Asked how adult-dorm life differed from college-dorm life [29-year-old], Mr. Fenn said: “You’re not really at the same place where you were psychologically. Now, for me, I’m kind of wondering: When does this end? When do I get to be able to buy a place and settle down?”
also interesting...
New York City has long been a magnet for the young, well educated and ambitious. According to a report published by the Census Bureau in 2003, nearly 132,500 young, single, college-educated people poured into the New York metropolitan area between 1995 and 2000, more than into any other metropolitan area in the United States.
“Sometimes we underestimate how important that is in generating the city’s creativity,” said Frank Braconi, chief economist for the city comptroller’s office. “To the degree that housing costs become a barrier to that group, it can in the long run sap us of that creative potential that we would otherwise have.”
What surprised me about this article wasn't any of the facts but the rents people are paying for "affordable" housing. $850 a month? That's why you have to shack up as quickly as possible, so you can share a one bedroom or a studio. When I first moved here, in 2002-2003, I was living for awhile with five people in a three-bedroom apartment.
4 comments:
Interesting article. No one, however, HAS to live in Manhattan. Brooklyn probably is cheaper.
Andrewx1966
"That's why you have to shack up as quickly as possible, so you can share a one bedroom or a studio."
Oh, that's so sadly true, even outside New York. When I was a young reporter, I was scraping to afford a studio apartment, far outside the trendy part of the L.A. area. Many of the other residents were on public assistance. I moved in with a guy I was dating not because I really wanted to or liked him, but because I was so dazzled by the prospect of saving $200 a month and having a two-bedroom apartment. How pathetic, I know. There's a book from the '80s, "Slaves of New York," that dealt with this dirty little situation.
Brooklyn's not that much cheaper. My best friend pays $800 a month to live in a 4-bedroom duplex that's a 10 minute walk to the subway and between two housing projects (not that they give her any trouble.) If you want to go much below that you're looking at a subway/bus commute and/or a total shithole apartment. Or an illegal squat in South Williamsburg.
Anya, New York IS expensive. I am sure high rents end up driving people away from living in the city.
Andrewx1966
Post a Comment