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Comment by TuringNYC | Hacker News Reader

I can only offer anecdotes, but:

1. NYC is booming IMHO

2. Pre-pandemic, there was barely room to walk on the sidewalks in many parts of NYC, now it is better (presumably as people come in 2x a week, not 5x). Some subways have seats now, but many are still standing-room-only.

3. For the last 8yrs pre-pandemic, I used to go to SF/SV 4x to 5x a year for work/conferences...My last Cali trip (cancelled) was literally April 2020 for NVIDIA GTC...I havent been in Cali since 2020. Most has been replaced with Zoom, some has gone to other cities.

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A "booming" NYC is not necessarily a purely positive thing.

SF and NYC used to be fairly comparable as far as cost of living goes but now renting in SF is comparable to a dozen other metros (eg. $3k for a 1 bed, under $4k for a 2 bed) but in NYC it's a now an absurdly expensive outlier eg. $5k+ for a 1 bed in a convenient area in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Beyond that eating out/going out/uber+taxis all seemed much more expensive in NYC than SF when I visited last month.

NYC is indeed absurdly expensive (and getting worse), but: you're being taken for a ride if someone is trying to rent you a 1BR for $5K.

I live in a convenient (and "cool") area and pay less than a third of that. The only 1BRs that I'm aware of that go for anywhere close to that are "luxury" rentals, which tend to be worse anyways (newer construction means thinner walls, etc.).

You're suggesting paying $1600/mo for your own place is a really good area of NYC is more the norm than paying $5k?

That's simply untrue. Average 1 beds on Zumper for all of Manhattan is $4k. In more central areas downtown it's absolutely going to be more right now. https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/manhattan-ny

And if you rent something that requires a brokers fee then that's another ~2 months of rent you're paying on your initial lease.

I said I live in a "cool" area, not midtown Manhattan. I don't live in Manhattan at all, although I did for over 20 years.

Looking at 1BR rentals in Bushwick and Ridgewood (not my areas, but similarly considered "cool"), the average is between $1800 and $2500. Studios average $1400 and $2100.

You're still exaggerating. Streeteasy says median for Bushwick is $3200. Zumper has it at $2850 for a 1 bedroom https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/new-york-ny/bushwick

Yes, it's possible to rent for cheaper in the outer boroughs hence why I specifically said central and convenient. If something is $1800 it's because it's a dump or a tiny studio. It's not a normal amount rent someone is paying at all for their own place right now.

I don't know what to tell you: I pay about $1600 for my part of a three bedroom, which is two bedrooms to myself (one is my office), a private back yard, a front patio, and a furnished basement. I don't think I got a particularly good deal on it either, from talking to my neighbors and friends. It's not "luxury," but it definitely isn't a dump either -- from seeing other units in the neighborhood, it's probably strictly average.

The rates provided on these kinds of sites don't necessarily reflect the median housing stock in neighborhoods in Brooklyn, which are frequently buildings where the owner lives in one of the units.

I'm talking about what it would cost an individual to live in their own 1 bedroom in a central and convenient area not a shared apartment with roommates.

I just checked, and the last 1BR I lived in (Manhattan, in a very central and convenient neighborhood) was leased for $2250/mo this year.

I read that whole exchange eager to learn the secret of an affordable one bedroom apartment in New York and the secret is rent part of a place with roommates. I can only chuckle.

Having a roommate is my choice; you can confirm the number ranges I gave for studios and 1BRs in those neighborhoods on most sites.

I’ve never paid more than $2,000/mo in rent in NYC, and that was a 1BR in Manhattan in 2018.

I don’t mean to denigrate the decision to live with roommates, I have for plenty of my life and may well again - I just wish NYC wasn’t so expensive!

In this whole exchange you implied you lived in a 1br apt for $1.6k in a cool area today, but now it comes out you share a 3br. I also chuckled

I double-checked what I’ve written, and nowhere do I imply that. I said that one can find a 1BR.

1/3 of a 3BR !== 1BR

> Bushwick

How was I able to sense that you lived in Bushwick before you stated it? :P . That said, Bushwick only makes sense (to me) if you don't need to commute.

I wouldn't be caught living in Bushwick :-)

(I live in another North Brooklyn neighborhood, one with much better subway access, including to Manhattan. I agree entirely about Bushwick not being an ideal neighborhood if your commute involves Manhattan.)

What is with the bad economic outlook talk? The job market is amazing. Business revenue is benefiting from high prices.

A lot of outdated commercial real estate in SF needs to be converted to public housing but that doesn't mean the economy is bad. I think there is a narrative from NIMBY's who think it's bad that housing is going to be created.

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