Not the Place to Be’: Young Professionals Are Leaving New York - Bloomberg

Submitted by EvanMcD3 t3_xy5poo in nyc

‘Not the Place to Be’: Young Professionals Are Leaving New York October 7, 2022, 10:45 AM EDT

Soaring prices for rent, meals and everything else are pushing younger workers to seek out more affordable cities as they question if the grind is worth it. Hiring for early-career professionals in New York flatlined in the spring and has been declining ever since.

Hiring for early-career professionals in New York flatlined in the spring and has been declining ever since.

Taya Thomas felt like she was living the New York City dream, walking her dog through Greenwich Village and sipping amaretto sours at Lower East Side bars. Then rents began to climb.

The 23-year-old project manager needed to find an apartment with office space for her remote job and realized she simply couldn’t afford it. She started looking at listings in Miami without seriously planning to move there — that is, until she saw all the places with in-unit washers and dryers, rooftop pools and other amenities she could never afford in New York.

In February, Thomas, who had been living paycheck to paycheck, left for the sunnier skies and low taxes in Florida. She said she’s saving 13% more of her nearly six-figure salary, which has allowed her to put more toward investments and paying off student debt.

“There’s a magic in New York that made me feel like I was meant to be there forever,” Thomas said. “But I’m at an age where I had to be realistic.”

Young professionals like Thomas have long been lured by the New York lifestyle: High-power jobs with paychecks to match, spicy rigatoni vodka dinners alongside celebrities at Carbone and nights out in the city that never sleeps. For many, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world was worth the cost. But as inflation roars, New York is losing some of its luster.

Hiring Slows

Fewer young professionals got jobs in New York City in recent months

Source: LinkedIn Note: A career starter is a member in an entry-level job that is also one of their first three jobs Hiring for early-career professionals in New York flatlined in the spring and has been declining ever since, falling roughly 30% in recent months even as the broader labor market remained robust, according to Kory Kantenga, a senior economist at LinkedIn.

That was the first slowdown in hiring for the cohort since the pandemic economic downturn, and “revealed their disproportionate exposure to the macroeconomic headwinds,” Kantenga said.

“In this case, prospects for many career starters may be tied to how these big headwinds — like inflation and a possible recession — play out,” he said.

No Money, More Problems It’s not new that New York is expensive — and neither is the exodus of people who can no longer afford it.

The cost of living was already 15% above the national average in 2020, before inflation began to climb, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Then the pandemic surge in housing costs combined with higher prices for groceries, energy bills and everything else to make the city even less affordable. Manhattan’s median rent soared by 26% year-over-year in August to $4,100, and more and more New York neighborhoods are no longer affordable without a six-figure salary.

Inflated living expenses are disproportionately painful for young people, who are more likely to rent, have lower incomes, higher student loan balances and less money saved up. Georgia Bubash, 25, says half her paycheck is spent on her $1,800 apartment in Chinatown.

“I have no savings and that terrifies me,” said Bubash, who has worked in advertising in the city since she graduated from college in 2019.

Inflation Bites

The cost of living in the New York City area has ballooned in the last 12 months

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Note: August CPI data for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area A trip to Portugal — where a meal including a full bottle of wine cost her 13 euros ($12.69) — was a wakeup call for Bubash, who said she can’t even afford to eat out once a week in New York. After her landlord hiked her rent by $500 a month, the Pittsburgh native decided to break her lease and move back home with the hope of eventually saving enough to move abroad.

“I’m paying so much every day and it’s not living up to the expectations of what I should be getting,” she said. “New York is at a low point. It’s not the place to be anymore.”

Talent War There are other signs New York City is becoming less attractive to a new generation of workers that places a priority on disposable income and work-life balance. Some have also felt increasingly unsafe as fears of rampant crime rose during the pandemic.

More affordable pandemic boomtowns like Austin, Texas, Denver and Nashville, Tennessee, topped New York City as the fastest growing areas for early-career talent in 2021, LinkedIn reported.

Pandemic Boomtowns

Hot migration destinations were the fastest growing metro areas for entry-level talent in 2021

Some young professionals believe they no longer need to live in New York to reach their career goals. Ania Holland, 22, chose to launch her music industry career in Berlin after juggling waitressing jobs and a full course load at New York University.

The living costs in Germany were a fraction of what she paid in Brooklyn. Although living in New York had been her lifelong dream, she now has extra money to save and time outside of work to create music and organize shows at indie bars — a far cry from her friends in the city who are “working three jobs just to make rent.”

“It’s romantic to work as a waiter while you’re auditioning for Broadway or playing gigs, but you have to be realistic about what that life actually looks like,” Holland said. “I don’t recommend the burnout.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-07/new-york-rent-and-inflation-surge-young-professionals-leave-nyc

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Johnnadawearsglasses t1_irfiyn6 wrote

This is a good thing. Rents will decline only when people vote with their wallets and decide to live elsewhere. Having many many interesting cities to live in is also much better culturally than having two to three places that set the cultural agenda. Much more diversity that way

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[deleted] t1_irg3vb0 wrote

>This is a good thing. Rents will decline only when people vote with their wallets and decide to live elsewhere. Having many many interesting cities to live in is also much better culturally than having two to three places that set the cultural agenda. Much more diversity that way

Rents never decline in NYC. Only during the pandemic and that was temporary. They didn't even decline that much, frankly.

Supply and demand doesn't apply to NYC real estate. You will always have an influx of foreigners willing to pay.

But I agree with you that NYC isn't and shouldn't be the only game in town.

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Status_Fox_1474 t1_irikmku wrote

One of the problem is that supply isn't growing. Or, should I say, supply of livable housing isn't growing.

What's being built are 30-unit buildings where they can afford to have only 10-15 sold with a huge markup making up the profit.

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ckNocturne t1_irnowei wrote

NYC will remain practically the only game in town so long as it's one of the only 3-4 cities in the US that is even remotely walkable or serviced by transit.

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[deleted] t1_irofy7p wrote

Nope. That's not everyone's priority.

I feel you on it, but there are tons of people who don't care about that. Look at LA.

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ckNocturne t1_irohg2o wrote

It isn't everyone's priority, but it is a rapidly reemerging one that will likely be a heavier consideration in the future.

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ctindel t1_irg6ods wrote

Yes definitely let's hope the city declines and goes to shit so rent will be cheaper. It worked great in the 70s and 80s when NYC was an urban hellhole.

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Johnnadawearsglasses t1_irg9014 wrote

Let’s have 30% yoy increases in rent to infinity. The only choices are that or an urban hellhole. No in between

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ctindel t1_irgch1t wrote

You shouldn't want rent decreases because the city turned to shit and people leave. You should want lower rent because the city is succeeding and building faster than population expands.

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[deleted] t1_irgfxnu wrote

That's not the situation.

NYC is literally the most expensive city to build in the world. And this is only going to get worse. Over time, maintaining the infrastructure gets even more expensive. And this is entirely because of regulations and the political atmosphere in NY where it's literally run by machine politics, and then the opposition to developments and developers in the city by the far left.

In reality, NY is a very conservative city and state: opposed to change, slow moving, bureaucratic, and hostile to freedom. It doesn't matter if Democrats or Republicans run the state, that's the character...

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megamom71 t1_irfwzk4 wrote

Rent will also decline when supply goes up. Well, if supply goes up. As long as we have so many empty office spaces, luxury spaces, and tax incentives to keep those as the primary focus of builders, the rest of us will be fighting for what limited affordable rentals there are.

The culture here is declining because the creatives that used to congregate here can no longer afford to live here. People leaving isn't good because it's the cool people leaving, and the boring people are taking their place.

I would love the other cities, but they're almost as expensive as NYC with worse state governments. Austin, Portland, Cleveland, Orlando, etc. Any other major city is just as bad as NYC in price LA, Chicago, Boston, etc.

There's no winning right now, sadly. Even moving to the suburbs isn't a great option because housing and groceries and cars are hella expensive. Things need to fundamentally change, and the people in power don't want that.

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[deleted] t1_irg5x3a wrote

Other cities aren't just as expensive as NYC. Have you tried getting an apartment in Florida (where I live)? Gigantic difference. Pretty much no city is like NY. They don't have 15% annual rent brokers fees in Florida. If I spent 3k on an apartment here it's going to be super luxury. Shit, they didn't even take a security deposit in one place. They also don't shake you down for all your personal info here.

You automatically give up 12-16% of your income to the state and city of NY just by moving there (in taxes). For me, that's over a grand per month just in taxes (insanity!). I live in Florida now. It's so hard to move back and stomach that. That doesn't count the cost of housing and everything else.

A few years ago, I'd say "you get what you pay for", but I'm really doubting it.

Your comments about the "cool people leaving" is true. NYC feels overwhelmingly tech bro to me now. Lots of West Coast people (yuck!).

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darksideofthesun1 t1_irgsfl6 wrote

You are right about the trendy areas in NYC like Williamsburg, Chelsea and east village. There are many areas in queens that are not like that. Lookup elmhurst and Forest hills, it is much cheaper and you get larger apartments.

But I think there are good places to live all over the country. It is all the media and movies that keep people lusting New York all of the time.

Also 50 years ago there was real reason to live in New York because if you were different than the mainstream like gay or Jewish you wouldn’t fit in most of the country. That has changed now for many urban areas in the country. If you live in Burlington VT you can find your crowd even if you don’t fit the mainstream.

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66Hanuman99 t1_irg7tem wrote

>Lots of West Coast people (yuck!)

Lots of West Coast people (yuck!) ~ agreed

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proudbakunkinman t1_irgftx9 wrote

It's more higher salaried workers overall, not just tech workers, seem to be making up a larger percent of people around since they can afford it still. Also, young people with rich parents who think the only things that matter in life are that they live in the cool neighborhoods in NYC and LA, are wearing the exact same Urban Outfitters synched fashion trends, and where they hang out.

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WorthPrudent3028 t1_irhb4ls wrote

Florida is a state, not a city. There are relatively expensive cities in Florida. There are also small towns in the middle of nowhere. And there are also the semi affordable strip mall suburbs, one of which is probably where you call home.

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[deleted] t1_irkyodj wrote

I live in Tampa (the city) - in walking distance to downtown, in a luxury apartment with 20yos.

Only Miami and a few luxury communities here and there even approach the median NYC rents. And even still, these are new and luxury apartments (for the most part). The quality of life is through the roof by comparison.

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lotsofdeadkittens t1_irw5525 wrote

Nyc is unique in that there will always be plenty of transplants that come here with money and just no real worry financially and bullshit part time to make it off their parents money

I’m a transplant that came here with no money and slowly grew my career in food, my Roomate this year is a rich Canadian girl. She works part time as a paralegal fucking one of her bosses, her parents pay all her rent and ubers/food. She’s moving next year cause job wise it’s hard

But those people always exist and native New Yorkers will always exist to work many shit jobs

The issue with rent is people like me who move here to “make it” can’t afford to initially and move to other cities

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lionelhutz- t1_irhkny1 wrote

Yep, NYC is way too in demand right now.

Also is nobody going to mention how she'll 100% need a car in Miami? So much for the 13% she was saving per year on rent.

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Burymeincalamine t1_irfkt64 wrote

A ‘young professional’ is someone sub-40 in a white collar job, not a Zoomer living beyond their means.

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WorthPrudent3028 t1_irhbfc5 wrote

A young professional is not someone who is 23 and wants to be a singer?

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heepofsheep t1_irtg3au wrote

Sub 40? If you’re in your 30s I think you’re just a regular professional (especially considering by 32 you’d have about 10yrs of work experience).

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[deleted] t1_irg44ix wrote

Yeah, but someone close to 40 is even less likely to put up with the cost of living and feeling ripped off.

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EatingAssCuresCancer t1_irg0o70 wrote

I’m sorry but it’s a little hard to sympathize with a 23-year old living clearly beyond their means (paycheck to paycheck with a near six figure salary) complaining about affordability

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[deleted] t1_irg71rt wrote

Almost everyone in NYC makes less than 100k. Especially the people who right now over the past two years have moved there. Yeah, there are a ton of rich people in NYC. But there is an overwhelming number of people living on the edge.
I read the reddits here, and everyone is like "I'm going to be working this bullshit office job making 65k. How can I move to Williamsburg or the LES?".
IMO, that's someone living well beyond their means.... 65k isn't even a decent living in Dallas. Seriously.
It's true that the more you make, the less you can stomach being financially irresponsible. Good for the 23yo in the article for being practical and sensible.

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Visual_Shelter8046 t1_irhbu4r wrote

a young single person can live in brooklyn or queen semi-responsibly on 65k, might actually be a practical early career decision because they can generally anticipate faster salary gains in their early career than other parts of the country.

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EgoDefenseMechanism t1_irgu3v9 wrote

So, anecdotally, I make just into the low six figure range and live in NYC,so income not that far off from that woman. Yes, there has been some noticeable increases in cost, namely rent and groceries, but that's it, and in the outer boroughs this was annoying, but not an economic catastrophe as this article tries to portray. My rent in Queens went up $200 from 2020 to 2022. Grocery bill went up about $100 per month too.

But I'm doing fine. I pay my rent and still save, but maybe just 10% less than pre pandemic. This article is the usual clickbait "NYC is going into an apocalypse of `1980s death" and nothing more. Yes, rents have skyrocketed in the trendy Manhattan neighborhoods that were already populated primarily by millionaires. But most neighborhoods, especially in the outer boroughs, experienced little to none of that. If you MUST live in, say, Chelsea or the Upper East Side, then yea, maybe you can't afford that like someone with a $100k salary could have in 2015. But you'd be fine in the rest of the city.

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DontDrinkTooMuch t1_irits8w wrote

Don't know why you're being downvoted. There's still plenty of affordable places in the city that's not Manhattan - it's true, but I suppose all the NYC haters that float on this sub either don't understand, don't know, or don't want you to spread anything against their gospel that NYC is "failing".

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ArearugTrashcan t1_iro0hu0 wrote

Same. My life hasn’t changed pre to post pandemic. Do I wish my salary increased with rent and other inflation? Sure do. But I still make low six figures am very comfortable and can’t complain.

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Dudebrooklyn t1_irgcrzj wrote

You mean hipsters/yuppies treat the city like a playground and leave after driving prices up? The sky is blue and what is new?

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FormerKarmaKing t1_iriufkv wrote

There are always 23 year olds showing up here thinking shit is just going to work for them and run head-on into one of the most competitive places on earth.

And there's nothing wrong with that. That's part of the game and why NYC is such a knives-sharpening-knives sort of place. If you're a transplant and you're not up for that, you can absolutely be happier someplace else.

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myassholealt t1_irfvcr0 wrote

Lol we doing this narrative again? This song was all the rage at the height of covid and well into last year. And yet CoL has gone up...

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HayPlaceAPlaceforHay t1_irhczfc wrote

The city income tax makes this place a nightmare. Few other places have that so you keep more of your money.

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nospacebar14 t1_irhldhg wrote

"no one goes there anymore, it's too crowded"

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waterfall1219 t1_irge933 wrote

Spending half a paycheck on rent is 25% income, right?That's pretty good, 30% is considered affordable..

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PhAnToM444 t1_irhfm3z wrote

I'm assuming that's half her monthly net, which is about right for entry-level advertising. When I started I was making about that. I

t's one of those careers that's very competitive and desirable at the bottom so they underpay at the bottom but it gets better quickly as you tend to get promoted fast.

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Never_had_A_Snickers t1_irh13iy wrote

Making 6 figs and struggling. Stop trying to keep up with everyone

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Bigballerbooks t1_iriwe68 wrote

It’s just transplants who ate way more than can chew. People move here, realize that they aren’t talented enough to do whatever they dreamed of doing and then realize a Starbucks wage or the wages from their mid-entry job won’t cut it. Will they move to Bronx, Queens, or Brooklyn? No. But sure Austin or whatever bum ass town in Florida will be a better match for them anyway

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chale122 t1_irh05ul wrote

Yuppies that contributed to rising prices in city they fantasized about because they're just that uninteresting end up leaving due to same prices they helped raise. Interesting.

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oreosfly t1_irhnvsn wrote

Since the beginning of time, people have arrived and people have left. NYC might be heaven for one group but it is certainly not everyone's tastes. Shit I don't even know if its my thing anymore either

In other words... yawn

Also articles like this make me laugh... transplants can be so stupid :')

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Locus_In_Quo t1_irh196t wrote

> The 23-year-old project manager needed to find an apartment with office space for her remote job and realized she simply couldn’t afford it.

The housing shortage will end humanity but the corporate overlords want it to be a too much employment/worker shortage problem which needs policy by the Federal Reserve to increase unemployment. Welcome to 🤡 world.

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MaTheOvenFries t1_irh5yq8 wrote

And other workers are moving here! This is happening in every city on earth!

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MysteriousHedgehog23 t1_iri0q5a wrote

Every year we get these stories yet NYC is still 8-9 million strong (the most populated city) and Cali, the other one they love telling you everyone is leaving, has 39 million people statewide (far and away the most populous state).

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EgoDefenseMechanism t1_irgulfm wrote

So, anecdotally, I make just into the low six figure range and live in NYC, so income not that far off from that woman. Yes, there has been some noticeable increases in cost, namely rent and groceries, but that's it, and in the outer boroughs this was annoying, but not an economic catastrophe as this article tries to portray. My rent in Queens went up $200 from 2020 to 2022. Grocery bill went up about $100 per month too.

But I'm doing fine. I pay my rent and still save, but maybe just less than 10% less than pre-pandemic. This article is the usual clickbait "NYC is going into an apocalypse of `1980s death" and nothing more. Yes, rents have skyrocketed in the trendy Manhattan neighborhoods that were populated primarily by millionaires. But most neighborhoods, especially in the outer boroughs, experienced little to none of that. If you MUST live in, say, Chelsea or the Upper East Side, then yea, maybe you can't afford that like someone with a $100k salary could have in 2015. But you'd be fine in the rest of the city.

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MyPiedaterre t1_irj4vno wrote

To play devil’s advocate, there’s a lot of mentally unstable people roaming the transit system and they’re much more likely to target women. A lot of women don’t want to take a long train ride at night after work+social events.

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lotsofdeadkittens t1_irw63pr wrote

This is absolutely valid, but the reality is that despite public perception this is objectively the safest city in America for women

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MyPiedaterre t1_irwl4x6 wrote

In other American cities, most women can drive back home after a late night. This is an impossible option for most New Yorkers

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lotsofdeadkittens t1_irwltgu wrote

Yes. And objectively there is less late night violence towards women per capita here.

I’m not saying it doesn’t exist but the car argument is bad. People follow women in cares back to their homes, and I speculate that often they drive to a more quiet area it’s dangerous as well.

Regardless Theresa big issue where people conflate only late night creeper followin crime as the risk. That percentage of violence giant women is very very very small compared to all the other unfortunate avenues of danger. Nyc does way better in stoping violence against women by every metric.

Using theoretical anecdotes about how nyc is less safe cause women cat drive home, is silly when there’s all the statistics out there showing a woman is safer going home from an nyc bar to an nyc apartment than any other city’s bar scene.

I’m not devaluing that we can always do way more to fix violence late at night, but we need to stop coming from a place of flat out false comparisons to other American and western cities.

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TeamMisha t1_irhe6oy wrote

A bit doom and gloom of a headline, a slowdown in economic growth doesn't mean people are fleeing the city. All those tech companies moving to Texas for cheaper tax are doing hiring freezes same as many companies with an impending recession and less than expected quarterly results, so it's not exactly a NYC problem.

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avon_barksale t1_irjomzs wrote

“Soaring prices for rent, meals and everything else are pushing younger workers to seek out more affordable cities”

This literally across all cities, not particular to NYC.

And there isn’t much cost savings in moving to Miami besides the tax advantages as mentioned. Apt prices are on par with NYC.

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the_lamou t1_irhaymu wrote

First, flat hiring for a very specific demographic in one city doesn't mean they're leaving.

Second, we get it, Bloomberg: the check from Suarez's PR firm cleared. Every one of those people who were worth having around will be back within five years once they realize what a shit show Miami is.

Also... this you, Bloomberg?

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deaddabrain t1_irg9qze wrote

Maybe its finally time for a change

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