eBay has amazing daily deals


New York Faces Exodus as Residents Plan to Leave State


1 week ago 13
-->

New York City could face a mass exodus of residents in the near future, as a recent survey shows that only 30 percent of New Yorkers think the quality of life in the city is good and only 50 percent plan on staying in the city in the next four years.

In its first post-pandemic resident survey, published on Tuesday, the nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank Citizen Budget Commission (CBC) found that unhappiness has grown among residents of the Big Apple between 2017 and 2023. The survey includes responses from over 6,600 New Yorkers, only half of whom said they plan to stay in the city until after 2028.

But why do residents want to leave? The reasons that emerged from the survey show that New Yorkers feel more unsafe in the city in 2023 than they did six years before, they're unsatisfied with many public services, public education, the cleanliness of their neighborhoods and the traffic.

Only 30 percent of New Yorkers rated the quality of life in the city as excellent or good, down from 50 percent in 2017 and 2008. One-third of respondents to the CBC survey said the quality of life in the city was poor. Many more—50 percent—were happier with life in their neighborhood, rating the quality of life there as good or excellent.

New York City
The sun sets on the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the One World Trade Center in New York City as people walk along the Hudson River on March 17, 2024, in Edgewater, New Jersey. Only... Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Wealthier households were generally happier with the quality of life in their neighborhoods than less well-off residents, with 43 percent of New Yorkers making more than $200,000 a year and 45 percent of those earning more than $100,000 rating their neighborhood's life as good or excellent, while only 30 percent of those earning less than $35,000 said the same about theirs.

Only 23.8 percent considered the overall quality of the city's government services good, against 44 percent in 2017 and 41.9 percent in 2008. Only 37.1 of residents said they were happy with the level of public safety in the city, and only 34 percent were happy with the level of cleanliness of their neighborhood.

Just 49.1 percent said they felt safe riding the subway during the day, a stark drop from the 81.5 percent reported in 2017 and the 86.1 percent reported in 2008. A recent string of fatal incidents on the New York City's subway appears to back residents' concerns. Only 21.7 percent felt safe riding the subway at night, against 46.4 percent in 2017 and 44.7 percent in 2008.

The cost of housing in the city, which has skyrocketed during the booming years of the pandemic, is also a source of dissatisfaction for residents. Some 68.2 percent of New Yorkers told CBC that they didn't think the city's government was doing enough to address New York City's housing needs.

Newsweek contacted CBC for comment by email on Wednesday.

"This feedback straight from New Yorkers is a valuable tool to help focus priorities and drive improvements," CBC President Andrew Rein said in a press release. "Of course, it's important to consider context—coming out of the pandemic, employment just recently returning to pre-COVID levels, and increasing affordability challenges—but what New Yorkers' responses crystalize the stark reality that they clearly rate the quality of life and quality of City services as not good," he added.

Rein suggests that "tremendous progress is needed in many areas, especially for certain populations and in certain neighborhoods," adding that, luckily, the priorities of the city's leadership seems to align with those of New Yorkers, "including safety, housing, and clean streets, parks, and public spaces."

Commenting on the survey's result, New York City's mayor Eric Adams said: "What I love about this report is it said how people say my priorities are in order, public safety, rats. Fortunately, the office of Mayor Eric Adams administration [is] by and large in line with New York; his priorities include public safety, housing, and clean streets, parks and public spaces."

Are you a New Yorker planning on leaving the city in the next few years? Let us know why by contacting [email protected].

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Read Entire Article