Please give me an honest description of what it is like living day to day in Manhattan, especially if you have transplanted from the midwest. Sometimes I feel like I am dying a slow death in Indiana. My husband and I were in NYC last year and fell in love with the energy and diversity. Is it just as great as it seems to live there?

I moved here from WI about 8 years ago, and I love it and cannot imagine moving back. It took me awhile to get used to it, and it is a lot different, but I think NYC is a great place to live. I pretty much do the same thing as you do, probably: get up, go to work, come home, watch tv and go to bed (on most days!), but on the days I don't do that, there are so many more options, so many things going on and you can always find something to suit your interests. As you said, the energy and diversity make it an exciting place to be.

Here's what's different: I was feeling a little sick this weekend and didn't want to venture much out of the neighborhood. But you have to get out of the house or you'll go nuts. So yesterday I said, let's take the baby down to the sculpture park. We walked down to the sculpture park and the baby played in the grass while Mrs. Red and I critiqued the exhibit of new artists. Then we said, let's go over and get some Egyptian food. So we walked over to the Egyptian part of the neighborhood and browsed stores trying to figure out what a "Zamzam water jug" was. Finally, we went home, put the baby to bed, and watched DVDs while I moaned about my sore throat.

Red,would that be Socrates Sculpture Park?

[www.queensnewyork.com]

Yup, it was.

Also: Today I had a business meeting about half a mile from my office. So I walked there. On the way, I passed a film shoot, a free dance performance, a place that sells chocolate-filled Chinese dumplings, some world-class hamburgers, a large children's bookstore, and a lot of different kinds of people. That's New York.

The down side: The other day my wife and I went to look at an apartment, a fourth-floor walk-up on an inconvenient block, far from the train, with no parking anywhere nearby, listed at $310,000. That is considered cheap for the location we were looking at. What percentage of Indiana could you buy for that?

Red....

I have to comment on the downside of your post. I live in the city of Tulsa, Ok and a friend's parents home is for sale that is about 40 minutes out of town. For $275,000. the house is a around 2700 sq. feet, two story all brick colonial with a balcony across the second floor, inground swimming pool plus 50 acres. It's actually a very nice home. It's amazing making the comparison of property values in New York to property in the midwest. But...living in the country doesn't always compare to the fun things you can do when you live in a city like New York either. It's just interesting to compare the two when you mentioned the price of the 4th floor walk-up.

Today before a meeting I had around Bryant Park I sat in one of many chairs kind of strewn around in front of The New York Public Library in the morning. 5th Ave was bustling as ussual and I just watched in complete wonderment sitting between Patience and Fortitude(those are the two lion sculptures in front of the library) and just felt so thankful for living in this amazing city.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2006 02:50PM by askanewyorker.

Hey Red, can you tell me the name of the place that servers the choclate filled Chinese dumplings? The wife and I will be in for Christmas and she would love those.

Rickshaw: [www.rickshawdumplings.com]

Living in New York during the Holidays is magical. It's the best

Living in NY is extreme. It took me almost two full years before I got used to being a resident and not a tourist. It has more extremes than most places both good and bad. On your best days, you have your choice of the best food, entertainment, culture and amazing experiences and people.

On your worst days you realize that you can't afford any of those things, that some of your experiences you would rather not have had and that the people tend to keep to themselves, which can allow you to feel completely alone surrounded by millions.

It can be hell just getting from one place to another and I have found that people in customer service positions here could care less about you.

But when you have a free Saturday to spend in Central Park, when you see more odd situations and unusual characters in a day than you would see in a year in your own town, when you get to see a Broadway show and meet the actors afterwards or attend the best museum exhibits, or know for sure that your favorite musical artist or comedian will definitely be making a stop in your area, when you know that you are surrounded by all walks of life and nationalities at any given moment and, though you might sometimes find it annoying, you know in your heart how special it is to be a part of it all, then you know you made the right choice to move to and remain in New York City.

Ah... living in Manhattan ...


...... is something I dream about constantly...


............... I hope you all know how lucky you are ......

I can't believe you guys are moaning about paying $315,000 for a place in the greatest city on earth. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and you couldn't find a nice one bedroom for that cheap price in the city.

Ozzer if you read what Red said you will see that apartment was considered cheap and was not in a convenient area, in fact I'm not even sure that it was in Manhattan as I know Red finished up buying in Queens. Also that post was over two years ago, at the time $310,000 USD would probably have been over $400,000 AUD and at the moment it is the equivalent of over $480,000 AUD.


I am from Sydney but am currently living in New York and I own real estate in Sydney and have looked at buying a property here and can tell you that here in Manhattan the prices are more than you would pay in Melbourne.

I stand by my comments. If you look at Melbourne house prices, or Perth for that matter, you'll note that you cannot buy a decent one bedroom one bathroom for less than $450K (if you want to be in the CBD).

My point is this - Manhattan is fabulous and the prices aren't that bad given the location.

If people really want high real estate prices they should check London out.

The prices I was looking at in Manhattan for a two bedroom were all over $1,000,000

Living in New York City is ok.

My mother is from there and most of her side of the family still lives there.

Living in WASHINGTON DC (where I was born) is much better though.

Especially right now.

We (DC) own most of WALL STREET.

We (DC) basically own MANHATTAN right now.

You had better believe not 1 day goes by where I do not mention that fact to my mother and other native New Yorkers living here in DC.

I cannot wait for my upcoming family reunion in NY this summer.

My mother's family are proud New Yorkers.

They might take offense to what I am going to say to them.

I might take offense to what they are going to say back to me.

The NYPD may even have to be called.

I am looking forward to it.

Stay tuned.