - at least 50%, Most large employers are catatonically uncertain about where to go from here. Their most valuable employees will tell them to go fcuk themselves if they are ordered back to their expensive offices - which are now sitting empty, though rented. Again, the status quo cannot last.
Government employees (including employees of the scores of "authorities") are bankrupting the city, in several different ways. The wages, benefits, and retirement programs are simply unsustainable, even with massive state and federal help. It is impossible to pin down exactly, but I've heard it estimated that fully one-fourth of the New York population is either paid or supported with public funds. In addition, the NYC bureaucracy is the most obstructive web of interference since the fall of the Soviet Union. To illustrate the point, it took TEN YEARS simply to get the permitting for the building that replaced the WTC. In mass transit circles, it is known that building a subway line in New York is at least twice as much per kilometer as anyplace else in the world - including London, Paris, Singapore, etc.
Worst of all, unless you are one of the fortunate ones who has latched on to some sort of massive revenue stream, the cost of housing is simply crippling (while everything else is also quite expensive). If you are a working-class person without some family-based housing advantage, you will be living in a space that would simply be unacceptable for someone at a comparable economic stratum, anywhere else in the country.
Bottom line: there are a lot of people who are thriving in New York, but how they manage to do it is a mystery to me. I will only go back if I can manage to do it on an expense account, which is unlikely since I'm retired.
