Right, but that's Manhattan -- one of the most famous and most expensive cities in the world. Because of the way you (we)'ve been socialized, you perhaps see o

Right, but that's Manhattan -- one of the most famous and most expensive cities in the world. Because of the way you (we)'ve been socialized, you perhaps see owning as respectable and renting as vaguely disreputable. But, "only renting" in Manhattan is not like "only renting" pretty much anywhere else in the world. Not trying to be a jerk here, because I understand the desire is real. But essentially you're starting to feel entitled to live in Manhattan, without those pesky compromises. In exactly the same way, I'm starting to feel entitled to owning a nice house in a nice neighbourhood with good schools, that's not out in the suburbs, with spending money left over for books and computers, and ... Never mind that my neighbours have BMWs but I drive an old beater. My baseline (the things I'm not eager to compromise on) is already higher than what the vast majority of people in my country have. Every step is reasonable, but you can end up in a strange place. > Here every shitty 1br apartment costs $800K+. Daaamn. Here that buys you a 3 bedroom house in an exclusive neighbourhood in mid-town, on the main subway line.