Is it worth it? Living in NYC

I'm pondering moving to NYC. I know there are plenty of threads on finding apartments, day to day living etc.

But I want to know... is it worth it?

Clearly, the cost of living is outrageous and there are so many things that are more difficult when living in any city, but particularly New York.

If I chose to move to NY, it wouldn't be a career based decision. I would simply be moving to live in a different type of environment.

So I'm wondering, do the benefits outweigh the challenges (and costs) of living in the city?

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Yes.

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YES - though as said above, it depends on what you want.

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Yes it is all about taking advantage of it. I subscribe to NEW YORK magazine, and every week I am knocked out by the listings in the back......endless plays, bars, restaurants, readings, opera, jazz, dance, exhibits, galleries, museums, movies........seriously in NYC it just never ends.

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I lived in NYC for 9 years and I ended up hating living in NYC and am so glad that I never have to go back there. My first few years were fabulous and fun but the last two years were just awful. I could no longer tolerate the crowds, being smooshed into the A and E trains every f-ing morning (MOVE IN PEOPLE!! CRIPES!) just trying to get to work and dealing with constant delays..... (An hour and 15 minutes to go 6 miles....REALLY???..)constant lack of personal space, 6 million dollars a month for a sh*t hole apartment with no air, washer/dryer, dishwasher. I mean, I am not one of those people who wanted to say they lived in NYC so much that they are willing to kick out that kind of money each month. I'm just not. A dishwasher isn't a luxury, people..it's normal life.

Obviously, NYC started to make me mean and I just had to go.

But, it's all about what YOU want. There is no arguing that NYC has so much to offer; you just have to take advantage of it. Most of us that live in the city don't either because we work too long of a day (I know I did) to take advantage of all of the great things, or you just become numb to the fact that you live in one of the greatest cities on the planet.

For me, it was the menial sh*t that I could no longer tolerate..Everything turned into such a drama each day. Personally, I don't want to push a heavy ass grocery cart filled with my groceries home 5 blocks. I just want to load my car trunk and go. But maybe you wouldn't mind that.

I find NYC to be extremely INCONVENIENT.

Broadwaybaby:

Your post made me laugh. As I would wait and wait and wait for the train, I would always think.."Yeah, um, I could be in Delaware by now and I am just trying to get to my apartment."

I also cannot tolerate wastes of time so having to wait for an f-ing A train to even show up was not my idea of a good time. And that is every time I took the train. Eventually, I just stayed home vbecause I couldn't be bothered with the pain in the ass of the MTA.

I don't sit in my car and think, "Ok, I am gonna sit here for 30 minutes and then go." NO, I want to go and I want to go NOW.

Now, I am back home with my family where I belong and I get in my car each day and go go go! It's quite a freeing feeling.

NYC made me feel trapped...

In some ways, I'm glad I went into my apartment search without hearing the horror stories -- because mine wasn't really hard at all. Sure, I paid a broker probably way too much, because I had only a few weeks to find a place before my new job starts, but I'm quite satisfied with where I live and the amount of rent I pay.

The horror stories here...yes, I'd love to have a dishwasher. I've gotten so used to not having one, though, that when I visit my family, I automatically scrub my dishes, forgetting such an invention even exists. You adjust.

Yes, I'd love a washer/dryer in my apartment, but I just think of the six flights of stairs and two blocks with a basket full of laundry as an easy workout.

And I'm glad to have gotten away from stockpile shopping, instead just going to the grocery store daily to get what I need. Sure, it still sends my mother into a tizzy when she visits and sees nothing in the refrigerator but condiments, but daily shopping makes me (usually) cook a lot healthier, for one thing.

Expenses and taxes are a killer, but although my salary is not tremendous, I generally have the money to do most of what I want. But I know it's not for everyone.

It really is a personal preference. I also think it depends on your frame of reference. New York is rapidly losing everything that makes it unique.

One thing you need to remember is that it is never like it's portrayed on tv and movies. Sex & the City is responsible for bringing thousands of young girls to the city thinking they will live like the characters. It's not like that.

The city is dirty. You open your window and dust blows in. Despite all the precautions, there are mice and roaches. You have to learn to do the "doggie-doo-hop" as people love to own dogs but not take responsibility for them.

The city is difficult to get around. The subway can be a real joke. After being in operation for 100 years, they still haven't figured out how to keep it moving in a rainstorm. The doors to the express train are always closing as your local train pulls into the station. Nobody has gotten a seat on the Lexington Avenue line since 1965.

In the city, you have to be able to tolerate people. Like the people who still haven't figured out that when the train doors open, people have to get off before they can get on. Like the young people who like to crank up their stereo at 2 am after clubbing. Like the people who think walking on the sidewalk is a competitive sport that they have to win. Like the people who use the sidewalk to do an imitation of Julie Andrews in the opening shot of Sound of Music (if you don't know where you are going, please stop and think, don't twirl all around).

The city is not a place where you can find everything. The supermarkets are woefully lacking in choices due to space. (In a local Gristedes, they have five different choices in soy milk, yet not one carton of chocolate milk). The city has become woefully generic. Starbucks and McDonalds have replaced the wonderful automats. Even the diners are closing or going upscale.

I think the city is losing its energy. As the middle class is driven out, it's becoming sterile. But it's up to you to find the things that make it unique for you. If you can find a restaurant or a spot that hasn't yet been taken over by the Carrie-ites, then you are on your way.

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But goth, they do have chocolate soy milk.

See, I don't think I would mind living there myself. It's actually where I hope to end up working eventually. I also wouldn't mind living in the outskirts in New Jersey still though. But, because of the rise in gas prices just in the past week, I wish walking places was an option, but it's not. It's a 15 minute drive just to get to the supermarket. I know, everyone has been saying they are scarce in the city, but I would rather walk if I was given the option. Also, I guess I will just admit that I don't like driving that much. Yes, I have my license and a car, only because I need them to get anywhere around here.

It's bazaar because when I was in college for the first 2 1/2 years, I always wished I had a car on campus to do what I wanted and not bother anyone else. Well, my 2nd semester of my junior year, I finally got a car, but ended up not taking it out as much as I thought I would. And parking was a pain.

Even if you live right out of the city, public transportation is still pretty good. I know New York has the Long Island Rail Road, and I forget what else. New Jersey transit has trains and buses. And there is also the PATH trains, which I absolutely love. LOL!

Oh yeah, and as for apartments in the city not having dishwashers, it can be like that anywhere. I lived in Scranton for 3 months, in an apartment that was a total of 4 rooms, and there was no dishwasher. And my lovely front yard was an alley and a parking lot to the University of Scranton. I'll admit I hate doing dishes with a passion, but it really isn't so bad if you don't leave them piled up, like I unfortunately did too frequently. LOL!

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Updated On: 4/18/08 at 02:26 PM

Thank you for all the input. I've lived in a city before so I'm used to the mass transit, grocery challenges, and noise. Those are things I expect and LOVE in the city. I miss it. I'm also expecting lots of apartment drama.

It just seems extremely self indulgent to want to move somewhere "just because." As I stated, it wouldn't be a move that would particularly benefit my career, but I would hopefully be able to obtain a job in my field. It would be because I love the city- the theatre scene in particular, but also the food/people/environment.

In truth, it will probably all depend on job possibilities, salary, and possible living situations.

So here is another question. Is it possible NOT to own a car in places like Brooklyn or Jersey City? I'm only familiar with transit options in Manhattan, and I'm unsure of how suburban it can become outside of Manhattan. Like many others, I currently live in an environment where you basically HAVE to drive to get groceries or anything else.

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Wow reading these posts about how getting in a car and going is better than using public transit is really something.

It took me about 3 years to adjust to living in this urban environment (HOBOKEN NJ) but once I did....there is just no going back to that suburban, car-based lifestyle.

Now, when I go back home with family in suburban Chicago, it drives me absolutely nuts that we have to get in a car to go ANYWHERE. The bank. Laundromat. Restaurants. Movies. Shopping. Church. Relatives. Friends. Carton of Milk. Anything. At. All.

Here in Hoboken, I can WALK to get anything I need, or any place I need to go, any type of store....and as for lugging all the groceries.....why are we buying so many groceries at once? It's easy and healthier to buy more fruits and veggies, which you have to buy often anyway. Not good to buy those just once a week in huge amounts.

And then the city is at my fingertips with PATH. 10 minutes to WTC and 14 minutes to 34th St and 6th Av.

PATH is the #1 reason why I chose Hoboken. I knew I didnt want to live the kind of suburban life where going to New York means either checking the NJ Transit schedule for the hourly trains or checking the traffic report to see how backed up the tunnels are. Nope, its just a walk to the subway station like anybody else in the area.

And oh yeah there are ferries to midtown and downtown too.

And for the poster who just asked about Jersey City....it all depends on what you can handle. Like I said, I live in Hoboken, aka Land of the Fratboy/Wall Streeter dudes, and as whitebread as this place is, when my friends from the suburbs visit they are still scared because there is the occasional BLACK PERSON!!!!!!! oh no!!!!!!!

And with Jersey City, there are plenty of NON WHITES!!!! Which for a lot of suburban white people is enough to make them head for the hills, lets be honest. But, near the Journal Square PATH station and the Grove St PATH station, you can still find a cheap, affordable, relatively safe apartment.

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For those of you who DO live outside of Manhattan-- Brooklyn or whereever, do you feel safe getting home at night on mass transit?

We have a horrible mass transit around here, and it really can't get you much of anywhere. But I happened to need to travel somewhere it does go this week, and I didn't feel safe on it in early afternoon. I definitely wouldn't take it at 11 pm.

I actually HATE driving, but I have to do it. So the transportation issue would be a benefit if I moved to the city.

Thanks so much for all the information. This really does help. As someone who visits NYC frequently, I knew what I THOUGHT it would be like to live in the city. But let's face it, I walk three blocks in Time Square to go to bed after a show, and I know that living there would be a different type of situation.

It can't be vacation everyday!

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