20 New Yorkers Are Sharing The Negatives To Living In NYC And It's Eye-Opening For People Who Don't Live There But Want To
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the downsides to living in New York City. Despite looking like such a great city to live in, they definitely had lots to share.
So, here are 20 downsides to living in the city that never sleeps that you wouldn't always think about unless you lived there:
1."The smell, especially in the summer. I'm from Connecticut, born and raised, so when I was 19, I decided to move down to NYC and live with my older brother. We were walking in Manhattan one day, and I said, 'Oh my God, what's that smell?? It's like human shit!' And he told me something I'll never forget: 'Whenever you're in the city, and you think you're smelling human shit, it's because you're smelling human shit.'"
"Fair enough."
2."It takes such a long time to get anywhere. Where I grew up, a place that was 3 to 5 miles away from home involved a simple 10-minute drive. Here, it means either a 40–60 minute Uber, taking an hour taking multiple subways/buses, or walking for over an hour."
"If you live near good subway lines, it's much easier to get around, but it still takes SO much time to get anywhere, and we just accept that as normal. Today, for example, I went to the city for a few errands, and the commute was a full hour each way on the subway. And I didn't even think anything of it because it's normal.
At home, driving an hour away to go to a store or movie would be absolutely wild! And let's talk about how much simpler life is when you have a car, and places to park it wherever you go (hello suburbia!). It's my dream to have a car, but in NYC, besides being insanely expensive to insure, most places I go to have tiny overcrowded parking areas, insanely overpriced lots, or no parking at all."
3."The salary requirements for apartments. Someone on a $60,000 salary won't be approved for a $1,600 apartment because they require 40x the rent."
“A one-bedroom in a good neighborhood is a minimum of $1,750. Additionally, the average salary for mid-level positions is $55K–$65K for jobs asking for 40–50 hours a week, not leaving you enough time in the day for a second job. We can’t afford to live in our cities. Roommates are for college, not for life. This rental market is fucked.”
4."The sheer amount of money that you need to put down to rent a new apartment is staggering. The first month, at least one month's security deposit, sometimes last month, and a broker fee worth one month's rent. I spent 15 years in NYC and recently moved to a different city, and I couldn't get over how comparatively easy it was to qualify for an apartment and how little money they asked from me."
"No broker fee, a low security deposit...I could get used to that."
5."The tourists. Specifically, when they stop in the middle of the sidewalk in a large circle or ride a Citi Bike with no regard for the rules of the road."
NBC / Via giphy.com
"I don't need a bike running me over 'cause you don't know what a red light means."
6."People in NYC have seen it all and ignore it all. I watched a man take a nosedive down the subway stairs, skipping five steps and landing face first into the concrete. I called 911 as people just stepped over the unconscious man. Just cold to human suffering."
7."Aside from the outrageous rent prices, the winter is a killer! After a beautiful day of snow, here comes the nasty slush and ice that stay on the sidewalks and crosswalks for weeks."
"You’re a true New Yorker if you can make your way through it!"
—nayy
8.“Having a car in the city is incredibly expensive. It costs you a fortune if you park monthly in a garage, and you have to give at least a few hours notice if you’ll need it. If you choose to take your chances finding street parking, you’ll have to remember to move it every other day to allow for street cleaning.”
“I can’t tell you the number of times I’d drive around for hours looking for a spot close to our building and then having to move it due to street cleaning.”
9."It's pretty rare to see a proper sunset, and you can start to feel claustrophobic due to all the people and looming buildings. I lived there for 10 years, and it definitely gave me anxiety at times."
"Once I started looking forward to weekends out of the city more than in the city, I started looking to move out."
10."Simply leaving. You never need a car in NYC, but when you want to leave to get away for a weekend, you have to pay a high price for rental cars or trains. The city is easy to feel trapped in."
11."It's a city full of empty people. There's an immense feeling of loneliness and isolation. The hustle mentality creates a selfish state of mind, and no one stops to ask how those around them are doing or even to pause in the present moment. No one stops to take a breath."
12."I lived in Manhattan for about 10 months a decade ago. My only complaints were that you couldn't see any stars, it was always noisy at night, and the subway was hot and sticky during the hot weather."
"But those seem like obvious things to me."
13."Carrying groceries! No car, so unless you order delivery, you can only buy as much as you can carry."
14."The cat-sized rats are real out here. Watch your step at night."
15."The way that the rainstorms lately have affected us so much because of our crappy sewage system and climate change."
16."The lines! Yes, because NYC is large, a lot of events, special pop-ups, limited-edition events, etc., all come here, but you're always going to be waiting in a line."
17."Most apartments don't have AC, or the built-in unit sucks. It's OK because you can buy a window unit, but in the summer months when the heat is in the 90s and radiating off every surface, you're going to pay a fortune in electricity."
HBO / Via giphy.com
"A FORTUNE."
18."In the last few years, the mental health crisis and the homelessness crisis have gotten much worse, even before the pandemic."
19."Public transportation is simultaneously incredible and always disappointing. The trains are regularly late, or if you live at a local shop as I do, come only every 15–20 minutes during rush hour, so if you miss one, you've just wasted 20 minutes of your commute waiting. Sometimes, a local train is scheduled to be at my stop in one minute and the express at the next stop in three minutes, the express comes first, beats the local to the next subway stop, and closes the doors as we are getting off the local to transfer to the express across the platform. It is beyond devastating when the doors are closed and they just won't open them, especially if you're running late to work."
"Always riles me up! That and, in general, the lack of control when you depend on public transportation as a sole means of transport. But it beats owning a car and having the associated costs and frustrations, I suppose."
20.And finally, "The sheer number of people can just be overwhelming. You are never alone. Most people have to live with a roommate or significant other in order to pay the rent, so even at your own home, you most likely don't have a lot of privacy."
"You are just always around people."