Living In New York: Prospects And Challenges

You could be like John Mellencamp's song, "Small Town," ("I was born in a small town/and I live in a small town/probably die in a small town...") however, 20% of Americans move annually, so the possibility of moving to another community is relatively high. It might be your choice; it might be forced on you by your employer. And, for some of you, you have already moved around a lot and know all too well about living (and possibly) working in another place. 

That said, your paper topic involves exploring the prospects of living in another community (cannot be your current community) but specifically, a metropolitan area in the United States or Canada. More than 80% of the U.S. population lives in a metropolitan area. Because Americans are so mobile and there is so much to consider where to move to, there are many publications, databases, and websites that assist in the process.

Economy and Jobs

I am living in a small town in Arizona named Yuma. It is a beautiful city and good for a living, but the job opportunities are not that good.  It is considered one of the worst cities in America to find a job (Moretti, 2014). Therefore I am planning to move to New York to get a good job. In this particular essay the economy and jobs, the cost of living, weather, education, well-being and healthcare, Crime, Transportation around the city, Leisure, culture and Arts, and quality of living life in New York will be discussed and it will be compared with other cities.

The New York City has been identified as the global premier financial centre. The New York metropolitan areas produced a gross metropolitan product of more than US$1.33 trillion. The economy of this city accounts for most of the economic activity in both the states of New Jersey and New York.  The unemployment rates in the New York City were observed 4.0 % in September 2018. Private sector employments in the New York City increased over the year by 68,600, or 1.7 percent to 3,996,300 in the month of October 2018. The metropolis’s over-the-year image remained progressive, with six of nine areas adding employments for the twelve months through October 2018. Compare to Yuma and other cities it is far better (Bureau of labor statistics, 2018).

It is not hidden that the living cost in America is higher than in other cities of America. Cost of living in this city is nearly 68.8 percent greater than the general cost of other cities, and living cost in Manhattan is higher than double than the domestic average. The Charge per square meter (10.7 square feet) to purchase in Manhattan is $848,600; Expense per square meter (10.7 square feet) to purchase outside City is $3,229.17 (NYU Furman Center, 2015). Other cities are far cheaper than New York for example living cost in London is 30.10 percent cheaper, in Toronto is 60.22 percent cheaper, and Paris is 57.01 percent cheaper (NYU Furman Center, 2013).

The climate of New York is normally humid and during January and February, the temperature decreases below freezing condition. The summer-like condition occurs from late May to late September. It experiences nearly ten tornados each year and in relation to air pollution, this state ranks 46^th among all the fifty states for the number of greenhouse gases produced per individual. New York has 230.7 percent high rainy and 21.1 percent less sunny days than Los Angeles. Therefore, it can be said that the climate of this state is favorable to live and one can survive here (Rosenzweig, & Solecki, 2010).

The New York Department of education has the annual budget of about $25 billion for nearly 1.1 million students. New York spends around $19.076 per year for each student. In 2015, it ranks nine among all the states for providing bachelor’s degree and five to an advanced degree. The percentage of high school graduates were 85.6 Percent which lower than other states like Texas, Washington which as the rate or 93.6 and 99.4 percent (Department of education, 2018). New York City has numerous nationally main independent colleges and universities, like Barnard College and Columbia University. The New York Public Library has the biggest collection of any community library system in the nation. The state has fifteen nationally top educational medical research bodies and medical centers (Taylor, 2018).

Living cost

New York City healthcare spends total $162.8 billion, which is equivalent to $8,341 per individual. Around 48 percent of people of New York City have health protection via their employers. New York has become the sixth-most costly state for individual health used money per capita (Health NYC, 2018). The normal cost of individual health expenses per capita in the New York City is $8,341, while the regular cost of individual health spending per capita in the Massachusetts state is the most costly state and uses $9,278 ((Health NYC, 2018). There are nearly 204 non-federal, temporary, acute-care hospitals and around 59,295 staffed beds in the state (Department of health, 2018). 

The violent crime in the state has been decreased from 19921 to 2017 and became the 10^th overall safest state in the world. After the 1990s the crime rates were dropped dramatically as the New York police department used different strategies like CompStat and Broken window. However, a report published in The Wall Street Journal by Honan (2018), reported a different story and found that in 2018 the murders and rapes rate has been raised. They also reported that the state recorded around 147 killings between Jan to June 30 which is equivalent to 8 percent increase from the same in last year when 136 murders reported in the same period.

To get around the New York City one can use the subway, Bus, taxi, car, bike, ferry, helicopter, and cruise. Subway trains and many buses run daily and all the time and generally cost $ 2.75. The yellow taxi is a popular and regular way to visit the entire city. The lowest metered fare is $2.50 that rises by 50 cents in each fifth mile or every single minute. There are thousands of bikes that available all the time can also be used.

New York City made an eighth succeeding annual record of around 62.8 million travelers in 2017. Some of the main destination points include the Ellis Island, Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty. There were 13.13 million global overnight tourists in 2017, to New York, and nearly 12.7 million in 2016. In 2016, the New York state was the third highest international visitor spend city behind London and England.

New York art galleries, museums, and theaters have something for every person. The Olympic Games happened in Lake Placid to the amazing and exciting part of the Revolutionary Combat at Fort Ticonderoga, this city is rich in art and culture. The rich culture of New York makes this state a most favorable place to live. From the world-popular creations on proscenium platforms to longstanding drumming rings in City parks, the city is the home to a supreme diversity of artistic events (Markusen & Gadwa, 2010).  In 2013, the research notes, nearly 8.6 percent of the country’s creative workforce was established in New York State, increased from 7.1 percent in 2003. This improved share, inspiring considering that the state responsible for 3 percent of all employment in the US, also indicates New York’s replaced LA as the nation’s major site of creative commercial employment (UPenn, 2017).

Quality of life (Conclusion)

After reviewing various articles and reports on the economy, employments, expense of living, weather, education, health and healthcare, crime, transportation, leisure, and arts and culture, it can be concluded that New York is the idle place for employment seekers. However, some of the concerns are noticeable such as the high cost of living, and crime. The crime related issues are well controlled by the New York police, therefore crime is no more an issue. The high job opportunities and world-class arts and cultures are the main attractive point to live there. The transportation and education system is impressive.

References

Bureau of labor statistics (2018). State employment and unemployment. Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/laus_11162018.pdf

Cooper, H., Hedges, L. V., & Valentine, J. C. (Eds.). (2009). The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis. (2^nd ed.). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Department of education (2018). FY 2019 agency watch list. Retrieved from: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/fy-2019-agency-watch-list/department-of-education/

Department of health (2018). Data & reports. Retrieved from: https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/

Health NYC (2018). Health Status. Retrieved from: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/data/health-tools/neighborhood-statistics-health-status.page 

Honan, K. (2018). New York City Murders on the rise in 2018, NYPD Data shows. Retrieved from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-murders-on-the-rise-in-2018-nypd-data-shows-1531262595

Markusen, A., & Gadwa, A. (2010). Arts and culture in urban or regional planning: A review and research agenda. Journal of planning education and research, 29(3), 379-391.

Moretti, E. (2014). Are cities the new growth escalator?. Retrieved from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/18744/WPS6881.pdf?sequence=1.

NYU Furman Center (2013). State of New York City’s housing and neighborhoods in 2013. Retrieved from: https://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/publications/SOC2013_HighRes.pdf

NYU Furman Center (2015). State of New York City’s housing and neighborhoods in 2013. Retrieved from: https://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/publications/NYU_Furman_Center_2015_State_of_New_York_Citys_Housing_Neighborhoods_in_2015.pdf

Rosenzweig, C., & Solecki, W. (2010). Climate change adaptation in New York City. Annals of the NY Academy of Science, 1196.

Taylor, M. (2018). The 2018-2019 budget: Proposition 98 education analysis. Retrieved from: https://lao.ca.gov/reports/2018/3741/prop98-ed-analysis-020718.pdf

UPenn (2017). New research shows how arts and culture improve health, safety, and wellbeing. Retrieved from: https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/new-research-shows-arts-culture-improve-health-safety-well/