hereâs my misc thoughts lol iâm no expert but this is from my POV as someone whoâs lived here full time a bit and grew up visiting all the time. firstly, youâre def right that it is expensive â nearly impossible to relocate to if you donât have a job secured and arenât rich. even moreso if you have never visited or have only done one super tourist-y visit--itâs not just Times Square and Statue of Liberty (love her tho) rainbows and butterflies vibes lol.
like i seriously do not recommend moving here if you havenât been to other boroughs, and neighborhoods outside of Midtown, SoHo, FiDi, UES etc. iâve never been to england so canât speak to it bit you might find it helpful to look online for comparisons to cities youâve spent more time in - london and other cities in europe perhaps. consider if NYC would be that much more exciting or âbetterâ for you?
also thereâs a huge issue of influencers and people who wanna live here impulsively for fun that has driven up rent and driven out lifetime residents, esp working class folks and people of color. (lots of writing out there on the difference between moving to any city vs gentrifying one, and what one can do to not be complicit in the latter). and, my family is from here and i have always loved the city; i did get a job here after graduation but i really wouldnât have moved here if i hadnât.
so definitely come here intentionally, and arrive with a willingness to engage with your community! sometimes new residents who arenât as acquainted with the ârealâ new york and canât afford apts in the more gentrified or historically wealthy areas (most of manhattan, some parts of brooklyn) have a misconception of the city, so they end up feeling awkward or âunsafeâ where they live, and thus donât give back to their neighborhood. itâs veryyy weird that some people move here only to go to work, eat out and party on the weekends. (not saying this is you ofc! but just a general note).
the irony is that NYers get a bad rep for the mind your own business culture and realness--and yeah NYers arenât âniceâ, but people are kind. folks care about and actively help out their neighbors. i saw this in my own fam growing up! and as sinatra himself once said: âif i can make it here, iâll make it anywhere.â it is a tough place to âmake itâ for people without roots. but iâd never deny that new york, for many of us, lives up to its reputation as the so-called greatest city in the world ;)
