Crowded, expensive, dirty, crime-ridden, rat-infested and public transportation via taxis or the subway. Why in the world do people want to live there?
I am from the wide open west and live on a 30 acre cattle farm now in retirement.
I don't see what the draw is.
I haven’t been to New York since the Seventies and Eighties. When I was there, there was a taste of wildness and danger that used to be pretty rare, here in the United States.
It’s a banal thing, but the first time I was in NY I saw a store, about half a block long, that sold buttons. Just buttons.
Whatever you were looking for—delicious, authentic food, fencing equipment, art, ballet, symphony, the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, many of Western Civilization’s best thinkers (at the time), wine ranging from good to spectacular, and pizza, pizza, pizza (I haven’t had a good pizza in the last 41 years)—you could find it in New York City.
Yes, there were many drawbacks, but back then I was the kind of guy that muggers took a second look at and backed off, so I did all right.
Much of that is negatives, but getting around without needing a car (which is problematic to park), and the close-by neighbors has always had an appeal to some. If you don’t need to travel to a job, you can get most of what you need within a few blocks, just like a small town.
It’s not for me, but I do understand some people like that closeness.