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James B, sorry if I was unclear, I meant Manhattan extends to 220th Street. I'll be humbled and honest -- I grew up right across the river, worked in midtown, and lived seven and a half years in Brooklyn and until I started looking here, I didn't grasp that Manhattan went up that far.

Since becoming an Uptownie I have become a big believer in the life and the community that exists past where Central Park ends. But even now, when people talk about Manhattan, they're usually not including that part of it that goes to the end of the A line.

What's up with this 'progressive' hypocrisy about finding a home in the city? Since when does the 'city' only "extend even beyond 125th St up to 220th St"??? What happens after 220th St?
As someone who grew up in the Bronx, I just feel compelled to point out the obvious hypocrisy of the many 'progressives' who spend their lives bemoaning all the 'war on crime' conservative types & forcing 'integration' on others who themselves find it inconceivable to settle 'out there' with 'those people' in places like the Bronx or Brooklyn (NOT just chichi Bklyn - but ALL Bklyn) etc. 'Affordability' is liberal code for 'not being compelled to actually live with THEM'.

Really! Ms williams seems to have discovered the boroughs single-handed. Bit of a christopher columbus complex.

Metropolitan New York (incl parts of LI, CT, and NJ) was still 83% overvalued on Dec 2008, according to the latest "Case-Shiller Home Price Index" data. These monthly data were available before, during, and after the housing bubble; but public/corporate media not only failed to adequately report it but were unwittingly complicit in the bubble which crushed this country's financial industry and economy--by promoting home sales instead of questioning the complete divorce between prices and fundamentals.

Google "Home Prices Across the Nation" in the NYT--either Aug 25, 2007 or May 28, 2008--and click on "INFLATION-ADJUSTED RATE": 20-year data shows a clear 9-year real estate bubble, following a 9-year stretch of falling or stagnant prices.

I'm not sure what gives her the credentials to be a culture critic. I moved to Brooklyn 30 years ago as a struggling artist. Then Brooklyn was "edgy". Today's new arrivals are posers trying way too hard. Anyone moving to Brooklyn to be trendy is pretty fas behind the curve.

housing prices were up 11% in manhattan in 2008 as reported on WNYC.

Diana rent and you are flushing money down the toilet, own you building equity

She should have come to the North Shore of Staten Island. For the same price as her shoebox in Inwood she could have bought a house with rental income and a yard for her kids, and have been closer to downtown Manhattan and hipster Brooklyn.

...and yeah, she's about as working class as Bernie Madoff.

Jeff,

I think she may be, as absolutely incredible as that seems!

I also want to stay in NYC and raise a family. However, if I can not afford to buy, does it make sense to rent for life?

I wish Ms williams would stop describing herself as "working class". SHe is quite clearly a working, educated middle class person - lucky her.

as someone who grew up in homes in the midwest, i have difficulty overcoming the psychological hurdle of owning an apartment--i.e. a space not attached to earth--versus owning a home that is firmly attached to land.

in the midwest, if your house blew away in a tornado or burned from a fire, you still had land to call your own. if the apartment building collapses, your "space" no longer exists.

did your guest have to overcome this same psychological barrier?

Stop crying and RENT! Why does everyone have to own property? New York is a renters city historically. Lets keep rent regulations strong and middle class and low income families will have the opportunity to stay in New York.

Should I be offended by the "discovery" of Brooklyn? Or being "forced" to Brooklyn?