wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

I don't think I will stay in Manhattan. I'll probably move to the Bronx and never go into Manhattan, if I can manage it--it's not interesting anymore.

But I would like to say that WNYC should do some kind of research or something that qualifies the validity of this show. People have been bitching about how expensive NYC is at least since 1980. What makes this so different of an era?

I've lived in NYC most of my life and will probably be here the rest of my life.

NYC has always been a place that attracted people who view it as a place to live for part of their lives -- career goals etc.

Because of this and the size of the city it is hard to find a sense of community here. Commutes are long, people are busy, and people don't invest social capital in places they don't consider home.

I don't know who this host is, but he lacks the sensitivity of Brian Lehrer: when a caller tells you they are leaving NYC to start a sandwich shop in Canada, you don't blunty and with a smirk in your voice ask: "Have you got it all figured out, or is it just a pipe dream?". Rude, and I don't know if the caller got cut-off or hung up on you, but I know what I would have done.

Anyway, my point was really that my father was a teacher, and in 1963, that was a very reasonable rent for him to pay.

If my dad was starting his family now, even on the much higher teacher's salary, it's obvious that it would be completely impossible.

It isn't just a matter of inflation all around. It's a matter of what is reasonable for working people, and we have obviously completely jettisoned any sanity by that standard.

I'm leaving NY so that I can once again turn right on red.

Hi, Just listening... and I agree with many of the callers - it's noisy, it's expensive, and i'm just tired... But I've been here for 25 years and it becomes harder to leave, though I am seriously considering getting out.. I'm just not sure I want to grow old in this city - it's getting less and less friendly and I shudder to think what it might be like in 20 years.

thanks!

I am a 30 something divorced mother of two and my ex-husband is a NYC fanatic. He loves NYC. He doesn't feel like he can live anywhere else and thus, since we have two children we share custody of, I am forced to live (exist, barely) if I want to have a significant role in my childrens' life.
I lived in NYC 15 years ago (went to Columbia U) and loved the city. I then lived out of the country and in the mid-west where I'm from. Since moving back here four years ago, I find the city unliveable from an economic stand point with two children under 10. I am not able to enjoy it because of financial concerns and I feel that our quality of life is really diminished because I cannot balance work and family. Personally, I am always stressed out because of money and the crappy conditions I can only afford to live in with me and my childen. I have to work to make enough money to live here and I cannot take advantage of a lot of "free" stuff (events, etc). Free stuff is also very crowded and over utilized in this big city. The creative class/artists have left. I find the city has lost the charm and uniqueness it had 15 years ago. I would love to move to an in-between market where creative thinkers are moving.

Maybe I shouldn't be responding to this but I moved from Philadelphia to this city in 2000. It was the worst decision I have ever made in my whole life; I absolutely hate it here. This place is too ugly, too big, too superficial, too hard to get around in, etc., etc. The reasons I am still here? Because of my relationship with my girlfriend, a native New Yorker who had moved temporarily to Philly a decade ago and at 51, I also do not have many marketable skills for today's business climate.

I moved to Belgium (with boyfriend)last year after being in NYC for 20 years (grew up here). I miss NYC. I miss shops being open after 6pm. I miss the vitality. Hence I do come twice a year, especially for my dear wonderful mom and my sister.

But, in this year, I got a pretty good job which I travel to London for regularly (much less often, Paris and New York). And we've just bought a house, with a garden completely renovated - gorgeous light-filled kitchen and an apple tree, pear tree, raspberries, figs...

Health insurane is not an issue - I get a medical massage for my neck for 6 Euro/half hour.

I'm calmer than I've ever been. It helps to be in love, of course. But, especially when it comes to the house - I would never have been able to do that in NYC. That's my personal miracle. A home with a garden in less than a year.

I feel there is a lot of migration from these old, 20th century cities like Baltimore and Detroit into newer cities like Portland and Austin that I have yet to really hear about in the media beyond typical bullish "travel" column articles.

I wonder what New York thinks will happen in twenty-five years by pushing out its middle and lower class residents? While we're on the upswing now, the lack of public housing and accomodations for those that aren't ibankers or doctors will have a detrimental effect ultimately--look what happened after Robert Moses ravaged parts of the city in the immediate following decades.

The lack of investment in public infrastructure is why we have flooded subways and exploding steam valves. Leave it to fiscal Democrats like Bloomberg and Wall Street republicans to run the city and see what happens-- they all have second homes in Jersey and Westchester anyway.

I obviously wasn't born in 2007! No, I was born in 1963.

tm what year where u born?? 1946?

you can't find that rent anywhere in the country in 2007 !

"Getting harder and harder to live and make it in New York." That about says it.

When I was born, my parents lived in a Brooklyn apartment that cost them $75.00/month. That same space now costs $3000/month.