look my unpopular opinion is that NYC is just a really hard city to live in unless you have a lot of money and if people who tried to make it work left when realized they could do the same job and live somewhere that half their paycheck isn't going to rent, good for them.

All I'm telling you is that I bought a *whole ass house* for half of what I would have paid for a walk up 1 bedroom in Manhattan. Is NYC dead? No, but I think it is for lots of people who tried as hard as they could there only to realize it's only attainable for the very rich.

Is NYC wonderful? Yes. Is it expensive, exhausting and difficult to live in? Also, yes.

If this is the start of massive cities like NYC, DC and LA no longer having a monopoly over jobs that are seen as culturally relevant or high paying, fantastic. Bring me there.

I was paying $1,000 more a month for rent than I'm spending on my mortgage. I was spending hundreds of wasted hours on trains. I was stuck in a tiny apartment I could not imagine having children in. I left, and my quality of life has increased 2 fold. And my job hasn't changed.

Anyway! If you are a millionaire who lives in a penthouse and has a driver and the ability to leave the city whenever you like, let's not pretend like the city isn't horrible for a lot of other people who aren't like you!

Maybe I'm not hardcore or gritty enough to "get" NYC. Fine! The first time I went to dinner with my parents in Texas I paid the entire bill thinking it was just for my food because other cities don't require a mortgage to go to a nice restaurant.

Did I play that off like I was surprising treating them to a meal and a couple of cocktails because I'm a nice and generous adult child? Yes, yes I did.

And if you're family loves NYC and has been there forever, good for you! But what I'm saying is that NYC residents should get less offended when people leave it.