Ask HN: Is living in NYC worth it?
Will add a little context to what others are saying. Born and largely raised in NYC, both renter and property owner, raising 3 kids as well. Have loved but been ambivalent about NYC too. My wife, also a NYer, and I left in 2000 for California, but when 9&#x2F;11 happened we KNEW we had to move back.<p>The economics can be brutal. Have been reading an academic book, a study of rents in Manhattan from 1760-1850 (real book, written by Columbia U history professor). Fascinating, fascinating story but the distillation is a tale of property owners learning in the decades following the revolution how to make land income producing, and how the long series of flywheel-like incentive driven decisions made NYC the property owner dominated city it is today.<p>As a renter, literally no matter your income, you ARE second class. The interests of large commercial and residential rentiers drive nearly all critical city decisions. Predator&#x2F;prey is an oft-used metaphor, and it is not wrong, but it is not the whole story. You are prey who are competing to be prey. It is sick.<p>So as a renter, you will FEEL it. Even if you are in a one of a kind 20k&#x2F;mo penthouse with a celebrity as a neighbor, you are being used, and you will FEEL that. Beyond the economics, which will be forced upon you- especially right at this moment, because large owners took something of a hit during the pandemic and they are going for blood now, no joke- the status is a vibe you can never quite shake.<p>All kinds of things in the city are great experientially for all kinds of people, and there really isn&#x27;t a better place in the US at least to raise autonomous savvy children. And strategically NYC will be fine with climate change- large owners plan 50-75-100 years out, and the city will wind up increasing its dominance as a center.<p>But if you don&#x27;t own, you will feel it every day. And the economics make it incredibly difficult for almost all to own.<p>After all that, my advice is- be careful about your decision making. There are many wonderful energetic places in the US that have fundamentally better economics. If you feel you have to come to NY, come with your eyes open.<p>Hope that helps. Good luck.