6 ms·

I personally think the "cost of living" argument is bogus a huge portion of the time, at least it was for me when I moved from Maryland to NYC. Sure, rent is e

by ditonal 14y ago

I personally think the "cost of living" argument is bogus a huge portion of the time, at least it was for me when I moved from Maryland to NYC. Sure, rent is expensive. That's about it, and even then if you're willing to live in the right part of Jersey you can still be 30 minutes from work and have very cheap rent. Most big ticket items are the same. Anything ordered from Amazon is the same. Laptops, tablets, sound systems - the same. Tons of clothing deals all over the city. Food is actually cheaper because there are so many little farmer markets and dollar stores. I understand that if you just go by what some people are paying for a hamburger, you could think that NYC is much more expensive, but you don't have to eat at the same place i-bankers and tourists eat! A street gyro cost $4 and there's $1 slices of pizza. Finally, even if the cost of living is higher, it's not a comparable product. You are paying not only to have a place to sleep, but you are also paying to live in New York City, one of the most exciting cities in the world with endless amounts of diverse people, places, and activities. Paying higher rent so that you can live in the city many people dream about makes sense, and the fact that salaries are largely adjusted to make this a reasonable proposition makes it an easy choice.

netcan 14y ago
Yeah, look... it's an impossible problem. On one hand you put your finger on it. Your life in place A is completely different then your life in place B so trying to so that you are paying x% more per sqft and therefore you arre y% poorer is obviously nonsense. Same goes for inflation calculators. This week you spent your money on iPads, international foods, air travel, divorce lawyers and antidepressants. 200 years ago you could have taken that money and bought this many slaves, that much bread and a weekly leaching. Therefore $1 in 1804 is worth $349 in todays money. On the other hand there obviously is such a thing as inflation over time and cost of living variances. You can tell because you can live in a house, eat food and drive a car with a certain amount of money in one place but you can't pay for a the smallest apartment in another place with the same amount.
skittles 14y ago
I think a lot of people lower their standard of living when they move to expensive places. For instance, I live in the mid-west in a 5-bedroom, 3-bath house with a 2-car garage. My wife and I own 2 reliable cars, and we eat at mid-level restaurants almost every day. If we tried to live a comparable life in NYC, I'm certain the cost-of-living argument would apply.
- ditonal 14y ago
  My whole point was that my standard of living went up compared to Maryland. I'm making more and my bills didn't increase as to offset that. I have more money for vacations, going out, etc. It's true that the big house and car lifestyle may be more expensive, but even talking about those things IN NYC is ridiculous, obviously it makes much more sense to living in NJ or Long Island, where a develop salary can definitely get you a house and a few cars. I'm pretty sure cars are the same price most places and NJ has the cheapest gas in the country as far as I know.
king_jester 14y ago
When it comes to food, I disagree that NYC isn't significantly more expensive. It is true that you can find cheap street and fast food in the city, but there's no way you could stand eating that all of the time just like any fast food. Groceries are more expensive than other parts of the country and you are often dependent on several stores for getting the kind of goods you want unless you live in Manhattan near a big store like Whole Foods (a store which is expensive). In terms of salary, only white collar and union jobs have any kind of salary adjustment that helps with the cost of living.
- ditonal 14y ago
  I wasn't just talking about street foods, I specifically mentioned the markets that have cheaper produce and meat than what I paid in Maryland. For household items there's dollar store type places with pretty cheap general products. You do have to shop around more. As far as whose salary is adjusted, I thought we were only discussing developers.
  - rada 14y ago
    I've lived in NYC for 15 years, and the only market that's relatively cheaper is Chinatown. However, it has a limited selection and it's only accessible if you live around it, i.e. in some of the most expensive areas of Manhattan. So yes, you could save a few dollars a month on baby bok choy, but you'd be living in a $3k a month studio apartment and paying a 20%-80% premium on everything else - electric, cable, non-chinese food, etc. The only things that are cheaper in NYC are international flights (and only because you don't have to pay for connections) and immigrant labor (such as apartment cleaning). Other than that, to say that anything in NYC is cheaper than Maryland is just plain untrue. And all this "willing to live in the right place in New Jersey" so you can have a 30 minute commute is propaganda. What it really means is, ghetto-living with an hour and a half commute, and that's only if you work 10 hour days because the commute around 9-to-5 is actually 2 hours. I've done it, and it's not worth it. (Unless of course, you are actually poor and simply have to). Working 10 hour days and commuting 3 more is work+sleep, not living. Yes, you have your weekends, but when you are in NJ, let's face it, you miss out on all the spontaneous things that people do, which is the whole reason you've moved to NYC in the first place.

by ditonal 14y ago

netcan 14y ago

Yeah, look... it's an impossible problem. On one hand you put your finger on it. Your life in place A is completely different then your life in place B so trying to so that you are paying x% more per sqft and therefore you arre y% poorer is obviously nonsense. Same goes for inflation calculators. This week you spent your money on iPads, international foods, air travel, divorce lawyers and antidepressants. 200 years ago you could have taken that money and bought this many slaves, that much bread and a weekly leaching. Therefore $1 in 1804 is worth $349 in todays money. On the other hand there obviously is such a thing as inflation over time and cost of living variances. You can tell because you can live in a house, eat food and drive a car with a certain amount of money in one place but you can't pay for a the smallest apartment in another place with the same amount.

skittles 14y ago

I think a lot of people lower their standard of living when they move to expensive places. For instance, I live in the mid-west in a 5-bedroom, 3-bath house with a 2-car garage. My wife and I own 2 reliable cars, and we eat at mid-level restaurants almost every day. If we tried to live a comparable life in NYC, I'm certain the cost-of-living argument would apply.

ditonal 14y ago
My whole point was that my standard of living went up compared to Maryland. I'm making more and my bills didn't increase as to offset that. I have more money for vacations, going out, etc. It's true that the big house and car lifestyle may be more expensive, but even talking about those things IN NYC is ridiculous, obviously it makes much more sense to living in NJ or Long Island, where a develop salary can definitely get you a house and a few cars. I'm pretty sure cars are the same price most places and NJ has the cheapest gas in the country as far as I know.

king_jester 14y ago

When it comes to food, I disagree that NYC isn't significantly more expensive. It is true that you can find cheap street and fast food in the city, but there's no way you could stand eating that all of the time just like any fast food. Groceries are more expensive than other parts of the country and you are often dependent on several stores for getting the kind of goods you want unless you live in Manhattan near a big store like Whole Foods (a store which is expensive). In terms of salary, only white collar and union jobs have any kind of salary adjustment that helps with the cost of living.

ditonal 14y ago
I wasn't just talking about street foods, I specifically mentioned the markets that have cheaper produce and meat than what I paid in Maryland. For household items there's dollar store type places with pretty cheap general products. You do have to shop around more. As far as whose salary is adjusted, I thought we were only discussing developers.
- rada 14y ago
  I've lived in NYC for 15 years, and the only market that's relatively cheaper is Chinatown. However, it has a limited selection and it's only accessible if you live around it, i.e. in some of the most expensive areas of Manhattan. So yes, you could save a few dollars a month on baby bok choy, but you'd be living in a $3k a month studio apartment and paying a 20%-80% premium on everything else - electric, cable, non-chinese food, etc. The only things that are cheaper in NYC are international flights (and only because you don't have to pay for connections) and immigrant labor (such as apartment cleaning). Other than that, to say that anything in NYC is cheaper than Maryland is just plain untrue. And all this "willing to live in the right place in New Jersey" so you can have a 30 minute commute is propaganda. What it really means is, ghetto-living with an hour and a half commute, and that's only if you work 10 hour days because the commute around 9-to-5 is actually 2 hours. I've done it, and it's not worth it. (Unless of course, you are actually poor and simply have to). Working 10 hour days and commuting 3 more is work+sleep, not living. Yes, you have your weekends, but when you are in NJ, let's face it, you miss out on all the spontaneous things that people do, which is the whole reason you've moved to NYC in the first place.