Are the homeless people dragging NYC back to the "bad old days," NYCGAF? My wife and I are visiting in October, and my mother today tells me to be careful, because the homeless are apparently rampaging everywhere and Giuliani's not around to keep them in line, I guess. My parents watch a lot of Fox News, incidentally. I didn't bother to tell her we have shitloads of homeless people in the Detroit metro area panhandling all over the place.
Hahaha, you gotta tell your parents to lay off the Rupert Murdoch crack and watch/read more balanced stuff such as The Times to get a real perspective on what's been going on lately. Giuliani wasn't exactly a saint of a mayor that ushered in a golden era for the city by any means. You and your wife will be fine.
It's nowhere near as bad as San Francisco's homeless situation where public defecation is a huge issue (well it does happen in the subway occasionally but that's besides the point) but I see my fair share of panhandlers in my neighborhood. They do ask for money in the subway but that's besides the point. Hopefully the homeless people in Detroit aren't aggressive with their panhandling since that can be annoying and scary.
People keep moving to my city (a large city on the west coast), saying NYC is "done", too expensive, Brooklyn is over, etc. Are these just bitter people, or has NYC changed dramatically recently? I ask in part because I've been thinking moving there.
Those same people are going to eventually complain about your city being too expensive to live in, move to another city, and repeat the cycle until they either move to another country or relocate to a rural state that supposedly has the next big "scene."
To echo what MickeyKnox said, things are constantly changing here on a weekly basis. Hell, in my neighborhood of Washington Heights--- where I've lived forever---there's tons of vacated stores that have For Rent signs left and right. The types of businesses poised to take over remains to be seen but considering that there's a Starbucks across the street from my nearest subway station, a Chipotle further down south, a GameStop, and a Planet Fitness intermixed with the small businesses and regional chain supermarkets means change has been coming for a while.
In addition to that, the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal is in the middle of a massive overhaul that's expected to create new jobs in the area with the business that plan to occupy the space but also attract more affluent families/young professionals in the process. Gentrification is a complicated subject but it's a necessary evil with trade offs in the end of the day if it means a safer neighborhood.
To echo what's been said above, ideally you would want 30% of your income to be going towards rent if you're single. It's tough to do that but it is doable so long as you don't as you don't live in areas that are trendy/near Manhattan e.g. Williamsburg and Long Island City. Too many out-of-towners make the mistake of wanting to live in popular NYC areas TV shows that they saw and fell in love with only live there with 5 roommates and get priced out eventually.
It does sound dramatic and bitter, but honestly I'm kind of sick of Brooklyn. I was born and raised, and lived here for 22 years, and it's just not the same anymore. I would love to move to Queens, but most likely in the next 10 years it'll be the same shit.
Anyways, I love this city so god damn much. It's going to hurt a bit when I leave in two weeks and will be living in Chicago. I'm a bit excited to live out of the NYC bubble, but also scared. Being from NYC is so much of my identity and, although this sounds dramatic as well, it just feels like I'm going to lose it.
Look at you all grown up now!
Not at all, I think a change of scenery would do you some good since it'll give you perspective and help you appreciate the pros and cons of each city. They have some pretty decent cons you can attend including C2E2 Expo (organized by the same company that runs NYCC and all the PAX cons among others) and you have a good GAF family out there to support you. Winters are gonna suck though but I think you'll be fine otherwise. You can come visit family/friends during the holidays or the summer.
I fell in love with Boston the first time I went there last year and this year reaffirmed it more since I saw more of it (albeit, still the inner areas). The subway is clean, fast, and has cushioned seats plus Bostonians are pretty friendly. Would I live out there in the future? Maybe since I spoke to a comic artist and his wife at Special Edition---both of whom were former New Yorkers---but now live out in Salem and love it while they miss certain charms/events in NYC. Although Philly has the bigger art scene thinking about it from a professional standpoint but I digress.
As a quick slightly off-topic side note: You guys may or may not have heard that Nintendo World has a memorial set up where people can leave a message/condolences for the late Satoru Iwata. I'm going to be passing by there around 3:30/4ish to meet up with a friend there and leave a message.
My phone is currently in a repair shop out in Jersey City so I won't be able to check GAF on the go but all are welcome to join me. I'll probably be there for an hour or so gathering StreetPasses and whatnot. I have no solid plans as to what I'll be doing afterwards.
And lastly, the Central Park Fountain area was beautiful yesterday. People were out in row boats so remember that that's a damn good date idea for this season folks whether you're single or married. It's touristy as hell but damn if it isn't a relaxing area to do some thinking/drawing.
EDIT: And it's raining. Fantastic.
