Quote: (12-09-2016 12:55 PM)LikeABaller Wrote:
I still don't understand why some people live in NYC with incomes like 50-100 and even 150k.
Most of them commute 2 hours every day just to go to work. That is insane in my opinion. You are wasting 2 hours everyday of your life. Multiply that by 5 its 10 hours a week multiply it by 4 its 40 hours a month.
Back in the mid 1980s, the Lefrak group built a couple high rise apartment buildings that rose out of the no man's land of an abandoned rail yard.
They hung a big banner on the side of the building that people stuck in traffic outside the Holland tunnel could see it that said, "If you lived here, you would be home by now".
That area is almost completely built out right now. I can count over 10 major construction projects in addition to the dozens of high rise buildings that exist already. Dense cities that are not plagued by crime and have good public transportation can be a great place to live.
I don't live in that area, but I live near the subway line that services it. My commute into NYC takes less than 40 minutes (most of it walking). Plus, everything I need is within walking distance, accessible by public transportation, or a short drive away. My car is 8 years old and has less than 52k miles on it. Sometimes I drive it just to keep the battery charged. My truck is 10 years old and has less than 40k miles.
I grew up in the suburbs and spent years in the country. Both places you were married to your car, which gets expensive and time consuming. The country in particular... everything (i.e. groceries) is a 40 minute drive to and another 40 minutes back.
Back on topic... This is a good place to raise a kid given how much is available for a kid (parks, extra curricular activities like martial arts, museums, etc.). The sticking point is the costs associated with education followed by health insurance / medical costs. Everything else is easily managed by being frugal.