Simple question for new yorkers

MetroStyles's numbers and advice seem reasonable to me.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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That sounds nice but that's just not true. The overwhelming majority of my friends and acquaintances, with or without kids, are pretty much somewhere in that "middle" that does not exist. They make mid-high 5 or low 6 figures and love their life here.

It is true that the spread between the lowest and the highest "classes" is incredibly wide. But that doesn't mean that there's no comfortable middle.

I lived on 35k a year which I earned mostly as being a commis then I got a much better job in a kitchen, then I went onto my current career in which I earn better.

Yes, I'm very sorry, but to have a decent sized apartment, send your kids to good schools (private), have enough for a college education, have enough to take holidays, have enough to be able to go out often (I eat out in Chicago 4-5 times a week), 1 million gross is pretty accurate and is quite common. Yes it can be lower, who cares. Do you have any idea what a 3BR in a decent building costs to buy?

Like I said, I lived on very little and had fun, but with a family, I wouldn't do it if I wasn't quite well off. I want my kids to have the option of going to the same kinds of schools that I went to, and to not be wanting as far as travel. To do all that PLUS live comfortably in manhattan takes an enormous amount of money. Even people who aren't huge spenders will tell you that it takes a huge amount of money to raise a child in New York. Everything is just more expensive.

Originally Posted by SField

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I lived on 35k a year which I earned mostly as being a commis then I got a much better job in a kitchen, then I went onto my current career in which I earn better.

Yes, I'm very sorry, but to have a decent sized apartment, send your kids to good schools (private), have enough for a college education, have enough to take holidays, have enough to be able to go out often (I eat out in Chicago 4-5 times a week), 1 million gross is pretty accurate and is quite common. Yes it can be lower, who cares. Do you have any idea what a 3BR in a decent building costs to buy?
You think that describes a comfortable lifestyle?
I'd love to be your kind of comfortable then.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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That sounds nice but that's just not true. The overwhelming majority of my friends and acquaintances, with or without kids, are pretty much somewhere in that "middle" that does not exist. They make mid-high 5 or low 6 figures and love their life here.

I lived in Manhattan for a good part of my life and would love to ******* know how these acquaintances are living in Manhattan on low 6 figures.

Are they in rent controlled apartments? Do they live in LES or something? How someone could do that with kids is shocking. I'm sure they love their lives, but frankly it isn't something I'd enjoy. My life isn't about spending money, not in the least, but scrimping and saving just to say I live in Manhattan for $20 a day or something isn't really my life's ambition.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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You think that describes a comfortable lifestyle?
I'd love to be your kind of comfortable then.

like I said, I can be comfortable in a shoe box apartment that got divided into 3. I did that for a long time, working every night till 1am being screamed at by a french asshole and I couldn't have been happier, but with a family? You truly are insane if you think you can do Manhattan on less than 100k a year.

there are a lot of welfare people, perpetually unemployed and people who have cash businesses like pizzerias and underreported income that bring the median down, too.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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We've had that conversation before and there's a lot of mythology in these kinds of statements. I'm a bit surprised when these statements actually come from people who also state they've lived in Manhattan rich and poor. The overwhelming majority of Manhattan residents live a perfectly satisfactory life with a fraction of the numbers thrown around here. A million dollars to have "a little bit of space to live"? Please

I'll quote a recent post of mine from a recent thread on the topic.

so true.

even if i was single, i'd probably live in the burg or brooklyn heights. i hate the uws and the ues, les is boring now and tribeca is out of reach.

Originally Posted by SField

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like I said, I can be comfortable in a shoe box apartment that got divided into 3. I did that for a long time, working every night till 1am being screamed at by a french asshole and I couldn't have been happier, but with a family? You truly are insane if you think you can do Manhattan on less than 100k a year.

Originally Posted by SField

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I lived in Manhattan for a good part of my life and would love to ******* know how these acquaintances are living in Manhattan on low 6 figures.

Are they in rent controlled apartments? Do they live in LES or something? How someone could do that with kids is shocking.

Living in a rent controlled apartment or purchasing 15-20 years ago is the defining factor here. One of my friends supports a family on 200k but lives in a 5000sqft loft in Tribeca purchased as a wedding gift in 1988.
I lived on the UWS in a 400sqft studio for $1900 a month and would always here stories about neighbors paying $450 a month after living there for a time or sneakily taking over the lease from a family member or friend.
I know plenty of people in my age and income bracket making North of $200k and not having the savings to purchase even in Brooklyn. If your new to the city you need mucho cashola!.

wedding gift? ****. son of rich doesn't count.

Originally Posted by Rye GB

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Living in a rent controlled apartment or purchasing 15-20 years ago is the defining factor here. One of my friends supports a family on 200k but lives in a 5000sqft loft in Tribeca purchased as a wedding gift in 1988.
I lived on the UWS in a 400sqft studio for $1900 a month and would always here stories about neighbors paying $450 a month after living there for a time or sneakily taking over the lease from a family member or friend.
I know plenty of people in my age and income bracket making North of $200k and not having the savings to purchase even in Brooklyn. If your new to the city you need mucho cashola!.

Yea, I am so incredibly interested for GDL to tell me about these incredible lives that his friends live on less than 100k. I am just dying to hear how you can buy anything in Manhattan and still have enough left over to go out and enjoy the city, and put kids through something better than SUNY. Really, are his friends living in a 1BR walkup in Inwood?

Where in UWS did you live? It is possible to get something for less than 2k but that is quite common.

Originally Posted by thekunk07

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wedding gift? ****. son of rich doesn't count.
Hong Kong style wedding!, apt is worth north of 5 mil now, their place was under renovation during 9/11 and they couldn't move back in for 2 years, permits and ****. He also owns a 1 bedroom in Chelsea and a 4 bedroom 50's modern in Woodstock, set for life the lucky bugger.

Originally Posted by SField

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Where in UWS did you live? It is possible to get something for less than 2k but that is quite common.
I lived on 102nd and WEA from 1997 to 2003, very nice neighborhood as long as you didn't cross East of Amsterdam. After I moved to Los Angeles the neigborhood has become more expensive, especially since those high rises have been built in and around Columbia. You can still grab a studio for under 2k but it won't be pretty.

socal is my boy, but for the most part i want to kill those with inherited wealth. i have fantasies of ruining everything for them, their whole lives. immature and yes it's jealousy, but still...

Originally Posted by thekunk07

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socal is my boy, but for the most part i want to kill those with inherited wealth. i have fantasies of ruining everything for them, their whole lives. immature and yes it's jealousy, but still...

Don't hate me cause i'm rich

SField- take deep-pan chill pill dude. hard to discuss with someone who has pretty obvious anger management problems. Again, the definition of "comfortable" is key here and your post defining yours is pretty telling IMO. This has become a completely circular reasoning, i.e. one needs to be wealthy to live like a wealthy (duh).

I've lived here for 9 years now and I went through a pretty large spectrum of budgets so I think I can comfortably say I know what I'm talking about.

I certainly would not want you to meet my friends, I'm pretty sure they have no interest in meeting some ITG sociopath who also apparently happens to be quite skilled with knives.

i'm disappointed. just fed you a sweet new quote and you didn't bite.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Don't hate me cause i'm rich