NYC has some of the best, if not the best, public transport in the US. > It's a chore to get someone in Brooklyn to come into the city to hang out unless it's

NYC has some of the best, if not the best, public transport in the US. > It's a chore to get someone in Brooklyn to come into the city to hang out unless it's right after work. And vice versa. The issue, I think, is that young professionals have largely been priced out of Manhattan, and the East River acts as a psychological boundary. Even if it's just a short trip, you're still leaving/entering "the city". As a side anecdote, the club Maxwell's in Hoboken closed a few years ago; the reason given was that most of the bands that played there were willing to cross one river to play a gig, but only a small fraction were willing to cross both, even though the trip wasn't substantially longer.