In a twisted way, I’m happy it’s so expensive to live in NYC. It means that a lot of people want to live in the city, and that’s cool. But otherwise, it sucks, and the way things are going it will soon be a land of the rich and some poor and nothing in between. Public housing and inclusionary zoning will open the gate for a few low income folks to slip through, but there’s nothing for the middle class folks like me. Rent is either $300 or $3,000 with no break for the medium guy.
This could mean two things: a) There will no longer be New Jersey and B&T jokes because the people who made fun of them now all live there. b) More middle-class people will move completely out of NYC and to… where exactly? Most are probably not suburban McMansion fans. Some will opt for cheaper big cities in the US and beyond. Some might do a 180 and live off the Montana prairie. But there’s another interesting new/old place that has a lot of potential… (drum roll)… the abandoned downtowns of medium-sized American cities!
Maybe that doesn’t sound so sexy, but it could be. Driving across America is an enlightening experience that makes you see the sweep and carnage of 20th century history: port cities, train cities, Main Street USA, WWII, white flight, car & suburbia enchantment, car & suburbia enchantment backlash (still in progress)… And now every state has little towns with little Main Streets lined with empty little stores for little rent. No one is there - but the infrastructure is!
Thankfully urban renewal didn’t bulldoze everything and we still have all these quaint, historic, pedestrian-friendly downtowns with mixed-use buildings and sidewalks and everything Jane Jacobs waxed poetic about New York’s little neighborhoods. It’s all there ready to be populated by cute hipster girls and funny poignant boys and corduroy’d academics and couples thinking about getting a dog and everyone else in Brooklyn…
My years living in Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill taught me I can draw a remarkably small radius around my daily needs. If I stop thinking I need to know I can go to 1000 restaurants at any moment, and if I knew Brooklyn was coming with me, I could see myself living a good life on one of these old Main Streets. They’re ready for us, ready for Round 2, ready to be filled with the tired, middle-class, huddled masses of New York.
