The costs of the cost-of-living over the past 10 y
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5/6/2008
As another life long New Yorker, I can say that it has always been expensive, but the cost-of-living increases have gone up significantly over the past 10 years (some numbers have found the increase to be 34%) leading to a number of problems, one of which is "gentrification" in communities that used to be at least somewhat affordable for lower income folks.
Lower Manhattan used to have both low and high income residents. Most of the neighborhoods were segregated by race and class, but the Lower East Side, East Village, and Far West Village/Meatpacking District used to have low-income artists along with working class folks that were later pushed into areas like Williamsburg, and then later into other parts of Brooklyn and Queens that border Manhattan, and some out of the city altogether.
The bohemian culture of Greenwich Village is a historical tradition that has essentially been eradicated by the trends supported by our current mayor (Bloomberg), and his predecessor (Giuliani) who have seemed to be oblivious or not care about the consequences to the less well off. This same trend has been happening in arguably the most important historical neighborhood for African-Americans (Harlem) and elsewhere in Brooklyn, like Bed-Sty, Red Hook, Sunset Park and even Kensington. It isn't exactly then shocking to see that the percent of African-Americans that are leaving NYC has increased, leading to the obvious decline of this population. Certainly there are plenty of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, but long standing residents have increasingly moved South where costs are less.
I love NYC, but I'm very much ready to leave, which I would have never seriously considered 10 years ago. I'm not that far up there in age either, but even the "culture" which we NYers often feel superior about is dying, particularly for those interested in pursuing the arts. Not only is the marketplace overly competitive leading to, what I would call below market value compensation by music venues/lounges/clubs towards unestablished artists, but how this leaves little room for development as an artist/musician especially with the high cost of living and lack of performance space, all of which a recently published study found. Of course, if you are from Europe you'll find these statements to be less true, but for most Americans the news is not good.
Even long standing supermarket chains in NYC have been reported to be in trouble because of rents. Costs of everything were high already, but it's obvious that it is affecting businesses in pricing, and in say restaurants in portion sizes.
If you are "lucky" enough to get a rent stabilized apartment (not rent controlled, which you can't occupy unless you've lived there for a long time), even that is not much protection when the rent is increased typically somewhere in the range of 4-5% for a 1 year lease, or 7-8% for a 2 year lease. The 1 year lease is always a "risk," as every year landlords of these buildings and residents make their case to the NYC Rent Guidelines board to not increase or allow for a percentage increase to what can be charged to tenants (not too hard to figure out who's asking for what).
I think 3 of the last 4 years it would be better to take the 2 year lease. A rent stabilized apartment does not insure that it will be cheap by any means either since the "limit" (it's a bit more complicated than that) for rent stabilization is $2000, which means after that you could be at risk for no protection and landlords charging market rate, which could easily be double what you may be paying.
Good luck to anyone "middle-class" who thinks they can buy an apartment/home here. A super-tiny, 400 sq foot studio in Manhattan will probably cost you a cool $1 million. That may sound extreme to some people, but it's not that far from reality. There are no such things as "good deals" in NYC, in the way others may understand real estate in the U.S.
NYC is best for those in lucrative, 'Sex and the City'-wannabe sectors of the city's economy looking to further your career (like finance, banking, tech industry, law, advertising, high fashion, real estate, venture capital, consulting, established/successful artist, or entertainer). It may also be a place for a young person from elsewhere looking for a Peace Corps-like, short term, 'Sex and The City' "experience." This is more of the stereotypical view some longterm NYers have of folks who move here, but there is both truth and falsity here. The reality is that in America wages have remained stagnant for most workers, while the upper classes have benefited hugely, since the 1970s. So, when costs of living go up fairly high over 10 years, along with inflation, this is not a promising sign for many.
Isaac | Upper East Side, NY