The Intercruises Team Newsletter

Blog 19

The conundrum: is living in the New York area- still worth it?

Not so long ago in early March the need for a safer, easier, and more affordable life beckoned and many diehard New Yorkers found themselves faced with the choice of leaving or quarantining and sticking it out.   

 Debating the topic, to stay or leave of course practically became a blood sport at the time. There was and still is no easy solution to this conundrum, but history has taught us a lot about flight and resurgence.  New York came back after the 1970s recession and after Sept. 11. New York survived power outages, hurricanes and even riots. The questions on many minds is how long will it take to fully come back now?

 With this in mind the following are a few thoughts to ponder…

“We can get more space, get on the property ladder and not spend so much money on rent,” said Imran Hafiz about trading in Brooklyn for Buffalo.  “But Buffalo will never be Brooklyn!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Statistics show that 9% of adults 18-29 said they had relocated.  New Yorkers used to come to Florida to buy a second home. Now many have gone to live in Florida.  The “Escape from New York” accelerated with the enticement of the elimination of the state and local tax deductions.  Governor Andrew Cuomo so much as admitted it was so.

 Roadway Moving President Ross Sapir told FOX Business that people left Manhattan in record numbers he had never seen before, and his company had its busiest season since its 2008 inception.   Over a million people have fled New York City and the tri-state area—which encompasses New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island—in the last nine years.   According to Bloomberg, almost 300 people moved out of the area per day during the height of the pandemic.   And New York was not alone in the exodus.  Other major metropolitan areas also saw an increased move-out exodus. Otherpopular destinations among New York City escapees included surrounding suburban areas in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Westchester, according to Sapir.

 In case reading these statistics has one daunting the survival of the New York Metropolitan area do not despair, the statistics of recovery have begun to turn and an influx is now exceeding the exodus!

 The pandemic will not kill the dreams of wannabe Gotham dwellers who still plan to leave small towns for the big city: “I want to know what it’s like to be a New Yorker.”

 The New York Times revealed that 420,000 people fled the city in the first two months of the crises, with richer neighborhoods emptying the most.  The New York Post reported that bookings to the city’s largest moving company were up 11 percent in March. That is a traditionally slow period for moves, implying that people were bolting away from the pandemic’s epicenter.

 “The summer is typically the busiest season for renters moving in,” Nancy Wu, an economist at the real estate listing site Streeteasy, said.  People move to the city for many reasons, internships, new jobs, or to synch up with their children starting school in the fall. This year, that’s not going to be the case.  There will be a significant decline in demand.

 Though a decline it maybe, but by no means is it total death. A Streeteasy representative told The Daily

 Beast that “renters have returned to the market,” and more are searching for deals on empty spaces.  Views of listings rose by 15 percent in April and have continued to increase with the lure of more tech-based positions, flex hours, and office positions slowly returning. 

 

 

 As a teenager in India, Rushita Patel was obsessed with Gossip Girl. “It showed so much of the way people live in New York, “ she recalls. “Like, are you kidding me? I was intrigued.”   Patel decided that she would end up in the city one way or another.  Now with a public relations job, Patel will soon head to central New jersey, where she’ll stay until finding her own place in Manhattan’s. “It might be a while until I get to experience the real New York,” Patel allowed. “But that means I get to see everything come back to life and experience what makes New York special. I have a lot of compassion for New York and I know it’s the people, their energy, and the special community that makes it unique. Now, I’ll get to participate in rebuilding it. That’s pretty special to me. Like being part of the history of a city I’ve always admired.” Patel said. “I want to know what it’s like to be a New Yorker.” 

 One of her first orders of business, post-pandemic, will be taking an acting class,” Patel said.  “I’ve always, always wanted to be an actress. It would be stupid not to go for that opportunity. I’ll regret it if I don’t give it a shot in New York.”

 So what will a Post-Covid city look like?

 Princeton Economist Esteban Rossi-Hansberg suggested that a reconfigured urban America would look a bit more like the late 1980’s!  Rents might be lower, after the departure of so many who chose to relocate.  The will be fewer restaurants, but also many cheaper ones. People with lower incomes, may again be able to afford to live in town again with an influx of empty apartment. 

 This pattern of rebirth is important in that it will allow for new and wider tech careers and expansions of tech companies blossoming. This might lead to changes but only from change can come invention and new possibilities to create business and economy.  

New York is the poster child of this type of urban renaissance.

If it is true that big cities are shedding people, they are also growing in other ways—specifically, in wealth and work.  The richest 25 metro areas now account for more than half of the U.S. economy, according to an  Axios analysis of government data. Rich cities particularly specialize in the new tech economy. Just five counties account for about- half of the nation’s internet and web-portal jobs. Toiling to build this metropolitan wealth are young college graduates, many of them childless or without school-age children; that is, workers who are sufficiently unattached to family life so that they can pour their lives into their careers.

 Cities have effectively traded away their children, swapping capital for kids. College graduates descend into cities, inhale fast-casual meals, emit the fumes of overwork, and shift to smaller cities or the suburbs by the time their kids are old enough to spell. It’s a coast-to-coast trend: In Washington, D.C., the overall population has grown more than 20 percent this century, but the number of children under the age of 18 has declined. Meanwhile, San Francisco has the lowest share of children of any of the largest 100 cities in the U.S.

 The modern American city is not a microcosm of life but a micro slice of it. Modern cities are slowly becoming an Epcot theme park for childless affluence. In the end there are no fast or easy answers about how long it will take or what it will look like when it happens. The one true constant is that fast it will be.  This is not a new pattern or trend to New York, looking to the past is to see the future with a new twist. 

Biography

In an effort to better get to know our fellow employees:

The Intercruises blog would like to invite all staff to share a small paragraph about yourself with your fellow team members.  This small personal section will be added to the blog, for any individual who would like to post or share a short note about yourself, other occupations, businesses, and interest.

What you might not know about:    Renee Davis

Renee was an essential worker just as the Pandemic was ramping up.  She started working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard making face shields along with other people from different walks of life.

Many people were there under one roof hoping to save lives.  We managed to produce and deliver more than a little over 2 million masks.  Renee was so proud of her work that she would do it again, in a heartbeat.  She made some great new lasting friends. 

If you wish to submit your bio for publication, forward to    n.delarosa@intercruises.com

 

Quote of the Week:       

“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.

    -Benjamin Franklin