Submitted by CS, Sep 3, 2008 10:02

I think there are a lot of stereotypes about NYC that are warranted, however, they don't have any bearing on whether the real estate is outrageous or not. Whether or not you realize it, the RE market in NYC is being courted by Europeans, Japanese, Chinese etc.; those other cities you mentioned have only marginal interest to foreign groups. No one loves the "sewer" quality, well except the wanna be hipsters that drive up the rents using mommy and daddy's paycheck since mommy and daddy live in those other big cities you talk about and send Jr. rent money. Coddled, spoiled suburban kids with lots of money, coupled with foreign investment creates a tenuous situation at best as the real value of the dollar is lower and lower every week. Market corrections are less prominent in NYC because people all over the world want to live here -- ex. the rise of the Euro means NYC is "cheaper" now. We have more global factors than most cities so managing the solutions to our issues requires a larger perspective; perhaps its countless flawed "solutions" from people that don't live here that makes us so egotistical. I do agree that NYC does not do enough to bring industry here. One writer talks about taxes -- 1/5 of the people living here, live below the poverty line. Taking care of that many people costs a lot of money; unless of course you want to let them live in your city. What are your suggestions for turning that situation around? It's a lot more complicated than saying "stop taxing" or "encourage industry". But you never hear the same people saying "eliminate public assistance". So where exactly is the $$ supposed to come from? Not the business because it's bad for business and not from taxes because taxes overwhelm the population... so where? Where does the money come from to deal with the congestion and the violence that occurs when you stick a state's population on an island? Do we ship off anyone without a job? Where would we send them? Perhaps some of those well-planned cities would like to actually build an infrastructure that can support a low income population and welcome the homeless to their shelters? I think not! Those cities are well-planned in a country where there are cities like NYC, don't kid yourselves. As a sidenote, I will probably leave NYC. I am frustrated and annoyed with the cost of living and quite frankly the unfettered attitude of entitlement I see here -- just so you know, that self-entitlement is not solely a characteristic of the rich stock brokers of Wall Street.

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