To be fair, it's also much nicer to live in (at least for white people) than it ever has been. New York before it became a police state was basically Gotham City.
There are many, many places to live with crime rates far lower than NYC so I'm not sure I really understand this. Maybe you mean compared with most places you could see yourself living?
For example, I live in a nice town in CT and the crime rate is 3.99 per 1000 vs NYC which is currently about 13.3 per 1000, making NYC (as a whole — I understand your point about neighborhoods within the city) 3x higher in crime.
I understand the other things you appreciate about the city. It's great to able to walk outside and have amazing restaurants and other amenities a few feet away; there's a reason many people like the city.
Agreed, being high income and living in Manhattan or nice parts of Brooklyn is great, but other than that, I find the quality of life to be much better in many other cities.
On the flip side: high taxes means access to things like public transportation, meaning that you don't need to own and maintain a car. And crime rates in NYC, at least, are at absolute historic lows. The firearms part of your statement really makes no sense at all.
Some other pluses: a huge concentration of culture, entertainment, dining. Regional transportation hubs to travel to other cities is relatively quick.
Again, well said. I agree with you. I, too, have some good friends who live out there (cannot fathom why).
I like the raw energy of NYC, something no place in CA has, not even LA, and I lived out there for almost 4 years. NYC trumps any large US city for pure energy and things to do. I can be in Europe in a few hours, Canada in no time, the food is second to none, the weather is decent, as you tend to get four seasons instead of warm and cooler.
I've lived in Europe, Asia, and 7 US states. NYC is by far my favourite place in the US to visit, and perhaps one day, live. NYC is walkable, something few US cities can boast. Not even Chicago comes close to NYC in amenities -- and Chicago cannot seem to get a grip on their gun violence problem, something NYC has all but stamped out.
Let's not even mention the plethora of museums, restaurants, theatre choices, educational institutions, and more that NYC has going for it. No other US city can compare.
NY is an incredibly easy city to adjust to because it is so transient. Rent will be expensive, and food is expensive, but it's a wonderful place to live. As someone who moved from California, it's one of the greatest places to end up.
Crime (or lack of policing) is not one of the issues affecting NYC these days.
It's more like crazy high rent, bad transit, generational disillusion with traditional NY careers like finance and law, the advent of "feasible" remote work and, I wanna say, the effect of social media making it clear you could be somewhere where it's usually warmer, happier, healthier, and more human.
Speaking as a former Manhattan resident for 7 years who moved to Miami this Summer
Thankfully NY is also not as PC and SJW filled as SV, which helps cement NY as a friendlier, equal place to live. Meritocracies in spirit as well as letter!
Queens or the Bronx in NYC. They're big city but full of real, working class people and immigrants. Parts of Brooklyn are good too (but also parts of Brooklyn are just as bad and worse than DC). Definitely not Manhattan, lol--it's DC attitude and costs but everyone works for banks and finance instead of the government.
Lived in NYC (Manhattan and Brooklyn) five years, experienced highs and lows, started a business, closed one, took a traditional job and contract jobs, so I saw a lot. it's extremely overrated and overhyped. Lots of good, interesting people, but also lots of pretty awful ones (usually from somewhere else). Ultimately, the quality of life is poor and even London is far more livable than New York.
Edit: the rapid downvotes show how fragile the egos of New Yorkers are, this was always something I knew... really can't handle being told New York isn't the greatest place in the world!
New York is boring because a bunch of boring, wealthy suburbanites moved in. These people can not tell the difference between patina and dirt. They need their surroundings to conform to their sensibilities, mainly, new and clean and full of people willing to pay $10 for a burrito. It's full of artists, but it's more like rich people who decided to be artists. They can't really create anything relevant or interesting or revolutionary.
New York used to be a place you would move to Make It. Now it's a place for those who have already Made It (or their parents did) to live.
If you are from a wealthy suburb, if your daddy is helping you pay rent (or maybe your college education), then NYC is the place for you. If you are a dreamer or an artist, or anyone else with ambition without pedigree, then Detroit, Baltimore, literally any other city will be more accepting of you.
Most of NY state is amazing, beautiful, great outdoors and scenery, lakes, rivers, tons of nice little towns and smaller cities. And aside from NYC, it's also dirt cheap.
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