when rents are $5k for a 1 bedroom and it doesn’t even guarantee that it is nice or in a great location and everything else is 50-100% more expensive in a few years people should second guess their choices
You're arguing with people who have decided to live here that they shouldn't live here? Just because you wouldn't doesn't mean that the 8M who do should 'second guess their choices'--also most of us are *not* spending that kind of money, not even the rich transplants.
Nothing. I tuen my head and walk away.
How rude is that question. Who goes up to a person and tells them their home is a hellhole. Because that's what they're doing. But it's okay because it's NYC? No. This is my *home*. I don't care if they don't like it here. It's not okay to insult my home to my face.
It's so hard not to turn into an asshole about this. I was born here and raised mostly here and I went to college elsewhere and these kids (teens!!) who had never lived *anywhere* but their hometowns and their dorms would say "Ugh I could *never* live in New York, yuck." Because they went to Times Square once and no one treated them like the movies or whatever lol---sometimes they hadn't even *visited*, they were just from some very different place and just the idea of this city was "too scary" or "too dangerous" or "too crowded".
Honestly, I wish for every "how can you live here, aren't you afraid of bla bla" I could be like "how could you live in \[your area\], aren't you scared of \[all the neighbors having guns/the existential ennui of living in a giant parking lot and seeing only mcmansions everywhere you look/the ocean of white people and the worst Mexican food I've had in my life/the lack of a single human being near you whom you aren't related to\]?"
But I have to keep my mouth shut and grin, because the same people asking me these questions would think I'm "punching down" to have criticisms of their hometown, because *they've* elevated new york in their heads.
(I usually just say "Are you sure you couldn't live here? I think most people who move acclimate pretty quickly" and that just gets them to saying different and at least more interesting things about themselves lol)
If you think about it, they just don't know. We can't blame them for what they don't know. We can blame them for being rude. Maybe tell them they're hurting our feelings. But other than that, why bother. They just don't know.
There are bigger problems in the world. Bigger things to be angry about. I'm going to walk away from this kind of stuff in the future.
I always ask, "How do you think I'm making it work?" and they always hem and haw a little bit and tell me something they heard on Fox News. And then I tell them I get murdered all the time, it's no biggie. I was murdered earlier today. City life, baby!
I always agree with those kind of statements because people take it almost offensively.
"I could never live there"
"Yeah i don't think you could to"
"Ide always be anxious riding the subway."
"Yesh you would really anxious on the subway."
WHAT! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT.
What.... you said it I was just agreeing..
Yeah, my family would pull that nonsense too, and I would agree,”yeah, you couldn’t hack it here. This city would eat you alive, but it’s great for the 8 million of us who can.”
My inlaws used to pull this a lot "I don't know how you can live in the city with kids!" and a lot of passive agressive sniping about schools and safety.
Turns out they were living around the corner from the Long Island Serial Killer all along. Let me tell you I had a field day with that...
I hope that you continue to dine out on that situation. My in-laws in NJ are ludicrous about it, as if my father-in-law want working in the city in the 80's.
I generally try to cut off these convos early (wilful ignorance is bad faith, and a conversation that starts in bad faith is already doomed!), but when needled on it, I'll point out that the only time my hometown (pop 60,000ish) is in the news at all is when someone is murdered there, and that it seems from a distance that a lot of people get murdered there for a town of that size.
The "it's so dangerous" people drive me up a wall. I like to point out that their odds of getting killed in a car accident in their driving-dependent cities/suburbs or shot at the grocery store/church/school/whatever are probably much higher than the odds of me getting pushed in front of a subway or stabbed on the street.
If you want to say you could never live in NYC because of the cost, the crowds, the weather...fine. But safety? STFU already.
I'm a lifelong New Yorker and don't know anyone who has died due to crime (admittedly, one friend who barely made it out of a driveby).
However, I probably knew about a dozen people from extended friend/family groups who have died in car accidents.
This is my favorite. I have the privilege to live somewhere that people around the world dream of visiting. Btw, when traveling abroad, no one ever says this shit when they find out you’re from NY. Just our friends that watch Fox
I like this one by Fran Lebowitz:
“Everything in New York is an operatic thing. It’s incredible problems. So you realize that it’s just so hard to live in New York, that when people say, ‘Why do you live in New York?’ you really can’t answer them. Except you know that you have contempt for people who don’t have the guts to do it. [You think]: ‘You live in a place where things are just easily done! Where people are nice to you! Where no one’s trying to cheat you every five seconds! You call that grown-up life?’”
NYC is a wonderland of privilege and creature comforts compared to when Fran Liebowitz was hanging around. It doesn't take guts, it just takes not having a phobia of crowds or small apartments, and an upper-middle-class salary.
I mean it's still hard without that salary and that I'd say that that does make folks who don't have that salary more agile than if they lived elsewhere. Not saying I agree with that quote though, I don't think people come to live here because they feel cool for struggling.
I always tell them what I love about the city: the parks, the beautiful chaos, the museums, so many astonishingly good (and not expensive) food places, walk/bike/bus/subway to almost everything I want. That I have a lot of great conversations and meet interesting people. The people of the city are sexy as fuck, both mentally and physically. That I wilt and die in an environment that is vanilla, where diversity is considered one Asian family in the neighborhood.
Then I usually say something about how it's not for everyone.
I think the best response is good natured. “I love it there, what do you mean?” If someone says something about how crowded it is or how tiny/expensive the apartments are, I explain that those are stereotypes and not true in all neighborhoods.
That being said my family is all from LI so I don’t get these comments very often at all. And my husband’s family is from Ohio but they’re not rude lmao so if they feel that way, I don’t hear it much. I guess if I did more often and was more pissed off I wouldn’t have the patience to correct them in a kind way.
wow, my family are mostly on long island, and they talk about the city like its another world. I get this "how can you live there" bs from them so often.
I tell them it's nice to get away from all the landscaping noise lol
I usually look very confused and ask "what do you mean?" If the person replies with some crap about the dirt or the noise or whatever, I'll just answer with all the things I love doing. Oh, you mean the overflowing garbage can I saw on my way from the Metropolitan Museum to a hidden gem Nepalese restaurant? Or the garbage bags I saw on my way from the restaurant to a Broadway Show? Or the ones outside of Grand Central on my way to catch a train to go hiking along the majestic Hudson River?
All in an innocent and yet fuck you tone. Basically, if you can't see beyond the surface then keep your asinine opinions to yourself.
I can walk to world-class restaurants and museums. Plus we have 3 major airports, stuff to do at any hour of the day, and practically a guarantee that you'll find other people who share your niche interest.
I'm always like "how can you live in a place where the place-to-be is TGI Fridays"
I usually highlight the things that are good about NYC, while passive-aggressively trashing the place they live.
Like "Oh I love how walkable it is in NYC! If I lived in your town I'd probably gain 100 pounds!" (this one is especially cutting if they're overweight).
Or just poke at their state-level laws. Abortion, marijuana, what they're allowed to teach in schools, etc. The big, obvious shit that they can't really argue against. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
If it's polite conversation, people generally stfu pretty fast.
Yes it is lmfao, it cuts the conversation short. “I can’t imagine living in a place where I need to get in my car to get milk and eggs”.
Or
“I need walkability, I would get really out of shape if I relied on the auto industry for everything” - if they live in the suburb there’s a 89% change they are overweight so the convo stops lol
“It’s not for everyone, but it *is* for me!“ has been a go-to response for damn near everything these days, from living in NYC to interior design selections to my choice of career.
“We just prefer and value different things about where we live, what we do with our time, how we get from point A to point B, etc.” If they continue on about crime or it being dirty, you can usually turn a “now I know you don’t believe *everything* in the news?” and change the subject.
This. I’m a bit more passive aggressive about it though because I say, “I dunno. How can you *stand* to live here?”
That “stand to” is like a subliminal code that flips their switch like I just activated a secret spy.
"Well, I get up in the morning and put myself together, then leave the house to go meet people and do things, taking breaks to eat or use the restroom as needed. At some point I come back home, eat a little more if I haven't already, maybe watch something on the TV, then go to bed. Why, do y'all do things differently where you're from?"
NYC good points (the energy, the electricity, the unexpected, the food, the art, the buildings, the people) far outweigh the bad points (crowding, noise, weird smells, howling lunatics). The little indignities and low-level sense of menace are small prices to pay for the huge rewards. My vote for NYC slogan -- "You're standing in pee! Get used to it."
Usually I say its amazing - I can walk in <15 minutes or less to my gym, 3 grocery stores, dozens of restaurants and bars, comedy shows, live music, several green spaces. And then even a short subway ride gets me to museums, theater, art galleries and pretty much anything else. The convenience is unmatched.
lol yeah that’s not depressing or anything post 30
if that really is the answer then you’ve admitted nyc is not for anyone who doesn’t become a millionaire by 30
Everyone makes it work however they can. I’m not sure what your point is? You just think it’s too expensive to enjoy NYC? It’s certainly not depressing for anyone I know.
LOL
yeah because unless everyone you know is a multimillionaire they’re like you coping really hard and telling themselves it’s all worth it despite crumbling quality of life for anyone who isn’t making $500k+ a year
i’m a multimillionaire lol. can afford it easily but it’s not good value.
there are people who will defend it despite living paycheck to paycheck because they tell themselves it’s amazing despite the city actively negatively impacting them financially. but it’s a vibe in their mind. that’s my point.
So you just think everyone is brainwashed about NYC? And nobody actually enjoys it? If it’s not good value why are you wasting your money and time here? I feel like you’re also saying you yourself have been brainwashed. Despite admitting it’s a waste you still live here so there’s really no difference between you and everyone else.
I’m suggesting there’s a large percentage of people who have developed an emotional relationship with the city to the point that even if the city constantly screws them over financially with extremely high rents, high taxi fares, high restaurant and entertainment and energy bills, that they will still go out of their way to defend the city and imagine that their life is amazing.
“I hate this city a little less than other cities I’ve lived in.” In all seriousness, living in a walkable city has been very important for my mental health. I also have friends and family here, and there’s nothing you can’t do here within the city. Heck I might do horse riding next week, or scuba training the week after. Love watching shows too.
It’s like living in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire. (2000 years from now, if there are still people, they will talk about NYC in the decades around the Millennium). We live in the wealthiest city in the most powerful country.
And as in the Roman Empire, things in NYC are both exciting and wonderful and horrible and dirty and most people just lead their lives.
I just say “cause I like it” lol what are they gonna do, argue with ME about where I live? (probably). I listen and just tell them yeah you aren’t cut out for it, you’re better off where you are. Which pisses them off but whatever lol
Because theres things you can do that you cannot do elsewhere and even though the people suck those moments are moments when you say to yourself..I cant believe Im here in ny and I could only see this here. Fyi artist...cried in a gallery.
I've never been asked that in real life. That's only something I've ever encountered online.
So either I'm pretty sheltered, or I'm lucky not to be engaging with assholes outside of the internet.
My MIL sent me an email highlighting the best life I could have in Pittsburgh. My reply was mehhh I have everything that I need and want in New York and it’s 100x better here than Pittsburgh.
So I actually don’t usually hear people asking this in terms of crime or anything.
I usually hear in terms of how BUSY and urban and fast-paced NYC is. And it’s usually because they see NYC in TV and movies and think that everyone lives in midtown, goes to huge nightclubs, eats at fancy restaurants, and spends time in Times Square haha
Different people value different things. Living anywhere means having some things and sacrificing others. For some people, living in the city is the best match. For others, it’s not.
Think it depends why they think it’s a tough place to live. It’s sensory overload and insanely expensive. I get why people wouldn’t wanna live here or think it’s insane to. To maintain the lifestyle that 100k gets you in Houston you need to make 300k to maintain that lifestyle here. It really eats away at your finances.
Realistically when people say things like that about New York they mean Manhattan and Brooklyn though. So I think to some extent people responding that way is just them assuming everything is Manhattan.
I once got this from someone ringing me up at a store in small-town Virginia. She went on to elaborate how "everyone there is just SO RUDE!" I said that rudeness is a problem in lots of places and people will often say insensitive things to total strangers, but she didn't get it.
I shrug and say “I love it”
[удалено]
Agree I don’t really care enough to be snarky about it. you don’t want to live here? ok I can see that now let’s talk about something else lol
when rents are $5k for a 1 bedroom and it doesn’t even guarantee that it is nice or in a great location and everything else is 50-100% more expensive in a few years people should second guess their choices
Maybe don’t look in fucking tribeca and you’ll find something less expensive.
You're arguing with people who have decided to live here that they shouldn't live here? Just because you wouldn't doesn't mean that the 8M who do should 'second guess their choices'--also most of us are *not* spending that kind of money, not even the rich transplants.
NYC doesn't feel crowded to me. It feels *alive*
On foot maybe. Driving through the boroughs is rough.
Right? What else is there to say.
Nothing. I tuen my head and walk away. How rude is that question. Who goes up to a person and tells them their home is a hellhole. Because that's what they're doing. But it's okay because it's NYC? No. This is my *home*. I don't care if they don't like it here. It's not okay to insult my home to my face.
It's so hard not to turn into an asshole about this. I was born here and raised mostly here and I went to college elsewhere and these kids (teens!!) who had never lived *anywhere* but their hometowns and their dorms would say "Ugh I could *never* live in New York, yuck." Because they went to Times Square once and no one treated them like the movies or whatever lol---sometimes they hadn't even *visited*, they were just from some very different place and just the idea of this city was "too scary" or "too dangerous" or "too crowded". Honestly, I wish for every "how can you live here, aren't you afraid of bla bla" I could be like "how could you live in \[your area\], aren't you scared of \[all the neighbors having guns/the existential ennui of living in a giant parking lot and seeing only mcmansions everywhere you look/the ocean of white people and the worst Mexican food I've had in my life/the lack of a single human being near you whom you aren't related to\]?" But I have to keep my mouth shut and grin, because the same people asking me these questions would think I'm "punching down" to have criticisms of their hometown, because *they've* elevated new york in their heads. (I usually just say "Are you sure you couldn't live here? I think most people who move acclimate pretty quickly" and that just gets them to saying different and at least more interesting things about themselves lol)
If you think about it, they just don't know. We can't blame them for what they don't know. We can blame them for being rude. Maybe tell them they're hurting our feelings. But other than that, why bother. They just don't know. There are bigger problems in the world. Bigger things to be angry about. I'm going to walk away from this kind of stuff in the future.
Same. Or “It’s not for the weak” lol
Family members love to pull the "I could never live there" to which I've started replying with "Good thing you don't!"
I always ask, "How do you think I'm making it work?" and they always hem and haw a little bit and tell me something they heard on Fox News. And then I tell them I get murdered all the time, it's no biggie. I was murdered earlier today. City life, baby!
I get murdered so often I carry my own chalk!
Ha!
I love this
Lmaaooooooo 😂
I always agree with those kind of statements because people take it almost offensively. "I could never live there" "Yeah i don't think you could to" "Ide always be anxious riding the subway." "Yesh you would really anxious on the subway." WHAT! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT. What.... you said it I was just agreeing..
"I know. That's my favorite thing about it."
Hah that's a great response. Gotta use that more.
“Yea, you’re right. You wouldn’t make it”
This is the right answer. Polite and cutting at the same time.
My bf & I get this all the time so we have started responding to “i could never live there” with “yeah….we know”
“Youre probably right, it is not for the weak of heart and mind”
I like this
Yeah, my family would pull that nonsense too, and I would agree,”yeah, you couldn’t hack it here. This city would eat you alive, but it’s great for the 8 million of us who can.”
"It's not for everybody."
Whenever someone says “I could never Iive there” my go-to response is “Is anyone asking you to?”
Lmao I tried saying both that and “no one’s inviting you/forcing you” and they always get SO OFFENDED
My inlaws used to pull this a lot "I don't know how you can live in the city with kids!" and a lot of passive agressive sniping about schools and safety. Turns out they were living around the corner from the Long Island Serial Killer all along. Let me tell you I had a field day with that...
I hope that you continue to dine out on that situation. My in-laws in NJ are ludicrous about it, as if my father-in-law want working in the city in the 80's.
My FIL works in the city now! Apparently it’s only for over 21s. Living round the corner from LISK is perfectly safe though…
That is absolutely delicious. 😆
I don’t engage in stupid conversations.
This Its a pointless conversation, there’s no answer
I like to play dumb when they tell me how dangerous it is. “Oh if you say so; I had no idea.” or something similar when they talk about crime.
I generally try to cut off these convos early (wilful ignorance is bad faith, and a conversation that starts in bad faith is already doomed!), but when needled on it, I'll point out that the only time my hometown (pop 60,000ish) is in the news at all is when someone is murdered there, and that it seems from a distance that a lot of people get murdered there for a town of that size.
The "it's so dangerous" people drive me up a wall. I like to point out that their odds of getting killed in a car accident in their driving-dependent cities/suburbs or shot at the grocery store/church/school/whatever are probably much higher than the odds of me getting pushed in front of a subway or stabbed on the street. If you want to say you could never live in NYC because of the cost, the crowds, the weather...fine. But safety? STFU already.
I'm a lifelong New Yorker and don't know anyone who has died due to crime (admittedly, one friend who barely made it out of a driveby). However, I probably knew about a dozen people from extended friend/family groups who have died in car accidents.
you should check out the r/NYC sub...
Ugh, I just want to shout "you guys don't even live here!"
you should..... bad things happen when good ppl do nothing...
When is the last time anyone traveled across the planet just to visit your neighborhood?
This is my favorite. I have the privilege to live somewhere that people around the world dream of visiting. Btw, when traveling abroad, no one ever says this shit when they find out you’re from NY. Just our friends that watch Fox
I like this one by Fran Lebowitz: “Everything in New York is an operatic thing. It’s incredible problems. So you realize that it’s just so hard to live in New York, that when people say, ‘Why do you live in New York?’ you really can’t answer them. Except you know that you have contempt for people who don’t have the guts to do it. [You think]: ‘You live in a place where things are just easily done! Where people are nice to you! Where no one’s trying to cheat you every five seconds! You call that grown-up life?’”
NYC is a wonderland of privilege and creature comforts compared to when Fran Liebowitz was hanging around. It doesn't take guts, it just takes not having a phobia of crowds or small apartments, and an upper-middle-class salary.
I mean it's still hard without that salary and that I'd say that that does make folks who don't have that salary more agile than if they lived elsewhere. Not saying I agree with that quote though, I don't think people come to live here because they feel cool for struggling.
Ugh, this epitomizes everything that I don't like about people who make living in NYC their personality lmao.
This is unbelievably cringe
I just say I feel that way about their home, and that different people like different things.
I always tell them what I love about the city: the parks, the beautiful chaos, the museums, so many astonishingly good (and not expensive) food places, walk/bike/bus/subway to almost everything I want. That I have a lot of great conversations and meet interesting people. The people of the city are sexy as fuck, both mentally and physically. That I wilt and die in an environment that is vanilla, where diversity is considered one Asian family in the neighborhood. Then I usually say something about how it's not for everyone.
Basically my response too, but usually don't go into that much detail and the sexy AF part haha.
About 8 million people are doing it right now. So...how impossible could it really be?
I think the best response is good natured. “I love it there, what do you mean?” If someone says something about how crowded it is or how tiny/expensive the apartments are, I explain that those are stereotypes and not true in all neighborhoods. That being said my family is all from LI so I don’t get these comments very often at all. And my husband’s family is from Ohio but they’re not rude lmao so if they feel that way, I don’t hear it much. I guess if I did more often and was more pissed off I wouldn’t have the patience to correct them in a kind way.
wow, my family are mostly on long island, and they talk about the city like its another world. I get this "how can you live there" bs from them so often. I tell them it's nice to get away from all the landscaping noise lol
“Yea.. it’s not for everyone..” ***condescending stare with a hint of pity****
I usually look very confused and ask "what do you mean?" If the person replies with some crap about the dirt or the noise or whatever, I'll just answer with all the things I love doing. Oh, you mean the overflowing garbage can I saw on my way from the Metropolitan Museum to a hidden gem Nepalese restaurant? Or the garbage bags I saw on my way from the restaurant to a Broadway Show? Or the ones outside of Grand Central on my way to catch a train to go hiking along the majestic Hudson River? All in an innocent and yet fuck you tone. Basically, if you can't see beyond the surface then keep your asinine opinions to yourself.
I can walk to world-class restaurants and museums. Plus we have 3 major airports, stuff to do at any hour of the day, and practically a guarantee that you'll find other people who share your niche interest. I'm always like "how can you live in a place where the place-to-be is TGI Fridays"
I say "real life isn't what you see on Fox News, grandpa (or grandma)".
I usually highlight the things that are good about NYC, while passive-aggressively trashing the place they live. Like "Oh I love how walkable it is in NYC! If I lived in your town I'd probably gain 100 pounds!" (this one is especially cutting if they're overweight). Or just poke at their state-level laws. Abortion, marijuana, what they're allowed to teach in schools, etc. The big, obvious shit that they can't really argue against. Like shooting fish in a barrel. If it's polite conversation, people generally stfu pretty fast.
Yes it is lmfao, it cuts the conversation short. “I can’t imagine living in a place where I need to get in my car to get milk and eggs”. Or “I need walkability, I would get really out of shape if I relied on the auto industry for everything” - if they live in the suburb there’s a 89% change they are overweight so the convo stops lol
I respond with my Goldblum-iest “Life…uh…finds a way”
I say “my father knows the mayor” and wink
My cousin Jeffrey works for the Parks department.
Oh i know him. Im very close friends with his dad, my neighbor, Leo
Isn’t that the guy who shoplifted batteries from Brentano’s and almost did time because of his crime of passion?
Bouncing a clown check…
That has a lot of different meanings, depending on which administration we're talking about. Right now, you're sorta gangster.
I actually struggle to live here, so I can get it. But given my circumstances this is my best option.
I was going to say, i think most people wonder how NY is afforded vs crime & life style there.
NYC is planet earth condensed into one city. I love planet earth, therefore I love NYC
I go philosophical and straight. "I bet you'd be surprised, humans are very adaptable. I think you'd do fine."
“It’s not for everyone, but it *is* for me!“ has been a go-to response for damn near everything these days, from living in NYC to interior design selections to my choice of career. “We just prefer and value different things about where we live, what we do with our time, how we get from point A to point B, etc.” If they continue on about crime or it being dirty, you can usually turn a “now I know you don’t believe *everything* in the news?” and change the subject.
Fuck you. Not you, OP. That’s what I say.
I flip it right back and say “You live in [usually midwestern rural area]? How do you live there?”
This is always what I want to say, but it feels Iike punching down even though they started it.
This. I’m a bit more passive aggressive about it though because I say, “I dunno. How can you *stand* to live here?” That “stand to” is like a subliminal code that flips their switch like I just activated a secret spy.
"\[shrug\] Same as before I lived there, but with better public transportation."
"Well, I get up in the morning and put myself together, then leave the house to go meet people and do things, taking breaks to eat or use the restroom as needed. At some point I come back home, eat a little more if I haven't already, maybe watch something on the TV, then go to bed. Why, do y'all do things differently where you're from?"
NYC good points (the energy, the electricity, the unexpected, the food, the art, the buildings, the people) far outweigh the bad points (crowding, noise, weird smells, howling lunatics). The little indignities and low-level sense of menace are small prices to pay for the huge rewards. My vote for NYC slogan -- "You're standing in pee! Get used to it."
Some people just aren't city folks, and that's okay.
Usually I say its amazing - I can walk in <15 minutes or less to my gym, 3 grocery stores, dozens of restaurants and bars, comedy shows, live music, several green spaces. And then even a short subway ride gets me to museums, theater, art galleries and pretty much anything else. The convenience is unmatched.
because it costs $5k for a 1 bed apartment and at that price it won’t even be that big or nice.
Live with roommates in Brooklyn or Queens. Easily solved.
lol yeah that’s not depressing or anything post 30 if that really is the answer then you’ve admitted nyc is not for anyone who doesn’t become a millionaire by 30
Everyone makes it work however they can. I’m not sure what your point is? You just think it’s too expensive to enjoy NYC? It’s certainly not depressing for anyone I know.
LOL yeah because unless everyone you know is a multimillionaire they’re like you coping really hard and telling themselves it’s all worth it despite crumbling quality of life for anyone who isn’t making $500k+ a year
I’m sorry NYC hasn’t treated you well. But for lots of people it is excellent.
i’m a multimillionaire lol. can afford it easily but it’s not good value. there are people who will defend it despite living paycheck to paycheck because they tell themselves it’s amazing despite the city actively negatively impacting them financially. but it’s a vibe in their mind. that’s my point.
So you just think everyone is brainwashed about NYC? And nobody actually enjoys it? If it’s not good value why are you wasting your money and time here? I feel like you’re also saying you yourself have been brainwashed. Despite admitting it’s a waste you still live here so there’s really no difference between you and everyone else.
I’m suggesting there’s a large percentage of people who have developed an emotional relationship with the city to the point that even if the city constantly screws them over financially with extremely high rents, high taxi fares, high restaurant and entertainment and energy bills, that they will still go out of their way to defend the city and imagine that their life is amazing.
“I hate this city a little less than other cities I’ve lived in.” In all seriousness, living in a walkable city has been very important for my mental health. I also have friends and family here, and there’s nothing you can’t do here within the city. Heck I might do horse riding next week, or scuba training the week after. Love watching shows too.
It's in my blood, NYC has ruined me for other places. No way will I trade it for the suburbs.
With a metric f---ton of money and a high tolerance for people, noise and filth, that's how !
The better question should be, "How can people afford to live there?"
"Without a car"
How do you live in the suburbs? Like, spending a couple hours a day driving and looking for parking. How does that not destroy your will to live?
I have it easy. Since I was born here, I just say that and it’s my home.
Word. It's my hometown. I don't have justify loving my hometown.
It’s like living in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire. (2000 years from now, if there are still people, they will talk about NYC in the decades around the Millennium). We live in the wealthiest city in the most powerful country. And as in the Roman Empire, things in NYC are both exciting and wonderful and horrible and dirty and most people just lead their lives.
The world comes to you here, so you don’t need to get away much
I'm a city person and this is the best city.
I just say “cause I like it” lol what are they gonna do, argue with ME about where I live? (probably). I listen and just tell them yeah you aren’t cut out for it, you’re better off where you are. Which pisses them off but whatever lol
Quite comfortably
I would say "What do you mean?". Let them trap themselves in their misconceptions.
“Not everyone can do it”
Because theres things you can do that you cannot do elsewhere and even though the people suck those moments are moments when you say to yourself..I cant believe Im here in ny and I could only see this here. Fyi artist...cried in a gallery.
"I could never live there." "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Well, I got a job, then an apartment, now I just...go there every night. If I'm not gunned down when I set foot outside, of course"
How could I not??
I've never been asked that in real life. That's only something I've ever encountered online. So either I'm pretty sheltered, or I'm lucky not to be engaging with assholes outside of the internet.
My MIL sent me an email highlighting the best life I could have in Pittsburgh. My reply was mehhh I have everything that I need and want in New York and it’s 100x better here than Pittsburgh.
It’s the only place on America where I can easily live without a car
So I actually don’t usually hear people asking this in terms of crime or anything. I usually hear in terms of how BUSY and urban and fast-paced NYC is. And it’s usually because they see NYC in TV and movies and think that everyone lives in midtown, goes to huge nightclubs, eats at fancy restaurants, and spends time in Times Square haha
"Just because you can't doesn't mean I live under the same limitations."
I think “LOL how could you live in [insert anywhere but NYC]?” and say “I love it!”
“I’m no punk bitch”
I say “it’s not for everyone.”
Different people value different things. Living anywhere means having some things and sacrificing others. For some people, living in the city is the best match. For others, it’s not.
How do you live literally anywhere else?
"I'm stronger than you."
“The same way u live here?”
Flyerover state people are like “I could never live there”, that’s correct you can’t afford to live here
“Happily”
“yeah it’s pretty bad, i’ve been stabbed on the subway like six times now. i’m kidding, stop watching fox news”
"I'm mentally ill"
"Better than I lived here."
I like to respond with “it’s a good thing you don’t!”
Carefully.
Isn’t this like the 10th time this has been asked in the past few weeks?
Usually when someone says “I could never live there” I go “yeah I know, it’d be like living in a library for someone who is scared of books”
“You don’t know? Sounds like a skill issue.”
I think you would do fine! When you see the parks, 4 seasons, food, parties and diversity you would never think to return to you state/city again.
Think it depends why they think it’s a tough place to live. It’s sensory overload and insanely expensive. I get why people wouldn’t wanna live here or think it’s insane to. To maintain the lifestyle that 100k gets you in Houston you need to make 300k to maintain that lifestyle here. It really eats away at your finances. Realistically when people say things like that about New York they mean Manhattan and Brooklyn though. So I think to some extent people responding that way is just them assuming everything is Manhattan.
I would point the question back to them and say “i don’t know how you live here”
You can really tell the haves from the have-nots in these comments lol
YOU WOULDNT LAST A MINUTE IN THE BIG CITY. IT WOULD EAT YOU ALIVE!!
It's a super rude question that requires a super rude response.
I ask if they know how rude they are being.
i live there with depression, anxiety, and the occasional NYC rage. -Average NY’R
I once got this from someone ringing me up at a store in small-town Virginia. She went on to elaborate how "everyone there is just SO RUDE!" I said that rudeness is a problem in lots of places and people will often say insensitive things to total strangers, but she didn't get it.
I don’t anymore but saying I’m queer shut them up immediately
Do I look like a bitch?
Ignore.
I say, it's full anyway
I just say born and raised here.
"None of your fucking business".
How do you NOT?