The thing about the NYC conversation is that there are people who are invigorated by NYC and don’t find it a hard place to live and there are people who find it exhausting and a constant struggle and these groups keep trying to talk as though there’s only one perspective.

I find NYC super energizing. Every time I visit LA I have a period a few days in when I feel deeply depressed and isolated. It’s okay that there are other people for whom the reverse is true! No one is wrong, and no one is right.

Also, like, *yes* NYC is expensive and *yes* gentrification is a problem but I don’t think this is just a question of money. There are people who would rather financially struggle in NYC than be financially comfortable elsewhere because of what the city gives them.

There are other places where I could live a cheaper life but a lot of them are set up in a way that would make me feel really isolated and be bad for my mental health. That’s real!

Like when people are all, “I bought a HOUSE in [other town] for the cost of an NYC 1BR” I just think, like, wow, now you have to manage a whole house, sounds terrible.

Not everybody wants the picket fence and lawn and house