NYC Housing Affordability

At least in NYC, it's because of rent.

Not really.http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/realestate/priced-out-o...

I'm sorry my friend but that is hardly a "steal".Also, you can very easily live in Brooklyn or Queens for under 1.7k a month with a far larger place and only have a 15-20 minute commute.It is very possible to live comfortably in NYC but why people choose to live squished up in Manhattan is beyond me.

Three hours a day on the subway from almost anywhere in Brooklyn to almost anywhere in Manhattan is a stretch. I commute from Bay Ridge - the far end of the "R" line in Brooklyn, and not express - to Little Italy, daily. Door-to-door, the commute is about 45 minutes. My rent is under $1600 for a large 1BR in an elevator building with laundry.Coming from Philadelphia, where I lived in a 2BR HOUSE with a yard and all the amenities for $400/mo less, there was some sticker shock. B

NYC is surprisingly affordable if you're not in Manhattanhttps://www.padmapper.com/apartments/new-york-ny/l-38104265/...

I've lived here (Lower Manhattan, BK, and now Astoria) for the last 10 years and wouldn't move anywhere else.For reference, I lived in SF (Pac Heights) for ~4 years during and after grad school and a couple of other metros tooThe density of stuff to do / people is much higher in NYC. The diversity of people, language, backgrounds is amazing. You are signing up for dirt, grime, homeless people, weird smells and terrible traffic. But also new restaurants, an amazing music and art

The minimum wage in NYC is similar, but the average rent is like 3x as high: https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-new-york-rent-tre...

If your startup lives in NYC, you can avoid poverty quite easily on $50k/year. NJ is about 20-30 min away. Rent is lower, food is cheaper, and you don't need to pay 2-3% of your income to MTA ticket booth agents taking home more money than you do [1].Where you live is a choice, and living in Manhattan is choosing luxury.[1] Or assorted other overpaid NYC workers.

The subways in New York help the common case - minimizing how much is needed to spend on housing, while being well-connected to Manhattan. This is how people can live in a relatively cheap borough like Queens, and still have 15-35 minute commute to their job.There's also a massive amount of rental apartment stock at any time. This means that you have the liquidity to make any tradeoffs necessary, by balancing your budget, commute distance, number of roommates, and the amount of space you

No,because rent in Harlem (a few train stops away) requires less to live on.