This... I'm originally from New York, and I know lots of good engineers who grew up there, but quickly realized that you don't make anything more for working in New York versus San Francisco, Austin, or Denver.
Yes, you can afford a place in Manhattan on an engineer's salary. But it's going to be too small for a family, and if you want a bigger place you're going to need to do a long commute. Compare that with other cities where a well-paid software engineer is at the top end of the income ladder and can rent out a full house for what they'd pay for a 2-bedroom in NY.
(And yes, it's even a lot more expensive than SF. I've looked at apartments in both cities - while rents in SF are comparable to New York, you're still generally getting a much larger place for the same price. That matters if you have kids.)
Brooklyn and Queens are nice (if not that much cheaper for the areas near Manhattan.) But if working in New York means you have to live 40 mins outside of Manhattan, or in Hoboken / NJ, what's the point of being in NY? Might as well be in Denver with a 4000 sq ft house.
It's unlikely that NY rents are going to drop a lot. If startups in NY want to attract more top talent, they're going to have to pay significantly more than startups in cheaper locales.
Once you live in Brooklyn, it's possible to go days without having to enter the city. Plenty of awesome neighbourhoods in the BK (Greenpoint, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Bushwick, South Slope, DUMBO). I saw a LOT of young professionals with families in DUMBO/Park Slope/Brooklyn Heights.
Certainly, if you're intent on living in the city, you'll pay a premium.
If you're going weeks without going into the city, why not live somewhere else instead of paying still really high rents (and yes, Brooklyn rents are still usually high compared to everywhere else but Manhattan.)
Great parties, concert venues, cafes, restaurants, parks, bars, and lots and lots of super talented people ranging from musicians in Williamsburg to artists in Bushwick. NYC is more than just Manhattan. It's also easier to bike around.
It's like thinking that the Bay Area is just San Francisco and that there is no reason to live in the BA if you don't go to SF.
I love Brooklyn, but the rents aren't _that_ different from Manhattan if you're in the "hot" areas. Maybe 30% cheaper, but not 70%. Yeah, there are 'low' rents if you're willing to live an hour outside the city, but if you're in Williamsburg or Park Slope, it's not really appreciably cheaper.
And at least for software engineers, you probably _do_ make more in SF than NY, since it's a much more competitive job market for hiring a good software engineer. Just look at the wars that have been going on between FB and Google over hiring top talent. There's still nothing like that in NY.
I came to New York for work, but stayed for the people. Most of my friends live in nearby neighborhoods or clos-ish areas of Brooklyn. Certainly if I worked in the city I'd socialize a bit more there, but I'm not going out of my way to go in on a regular basis.
My rent is probably about 30% cheaper than the equivalent place in Manhattan, and that's savings of about $475 a month, which is nothing to scoff at.
I don't even know where to start here. Leaving aside that a huge chunk of Manhattan has a longer commute to Union Square than even New Jersey, 80% of the city doesn't live in Manhattan.
If you fan out to the metro area, Manhattan falls to less than 9%. Do some of those people wake up some mornings wondering "what's the point", sure, but I promise you (or more specifically: other readers who haven't lived here) most don't.
Even if you're living in the outer boroughs, or Jersey City, you're still probably paying more for what you get than you would if you lived in just about any other US city. I grew up in NY and lived there for 30 years, and when I look at rents in other cities I'm just dumbfounded how much cheaper it is. I'm in a very nice area of LA (still supposedly top 10 for cost) and I pay about 1/3 of what I would in Manhattan or Brooklyn for an equivalent place - and I commute less than 15 minutes to boot.
Yes, you can afford a place in Manhattan on an engineer's salary. But it's going to be too small for a family, and if you want a bigger place you're going to need to do a long commute. Compare that with other cities where a well-paid software engineer is at the top end of the income ladder and can rent out a full house for what they'd pay for a 2-bedroom in NY.
(And yes, it's even a lot more expensive than SF. I've looked at apartments in both cities - while rents in SF are comparable to New York, you're still generally getting a much larger place for the same price. That matters if you have kids.)
Brooklyn and Queens are nice (if not that much cheaper for the areas near Manhattan.) But if working in New York means you have to live 40 mins outside of Manhattan, or in Hoboken / NJ, what's the point of being in NY? Might as well be in Denver with a 4000 sq ft house.
It's unlikely that NY rents are going to drop a lot. If startups in NY want to attract more top talent, they're going to have to pay significantly more than startups in cheaper locales.