Since the onset of coronavirus in New York City, there have been countless media reports highlighting New Yorkers fleeing New York City for the suburbs. Once again, the demise of New York City has been greatly exaggerated!
While some New York City residents have changed their view on where they want to live, deciding to sell their apartment in the city in favor of buying a house in the NYC suburbs, the surge of folks moving to the suburbs is likely a temporary trend of people that were planning to move to the suburbs anyway in the future.
After every recent crisis in New York City, from 9/11 in 2001 to the global financial crisis in 2008, New York comes out even stronger. Whether you are a native New Yorker or have adopted it after paying your dues for 10 years, there is a reason you live in this one-of-a-kind city.
Below are 4 reasons why many New Yorkers won’t actually move to the suburbs and are instead looking to buy NYC apartments.
Population Density Is Part of The Charm
New York City is a special place. The hustle and bustle of a densely populated area with folks from all different backgrounds is what attracts so many people to move to and live here. There is an indescribable energy that elevates New York beyond what other cities or any suburb could ever recreate.
That’s exactly why some New Yorkers consider themselves “city people” as they feed off the dynamism of city life, and choose to live in an apartment rather than a suburban home just to have access to the city’s energy.
“New Yorkers are rapidly queueing up to purchase condos and co-ops across the city now that they are finally able to attend in-person showings again,” says Rich Gibbons, Director of Real Estate Services for Prevu – a tech-enabled brokerage in NYC that saves buyers money. “Apartment buyers have already identified their favorite places thanks to virtual tours during quarantine, and they are prepared to act quickly with offers after physical visits.”
Browse apartments for sale in NYC
Dining & Drinks . . . No Chain Restaurants
There are enclaves in the New York City suburbs with a few nice restaurants or the one-off wine bar, but nothing compares to NYC’s nightlife.
While it is too soon to predict exactly how restaurants and bars will attend to patrons in the coming months, there will still be countless options to cater to New Yorkers’ tastes in the short term. Plus, as the world returns to normalcy over time, it is safe to assume that New York City will still be at the forefront of cuisine and cocktails.
Not All NYC Jobs Will Be Remote
Many industries have been extremely resourceful in scattering employees and working remotely to comply with the quarantine regulations, however the debate remains if working from home will be the new norm.
New York City is a major commercial center dominated by the financial services, real estate, technology, media, entertainment, and other vital industries. Unless major companies completely adopt work from home going forward, it is likely that many New Yorkers will return to their offices as the re-opening of New York City industries occur. Therefore, proximity to the office will still be a consideration.
The Commute!
With a future of remote work not guaranteed, the idea of a long commute is a non-starter for many New Yorkers. Some people are willing to make the trade-off of a longer commute in favor of more space and a backyard in the suburbs, however a lot of New York City residents spend a lot of time in the office and much prefer the convenience of a short subway ride or the benefit of living in a neighborhood adjacent to their office.
The great debate of living in New York City vs the suburbs will continue during every crisis that arises. If you fancy yourself as a city person that couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, you are not alone.
Interested in buying an apartment in New York City? Browse listings and see how much you could save with Prevu’s Smart Buyer commission rebate.
For me, it’s not a decision between NYC and the suburbs, but NYC and other cities. It’s not something I ever imagined, but as the fabric of the city becomes more corporate, the special qualities of NYC shrink. And then there are the costs. Dining out in NYC is expensive, entertainment in NYC is expensive, taxes are so much higher, and the cost of renting an apartment in NYC is incredibly expensive—genuinely approaching three times what you could pay elsewhere.
Well, don’t move to LA. Rents are just as high as NYC plus you need a car ($), and the salaries are NOT NY salaries!
convenience, convenience, convenience
if i need anything, even at odd hours, all i need to do is walk less than 5 mins to a cvs or 24hour grocery
We’re leaving the city for the burbs after 12 years of living here. This decision was made before covid so it’s not pandemic related. We have a child and our tiny & overpriced apt is not cutting it. Neither are the options we see elsewhere in the city.
I’m not particularly excited about commuting an hour to work on the days that I must come in but for everyone scoffing at the burbs, try to open your minds. I used to be like you, and inside I’ll always value the convenience and vibrance of living here, but think about how much of your income it drains from your future net worth. Just so you can go to walk to CVS, which is also 24hrs in the burbs? I’ll miss the pizza, the park, and getting tipsy on date nights for a cab ride home, but that’s a huge premium to pay for.
The folks I’ve talked to that did make the switch wondered why they didn’t do it sooner. I guess get your city time in but don’t forget that change is a *good* thing. Whether it’s the burbs or another city altogether. Plus, you can always move back, which actually makes me feel better 🙂
I left the burbs and came back to the city. Won’t make that mistake again. It was a soulless existence.
Curious if you have children? If we didn’t we’d probably stay in the city too.
I’ll miss the UWS like crazy and want to live in a city at some point again, which may or may not be nyc, but will wait for that decision until after our child graduates.
I agree. The suburbs is great emotional escape to nature. But the strip malls, chain restaurants, two cars to get around, high property taxes and boring in the winter. It will wear off. The factors- the. Virus vaccine and the outcome of the Presidential election in 93 days. Plus 12-18 months of these events, nyc will be back to near normal. Same situation in the 2009-2011 recession, nyc came back to life.
Nice try.
Native New Yorker : “bye bye”
Lol yeah ok. Depends on which area you’re moving from. There’s a new white flight happening in certain areas.
We’re moving to a quiet neighborhood in Yonkers. COVID-19 really tested our limits of dealing with so many noisy neighbors all under lockdown at home: constant loud music, TVs, parties, screaming babies through open windows, kids running/playing in the hallways, not to mention the frightening nightmare of coughing strangers on the sidewalk/subway and incessant sirens while the virus was at its peak. Add to that an entire month of being woken up repeatedly literally every night by nonstop fireworks and we’re so glad to be getting out of this city.
We pay a ridiculous amount of $$$$ to live in a bustling, vibrant city with lots of things to do. What are we paying for now? Surely not to remain shut inside a coffin apartment stressed and anxious 24 hours a day.
I fear NYC is going to fall on some hard times, but the best we can hope for is that rents will plummet and this city might be again affordable to regular working Americans and immigrant families.
Agreed @sandy. We are also looking to move for the same reasons. I’m just so incredibly over it all. I’m literally exhausted from being here. The constant noise pollution has pushed me over the edge during covid and add the fireworks and i’m literally done.
Rents are already declining, probably by around 5-10% so far. It is a buyer’s market for renters right now.
Locked down at present – but don’t forget that NYC is one of the world’s cultural capitals – theater, comedy, jazz, rock, classical, opera, galleries, museums – there aren’t many places like NYC. Sure, you can assess all the above from the ‘burbs but it’s nowhere like have these artistic riches on your doorstep.
Born and bred New Yorker, and quite proud
to be called A “native New Yorker”, through and through. NYC is the Business and Entertainment hub unsurpassed by the
second-rate substitutes.
I do not mind trekking here and there,
but will always be glad to arrive on my
home turf(my terra-firma). There’s simply
nothing else like it!
I’m a musician. I’m waiting for the covid vaccine so life in NYC can return to normal. I hope it will be coming soon. Prayers for NYC and America.
Left the City when my kids were small. Lived in the suburbs for 26 years. Moved back to the City 3 years ago. And part of me regrets having ever left. I wish I had toughed it out. The commute was terrible, a complete waste of time. I raised city kids anyway, somehow. Rather funny, actually. I guess our values of culture and diversity won out, luckily.
Yes, we had a lovely spacious home. And we made a few good friends. But my heart was never there.
NYC is a great place. COVID 19 will bring about the sort of clean up that occurs after every crisis. People leaving is not such a bad thing. It gives space for future people moving in. After having tried the suburbs and city living the best is to have both, really. Otherwise, I’d choose the city.
I’ve lived both ends of this for years . Commuted from LI to Manhattan and now on the UWS and was commuting to Bushwick. With the Bushwick job most likely gone, I can’t wait to leave Manhattan. I’m am born and raised in Brooklyn and have lived through many changes in our great city, but this one is not going to be for the better.City is broke so services will be cut back big time, ( has anyone noticed how dirty the streets have been) so many of the small businesses are not going to survive this mess, and prices on everything are going through the roof. Yes, culturally it is still the most amazing city in the world, but for the amount of times I attend events even though they are on my “doorstep” isn’t worth staying here. This is not my home anymore.
We’ve lived on the upper west side for 27 years and love it. We’d never even consider leaving, but might think about a beach house. The city is definitely the place to be for us.
No chain restaurants indeed. Except that the artisanal/boutique/trendy restaurants fetishized on blogs like this or eater et al. are part of corporate restaurant groups cuz you had to be made of money to open a restaurant (pre-Covid). And post-Covid, all that’s gonna be left are chain restaurants. But sure.
This is wishful thinking. Have you been downtown since the “re-opening?” I am down here every day, and I will tell you that office buildings are still mostly deserted. The truth is that most office workers have not returned, and will not return, because companies are going to allow them to work remotely either full-time, or several days of week. Companies are going to seize the opportunity to reduce their overhead, and downsize their office space, which will lead to both the commercial and residential real estate market to tank. That is especially true if crime continues to skyrocket, as is happening right now. Furthermore, the last 20 years have proven that our government cannot protect residents of New York City. Whether it be 9/11, or Hurricane Sandy which flooded all of the downtown area, and now the pandemic, we are pretty much on our own.
From the late, great Milton Glaser:
“New York is a mind-set, and we’re all arrogantly proud of what that represents. The word they’ve used is toughness, but it’s also a combination of cynicism and generosity. It’s unprecedented anywhere in the world. So it really cannot be characterized as just another city, somewhere. It’s a kind of self-contained universe, and by virtue of that, it makes decisions that other places don’t.“?
Yes. I am now way over in the Pacific Northwest and finding Tacoma okay. But a part of my heart will never leave NYC and Washington Heights. Way Upper West Side.
To all of you who are complaining about the noise, the cost, the lack of space, having a kid in the city: leave already! Anyone who has seen New York in a movie knows that’s the reality. Exhausted by these things? You should be energized by these things! As for trying to convince the rest of us who would love the city and would rather hack off our left arm than move to some leafy place with a boredom factor of 1,000, stop! We don’t think about our future wealth in terms of $$$ saved, but what is our life worth of we live in some boring suburb? If we do think about finances, we value that living in this city gives us the opportunity to make more $$$ than if we didn’t. So please just enjoy your move, tell your new friends that you lived in the city once and that you know some cool restaurants and bars. But stop preaching to the rest of us who choose to stay for all the reasons that make this city unique and great, and will be here to help it recover as quickly as possible.
restaurants and bars …. pshhh hahaha ….. if that is what you base your life on that is sad. you can tell all your friends how cool you are that you stayed in a deteriorating shit hole trying to save the unsavable ….. very noble
Ksd seriously. I used to think that way too. Funny how people think as they evolve.
Pro-tip: you don’t have to live in the city to work in it. You have to be young and broke at least once in your life, I guess. Enjoy it while it lasts because consistently going to restaurants, clubs and bars gets old, even as much as you tell yourself that you’re “living in the best city in the world!”
I applaud your damage control effort, but this is not just Manhattan – its the top largest cities. I’ve lived in NYC before and I grew up and currently live in Houston. We have endless conveniences, entertainment, and restaurants as well….. the FACT is that the first half of 2020 has proven that the largest cities are now unmanageable. We pay 5x to 10x the price to live near ???? what ? More chains, gas stations, shitty night clubs and lounges? New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston…….These city leaders have failed all of us. These cities have deteriorated and now they can’t even protect its residents. I just bought a new house on 5 acres 30 minutes outside the city in a different county, small town where the mayor and police have their shit under control and PROTECT our interests and safety. A real community, better schools, nature, lakes, and quality of life. You think this is the last time we will have a pandemic, civil unrest, riots, and the countless other dangers where the leaders are not going to protect you… hell no……. get out now ……. buy some land live a safer life.
I am an uws’r and have been (single and now with my family) for years. I wouldn’t choose to raise my family any other place in the world. The opportunities in every way possible, the wonderful choices of education and exposure to so many different kinds of people make it the #1 place to be. Yes theatres and restaurants are temporarily shut down, like most places in the country. Last time i checked, life wasn’t supposed to be perfect. But when it comes back, as it will, we’ll be ready and waiting! Best to those who leave; more space for me!
Already had left, before virus arrived. Can’t stand living in a bldg where you can hear your neighbors, hate sharing walls with morons. Would consider coming back to live in a bldg where walls and floors are separated by two feet thick concrete walls and a strong police presence so scumbags do not rule the streets.
Austin, Texas here I come.
Say hello to tornado season.
Austin TX, sweltering summers 90-100+, 90% humidity, torrential rain hurricane and tordanos. Okay for UT Austin for culture, that’s it. . Outside of Austin, Dallas, and Houston boring…. deep south conservative mentality.
I welcome people leaving so I’ll have more space to roam around without fighting mobs of people on the sidewalks. NYC has really nothing to offer anymore as far as cultural attractions. Theater and opera are only for the rich. You can get good healthcare here and that’s mostly why I stay. NYC lost its souls under Bloomberg and Giuliani and became an enclave for the elite. There is nothing much left except you can still get a good bagel.
I love the noise and the chaos. Without it, I get lonely and bored. I could live here forever. I do not know if I will, because I do not know what the future holds. But I do love the city, even though bad things have happened to me here and it doesn’t feel like it loves me back.
New York City is A living breathing entity. It has A pulse and rhythm to it. Those of us who have surrendered to its charm, have adapted to its
inner workings. I am A part of this city because it is A part of me.
I moved to Long Island from the city let me tell you that it was my biggest mistake. I think I lost 10 years, the city keep you motivated, open minded and young. Suburban life will make you cold and you will be part of keeping up with Jones. Fake world. I missed the city, thinking now on moving back great market deals. I think the city will come back.
The problem is not just the virus. The problem with the city are also political. Many people are tired of far left persons coming to NYC and contributing to votes for politicians that don’t really contribute to quality of life for many native New Yorker’s. NYC is not just Manhattan or the Upper West Side. Some of the boroughs right outside of Manhattan are going downhill in many areas thanks to lack of policing and homeless shelters being sprung up in once residential “urban suburbs”, Places like Maspeth, Queens, Ozone Park, Queens and Astoria, Queens for example. Some areas of Brooklyn are on their way to returning to the crime wave glory days of the 80’s-90’s. All of that has a ripple affect on the quality of life in Manhattan because the MTA goes your way and in NYC you don’t need to go lookin’ for trouble, trouble finds you. With much of the NYPD force submitting early retirement papers in droves and a radical far left mayor who stripped them of their policing power and is dismantling units. NYC is in for dark days even after a Covid-19 vaccine is discovered.
Why do the same automatons keep voting in
the same left wing liberal radicals who do
absolutely nothing but destroy our American
dreams in favor of liberal policies that never work?
This is the outcome we are living in…
Austin TX, sweltering summers 90-100+, 90% humidity, torrential rain hurricane and tordanos. Okay for UT Austin for culture, that’s it. . Outside of Austin, Dallas, and Houston boring…. deep south conservative mentality.
I moved to Chicago from NYC in March of 2019 bought a place thinking it was an easier life. About two weeks after I moved I had panic attacks and anxiety daily. I made the wrong move. I moved back to the UWS 2 months ago during the pandemic. I know now that my wife and I are New Yorkers for life. The busy streets and packed subways for us is like the city hugging us giving comfort.
6 units on my floor vacated in the last 2 weeks. Counted 5 moving trucks on my block this morning. There will be some that will stick this out (I am not going anywhere). But I would say the media reports are pretty on target. Prices are outrageous to live in the conditions we are living. I don’t blame people for wanting to leave right now.
Born and raised New Yorker here (Washington Heights, Queens, UES). I am LEAVING. Sorry to say, this will be NYC and NYS’s loss. For me, the tax savings, alone, will justify the move. Leaving for a second home that I have owned for 20+ years. To put it simply, I refuse to fund the marxist agendas of the politicians. John Lindsay was a leader, de Blasio is a fool.
Lived in the suburbs for years and it was uninspiring and difficult to connect with neighbors with different mindsets. When I moved to NYC, I ditched my car and lost 20 pounds with no effort from all the walking. City life is not for everyone but some of us feel a sense of belonging here we can’t find in the suburbs.
These are end time prophecies that are unfolding, NYC will never again recover its former glory. Economists and financial experts can’t compare this pandemic to historical ones, much less the negative financial impact and its rippling effects. High end corporations are shifting focus to other areas of the U.S. NYC Million dollar listings are surging daily, that’s a strong indicator of a negative economic forecast.
We moved to the city two years ago.My husband could not take his 2 1/2 one way commute from NJ. We love living in the city. I saw people ran away when NYC became epic center with virus. But virus was everywhere We just don’t get the real picture. I came from NJ and we were thinking if we still had our beach home we also would have gone there. But NJ hospitals were in trouble.. If anything NYC has the power to get the help. NYC always comes back. And If you move to single family home the suburb with good school district in NJ average property tax bill start from $16000.
So it’s been only two years and even with pre existing condition, not once we regretted our decision to move to the city. It’s challenging times everywhere. just hang in there. And without the noise it’s not called city.