<p>
[quote]
Here are exerpts from one more article about the cost of housing in Manhattan from the New York Times. I hope that you will find it informative!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Again, I return back to my basic point. The problems of cost-of-living in New York are not specific to lawyers, but rather are characteristic of * everybody * who wants to live in New York. There are a lot of people who manage to live in New York (yes, including Manhattan) on far less money than a 1st-year law firm associate will make, even if you do subtract out some salary to pay down your student debt. Lawyers are still better off than most other New Yorkers are.</p>
<p>What can I say? That's the New York lifestyle. That's what you have to put up with in order to live in, what is arguably the world's most interesting city. Just think of it this way. There's a basic fundamental reason for why New York is so expensive - it's because there's a plethora of cool things to do there, and a lot of economic opportunity. Ultimately, that's what you're really paying for. If New York wasn't such a desirable place, the cost of living wouldn't be so high. </p>
<p>Now of course, desirability is not the only factor at play. Certainly, government policy (i.e. rent control that exacerbates price competition for un-controlled lots), consumer inertia, and other factors also play roles. But at the end of the day, location desirability is the key driving force, for without that, nothing else would matter. Put another way, if there was nothing culturally interesting about the city and there was no economic opportunity there, I'm sure the cost of living would drop off a cliff.</p>