temporary new yorker

there are a few reasons why i wouldn't settle down permanently in new york city:

1. cost of living: it's expensive. yeah, salaries are higher in new york relative to other parts of the country, but it doesn't justify the high cost of living. first, there's the food - i read that entrees at the outback are $4 more in manhattan, than they are in queens. and queens is part of new york city, so the price difference is probably even higher compared to a restaurant outside of nyc. today i bought a sandwich - salami, cheese, lettuce, tomato for $7.35. yogurt costs $1.10. cereal costs around $6. then there's rent - when i lived in boston 2 1/2 years ago, i paid $600 for my half of the rent in a spacious 2 bedroom apartment, so it was $1200 total for the apartment. now i pay more than that for a 350 square foot studio apartment that hasn't been renovated for many years. and then there's the cost of owning a place. i read an article recently about the price of apartments in the city. the article featured a woman who bought a 470 square foot, newly renovated apartment in downtown manhattan for $570,000. that is nuts. finally, there's the cost of transportation. most people don't own a car because you don't need it and it's expensive. i don't even know how much car insurance costs in the city, but i remember my friend parked her car in the parking garage across the street from me overnight for $65. cab fares start at $2.50 and if you travel during rush hour it's $1 extra and when you travel between 8PM and 6AM it's $.50 extra. one trip on a subway costs $2.

2. my family: this has nothing to do with new york, but i wouldn't want to live here permanently because i'm too far from my family. i'm really close to them and i don't want to always need to plan ahead and take a 3 1/2 hour train ride or hour plane ride to see them. i miss being able to drive 40 minutes whenever i want to see them.

3. nature: you have to leave the city to see nature. there are some tree-lined streets, but you don't even notice when the skimpy trees leaves change color. the only way to see foliage is from walking through central park, but it's usually too cold to do that in october/november. and the first thing i always notice when i'm outside of the city at night is the stars. because of all the lights in the city, the stars in the sky are not visible. i miss stars. i think the skyline is beautiful and i love looking at the buildings, but it's not something i want to be looking at forever. the buildings stay the same, but nature changes every season.

3. space: space doesn't exist in manhattan. apartments are tiny, restaurants and bars are crowded and small, the subways are always packed with people, traffic is an everyday occurrence - in the street for cars and on the sidewalks for people. that's why central park is my favorite place in the city. there is plenty of space and it's quiet and relaxing. and just about every weekend i am reminded of the lack of space when my neighbors have some friends over and throw a party (which they are doing now). i think the kids in the apartment throw a party whenever their parents are away. at least when you throw a party in a suburb where the houses are big and there is space in between them, your neighbors don't know when you have 5 friends over. that's not the story here - my neighbors right now probably have about 5 people over. they have big windows in their apartment with no curtains, so i can see inside their apartment and they have a little "yard" outside that they are hanging out in now. i heard them singing for an hour tonight in their apartment and now i hear every word of their conversation while they are standing outside. i hear them along with the people in the at least 50 other apartments overlooking theirs. i wouldn't want to live in a fishbowl.