I'll disagree with your characterization. There are reasons why the retired and most families end up leaving NYC fairly quickly. And those reasons are often re

I'll disagree with your characterization. There are reasons why the retired and most families end up leaving NYC fairly quickly. And those reasons are often rent and accessibility of the transit (subways don't have elevators, generally). NYC is affordable for professionals without kids. It's very expensive in time, money, or both to live in NYC with a blue-collar income.