The decline of the middle class in NYC (Greenwich: section 8, apartment)

[tpk-nyc]

Required reading from the Center for an Urban Future: It's a long report (http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs...Aspiration.pdf), but fascinating for City-Data addicts. It's nothing we don’t already know, but it puts hard numbers behind anecdotal evidence.

[hsw]

Been going on for decades

Middle-income young families have far cheaper, more spacious, new housing w/decent public schools in suburbs....in any urban region in US

And many middle-income (and higher-income) jobs are in suburbs in any urban region in US....even in the "old school" NYC region, cos. like JNJ, Merck, IBM, GE, Pepsico, etc have sprawling suburban office park HQs in various distant suburbs...much like Exxon's HQ in suburban Dallas...or SiliconValley w/its numerous tech cos. w/high-income jobs

Only economically relevant stuff in cities like NYC or Chicago or SF tend to be financial, legal, consulting, acctg firms...but even hedge funds are heavily based in suburban Greenwich

[oberon_1]

Originally Posted by hsw

Been going on for decades

Middle-income young families have far cheaper, more spacious, new housing w/decent public schools in suburbs....in any urban region in US

And many middle-income (and higher-income) jobs are in suburbs in any urban region in US....even in the "old school" NYC region, cos. like JNJ, Merck, IBM, GE, Pepsico, etc have sprawling suburban office park HQs in various distant suburbs...much like Exxon's HQ in suburban Dallas...or SiliconValley w/its numerous tech cos. w/high-income jobs

Only economically relevant stuff in cities like NYC or Chicago or SF tend to be financial, legal, consulting, acctg firms...but even hedge funds are heavily based in suburban Greenwich

1) I didn't know that any urban region offers decent public schools...
2) I wouldn't call hedge fund managers "middle class". Well... maybe "the new middle class"
What's certain is that in the last 30 years, the city became more polarized then middle of the road with extra rich and poor sections. The interesting thing is that traditionally cities were the center of middle class. The poor population and the extra rich stayed out of it, mostly in the countryside.

[star9quit]

The bottom line is the high cost of living and high taxes is pushing the middle-income out of the City. And what does the government and private sector do for the middle-income? Nothing! They make it difficult for the middle-income to afford homes, they do not provide high quality puplic schools, no low taxes, cut essential services, and raise transportation costs.

[Shoegal1075]

You are absolutely right star9 - middle/working class people are slightly above poor (my opinion). Here is my reasoning behind this. If you make a dollar over a certain amount you get no assistance with food, housing, insurance, etc., the list could go on for days. If you are what society deems poor, you get cheaper housing or assistance to live in housing (Section 8), food stamps, medicaid. The rich and wealthy, usually end up with lower taxes than the middle class (yes, this is the truth). Don't misunderstand me, I do think that assistance should be provided to those in need! But I also think that there has to be a perspective on what needy is. Just because someone works and makes 70K a year does not really make them middle class. Especially, the way we NYer's are taxed - I would think a middle class couple should be able to afford a moderate home. Not a mansion, just a comfortable 2 or 3 bedroom home. That is almost unattainable with a 2 bedroom tutor costing around 600K in the area of queens I live in. Yes, there are cheaper areas, but you could live in Connecticut and get to NYC faster than most of those places in queens. You could buy a co-op for a pretty good price, but then you have to pay an 800$ maintenance? WHAT the heck could you be maintaining for 800$ on an apartment? This is the norm give or take a few hundred bucks. Then there are the schools. Why are they getting worse not better? It is to the point that you don't have much of a choice but to send your kids to a private and/or Catholic school. I'm really at my witts end with all of it. I have decided to pack my family up and move. Yes, it is a recession and yes, I will struggle, but I would rather struggle in a place that the standard amenities are a pool and washer and dryer in the apartment. I have been taxed out of NYC.

[bluedog2]

One of the problems is that there is nobody( no political party) advocating for the middle class.It used to be the unions and the Democratic Party but the middle class got duped by the Republicans into thinking that their interests were the same as rich people and corporations.The middle class abandoned the unions and the Democratic Party, starting with Reagan ,leaving The Democrats and the unions with the poor and working class as their constituency.Dems and unions did not abandon the middle class,the middle class abandoned them. Meanwhile,the Republicans have continued to protect the interests of the rich and the corporations as always.

The Republicans used racial divisions and class aspirations to convince middle America that they didn't need unions or the Democratic Party. Look where it has led us.

Time to wake up and realize who is looking out for who.

[Shoegal1075]

Your right blue - we have no voice - I don't know how that will change unless a construction worker or a plumber become a congressman, but you are tarnished once you get into the political arena - where do we go from here?