There is a cluster effect to our social lives that is just as important as the clustering effect that puts the epi-center of certain industries in particular geographic spots (for instance, the movie industry is centered in LA, the software startup industry is centered in the Valley, etc). To be specific: a lot of the parties that I want to go to are in Brooklyn, but none of them are in New Jersey. If I go to a party in Brooklyn, and then at 3 AM I am heading home, then for me getting home is just a 15-20 minute taxi ride. Whereas if I live in New Jersey, getting home from Brooklyn is at least an hour of trains and buses and walking.
This point would be moot if there were an equal number of parties in New Jersey that I wanted to go to (and therefore getting home to Brooklyn, from New Jersey, would also be a big ordeal) but there are none. I've never been invited to a party in New Jersey that I wanted to go to. Even when I lived in New Jersey, all the social events that I wanted to go to were either in Manhattan or Brooklyn. So, for me, it makes a lot more sense to live in Brooklyn.
I could maybe see living in New Jersey if the rents were dramatically lower, but they are not. I have a little studio apartment in Brooklyn that I pay $1,100 a month for, and in New Jersey I might pay $900 for an apartment of the same size. The extra $200 a month is just not worth it to me, not when the real cost involves being an hour further away from the social life that I want to have.
Not that I'm a 20-something, but I assume the logic is the same for them as it is for me.
There is a cluster effect to our social lives that is just as important as the clustering effect that puts the epi-center of certain industries in particular geographic spots (for instance, the movie industry is centered in LA, the software startup industry is centered in the Valley, etc). To be specific: a lot of the parties that I want to go to are in Brooklyn, but none of them are in New Jersey. If I go to a party in Brooklyn, and then at 3 AM I am heading home, then for me getting home is just a 15-20 minute taxi ride. Whereas if I live in New Jersey, getting home from Brooklyn is at least an hour of trains and buses and walking.
This point would be moot if there were an equal number of parties in New Jersey that I wanted to go to (and therefore getting home to Brooklyn, from New Jersey, would also be a big ordeal) but there are none. I've never been invited to a party in New Jersey that I wanted to go to. Even when I lived in New Jersey, all the social events that I wanted to go to were either in Manhattan or Brooklyn. So, for me, it makes a lot more sense to live in Brooklyn.
I could maybe see living in New Jersey if the rents were dramatically lower, but they are not. I have a little studio apartment in Brooklyn that I pay $1,100 a month for, and in New Jersey I might pay $900 for an apartment of the same size. The extra $200 a month is just not worth it to me, not when the real cost involves being an hour further away from the social life that I want to have.
Not that I'm a 20-something, but I assume the logic is the same for them as it is for me.