Jonathan J. Miller, the president of Miller Samuel, the appraisal company, said that “while there is no known empirical data to reliably measure this amenity,” a washing machine can add as much as 5 percent to an apartment’s price tag.5% of $739,000 is $36,950.
“It is the ultimate convenience,” said Doug Steinberg, whose one-bedroom condo, at 315 Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, is now on the market for $739,000. The apartment, No. 7B, has its own laundry tucked behind a louvered door, with shelves for detergent and towels.
It's so hard to live in New York City. You need to be rich to have such ordinary things. (It's tough going to a laundromat, but sometimes that's what you have to do.)
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97 comments:
That's accurate--there are many good reasons to live in New York, but certain things that are commonplace eslewhere are luxuries here. Washer/dryer is one (most people either go to the laundry mat or pay someone to wash their clothes), dish washers are more common, but also fairly rare. For long periods of time living here, not only did I not own a car, but I didn't know anybody who did either. They're just not useful enough to justify the cost.
What would a personal snowplow be valued at ?
Happy New Year.
(It's tough going to a laundromat, but sometimes that's what you have to do.)
I bet you could get a couple hundred bucks for some tire chains and a snow shovel.
Snowblower for rent. Call 1 800 555 1212.
It would be an interesting movie about survival to see how someone in a large metropolis like NYC would cope with getting out of the city in the event of an extended power failure.
Here's the secret behind the liberal animus against cars. Middle class people in Manhattan can't afford a car. So, Stuff White People Like liberals have to create a rationale in which they've "chosen" not to own a car. They "choose" to do so out of righteous concern about the environment.
Here's the math per month of owning a modest car in Manhattan:
Miniminal car payment: $400
Garage: $400
Insurance: $300
The minimal cost for owning a decent car is $1,100 a month before you've even considered things like gas and maintenance, not to mention parking tickets and tolls.
Since Manhattan is the place all Swipples must live, the Swipples must figure out how to make their "decision" to not own a car appear to be one of bravery and consciousness.
In small town Illinois, the cost of owning a car is 1/4 of what it costs to own a car in Manhattan.
Here at last is the explanation for the Swipple animus against cars. They can't afford to live in Manhattan and own a car.
I know this because I used to work in corporate law firms in Manhattan. The Swipple kids would arrive as associates new in town, bragging about how they didn't own a car and took the subway everywhere.
Those who made senior associate or partner status immediately bought cars and bragged about the exorbitant cost of owning a high priced car in Manhattan.
The tables were now turned. Status was no longer conferred by making a decision of conscience in favor of saving the environment. For the winners, owning a BMW and parking it in a $600 a month garage with an attendant became the new badge of status.
The basic amenities are just that. Stuff you need to control yourself. Over the years, the number of horror stories of what happened to some woman who went down to the basement of the apartment building to do the laundry has fueled many a cop show episode.
This is what you get for living in a one party system.
Ten years ago, living in a $375 per month, two bedroom townhouse apartment in a small (1,500 people) rural town, I bought a basic washer and dryer for around $500 total. Now I have a house and the same washer and dryer.
I'm sure many New Yorkers would make fun of me as a hick or redneck for living in a rural area. I'm deciding what to do with my extra half mil.
If we had a washer/dryer in our downtown loft, this place would be perfect.
Meade - great song, wonderful parody of "Leader of the Pack", came out when I was in the 8th grade.
Reminds me of the old saying, "Life is too important to be taken seriously."
It's tough going to a laundromat, but sometimes that's what you have to do
The couple we bought our house from had two little kids, and their washer-dryer ran non-stop all day long. (The mom pointed out that not only did kids get their own clothes dirty, but they got their parents' clothes, bedding etc. dirty as well.) I wonder if having to go to a laundromat limits the birthrate.
Space is at a premium in typical NYC apartments, and electric current is at a premium as well. Moist dryer air has to be vented outside -- I can see how the cost of having a washer and dryer combo would far exceed the cost of the appliances themselves.
Shouting Thomas has it right. I believe much of the animus the left has to the successful is a simple matter of envy and a way to convert dejection to superiority.
Couldn't pay me enough to move back.
I had a friend try to convince me a couple of years ago that his apartment was worth the 20% premium they paid because it was 1 block from Whole Foods.
I'm such a hick, that I even have a clothes line.
Dadvocate - I always marveled at how my NYC friends would laugh at the thought of living in a mobile home while they pay $2000 a month for 400 sq ft studio apartments in the worst neighborhoods of NYC.
"...the liberal animus against cars."
???
"...the liberal animus against cars."
???
Yeah, wtf? Prius good; Excursion bad.
I believe much of the animus the left has to the successful is a simple matter of envy and a way to convert dejection to superiority.
The people being criticized here are affluent New Yorkers who can afford good condos in Manhattan, such as the attorneys in corporate law firms that shoutingthomas was talking about. You know, the sort of (generally socially liberal) ee-leetist urban yuppies that populist social conservatives always complain about. In other words - successful people. If fact, most of the class resentment I hear these days comes from the Palin crowd, because those libruls think they're better'n us.
That having been said, New York is a great city, but the cost of living and difficulty in getting basic amenities that people in other big cities (Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, etc.) take for granted is a deal-killer.
I'm such a hick, that I even have a clothes line.
AllenS must live someplace where the warm winds blow.
fls,
If you put sheets on the clothes line when it's 20 below, they'll still dry. I'm not sure how they do it, but they do. Then, when you bring them into the house the fresh aroma is overwhelming. All this, from Star Prairie, WI. Current temp 7º.
If you put sheets on the clothes line when it's 20 below, they'll still dry
Allen, I put the jeans out about a month ago and they froze before they dried. What's your secret? I hate using the dryer. Such a waste.
CF
I simply don't understand this. Even tiny crap apartments in Philly all have washer-dryers?
"New York is a great city, but the...difficulty in getting basic amenities that people in other big cities (Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, etc.) take for granted is a deal-killer."
I'm curious what basic amenities you're referring to.
Let them dwell in their state of appartement.
I'm curious what basic amenities you're referring to.
For starters, an inexpensive washer and dryer in one's home, relative ease of parking (that won't cost a king's ransom) and nearby supermarkets larger than Duane Reade or a good bodega. I'm not knocking New York City (and to be precise - a lot of this conversation is about Manhattan, not the outer boroughs), but there isn't much dispute about the high cost of living in New York City or the fact that there are a lot of things that one can easily get in other big cities that are a hassle or really expensive to get in New York. But there are trade-offs in New York's favor on other matters, of course. There's no place quite like Anthology Film Archives anywhere else in the US, for example.
Unit 7B is not listed on zillow.com. But unit 8C is-- and it too has a washer/dryer. It's 612 sq.ft. (how do people live in a closet?). There's no zillow estimate, but the price history shows that it was listed September 2009 for $645,000. The price was reduced twice, down to $599,000, before the listing was removed last March.
To each his own. But at these $/sqft (I checked others in the building, very similar) my home (all heated/cooled space, i.e., not including garage & workshop) is worth just a bit over $7M. Now, if we're only talking the main house, it goes down to $3M, not including the value of the land. And it did come with a washer AND dryer... but I strung up a clothes line anyway.
Again- to each his own. But I sure am glad we found the farm. (Which we did not pay millions of dollars for-- not even close.)
Hang those jeans in the bathroom on the shower rod. Just make sure you leave the door open (when not in use).
Using the laundromat is tyranny.
"...the liberal animus against cars."
???
Yeah, wtf? Prius good; Excursion bad.
Thanks, FLS, for explicating the liberal animus against cars.
You've explained part of it. You think you've got the right to tell other people what kind of car to buy and drive. At the greater extreme, people like you think that there's some reason to bitch at people for enjoying owning and driving a car.
You think that owning and driving a car is something people have to explain to you.
I.e., you've got an animus against cars. You think you've got a good reason for it. But, there it is.
You have such a wonderful social consciousness. So, you should be able to tell other people what to do.
So, thanks against for giving greater depth to my remarks.
The last farm in Manhattan: Benedetto's at 213th and B'way.
http://wahi.typepad.com/
the_streets_where_we_live/
2009/04/
fabulous-photos-of-inwood
-from-1919-to-1968.html
For those of you who are getting your backs up in a hump over Manhattan real estate prices, think about this:
When I first arrived in Manhattan, way back in the early 70s, you could barely give real estate away. Those lovely lofts in Soho and Noho weren't so lovely and could be had for $50,000 to $100,000.
If you bought back then and sold out pre-2001, you are now a millionaire living in a posh estate in upstate New York, and you've got more money in the bank than you can spend.
So, the cost of living in NYC is also an opportunity. Wish I was one of the winners.
"There's no place quite like Anthology Film Archives anywhere else in the US, for example."
I don't go there often, but it's great that it exists. (I was just there about a month and a half ago, where I saw THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER.)
These basic amenities you refer to I can live and do live without--we have washers & driers in my building's basement, and I haven't owned (or missed owning) a car since I moved to NYC--but the disappearance of the city's independent and revival film houses and independent bookstores over the years has been a calamitous loss.
One doesn't move to New York to find what is common and available where one is coming from; one comes here--or did at one time--to partake of what NYC had to offer that wasn't available elsewhere.
I'm very happy that I don't have to be burdened with owning a car and that I can easily get around without one, but the NYC of today is less appealing in most other respects than the NYC I moved to.
You think you've got the right to tell other people what kind of car to buy and drive.
Ah. Shoutingthomas is one of the profligate conservatives. Hauling the family around in a vehicle that gets only 12-14 mpg highway and 8-10 mpg city; thus putting ourselves in the hands of a bunch of people -- Middle Easterners and Venezuelans who don't like us very much -- is unpatriotic.
There was recently an article on the net somewhere written by a guy who lives in Dallas about why he chooses to stay there rather than move back to NYC. Why put up with these punishing lifestyle issues when you can fly there once a month and partake of all the cultural amenities?
Same thing is happening in California.
If fact, most of the class resentment I hear these days comes from the Palin crowd, because those libruls think they're better'n us.
This is not so much class resentment as it is generational resentment.
Those Swipples move to NYC to escape their own "backward" families. Palin reminds the Swipples of their Moms and Dads back in Kansas and Indiana.
New York can't be that great a place to live or they wouldn't keep moving out here to Los Angeles and ruining what used to be a great place to live.
"Welcome to California: Now go home."
For those of you who think that I find something lacking in NYC, you are wrong.
This comedy of human manners and existence (and the concomitant tragedy of manners and existence) is why I've lived and worked in NYC for so long.
The human drama is lived at a pace and intensity in NYC that you will find in few other places. It's grand.
Even my hometown of Chicago, wonderful as it is, is slow and small in comparison.
an article on the net somewhere written by a guy who lives in Dallas about why he chooses to stay there rather than move back to NYC. Why put up with these punishing lifestyle issues ...
The man lives in Texas -- he's already taken on enough punishing lifestyle issues for any man.
“If I owned both Hell and Texas I would rent out Texas and live in Hell.” -- Philip Henry Sheridan
It's really not a big deal not having a washer or dryer. Laundromats are all over, and a lot of people utilize drop-off service. Life isn't harder w/o them (unless you're far from one), just ever slightly different.
Allen S- water in frozen clothes on a line in sunshine goes from the frozen state to a gas. Don't ask me why but read it years ago.
I live in tony east Boca in Palm Beach county in an 1100 sq.ft. townhome with two bathrooms and off street parking, etc. The Publix is 3/4 mile away. Last sale was off 2/3 from the highs of 2006 or from $285k to $95k. Being east of I-95 makes homeowner insurance costs relatively high (hurricane threat) compared to what I was used to paying in suburban Philly, but with homestead law, real estate taxes are a mere $850 and no state income tax, local wage tax, per capita tax, occupational privilege tax, ice to scrape, snow to shovel, etc., it is much cheaper than New York City. Of course the grass is greener living on a mountain away from all the snowbirds or transplanted NY'ers with their sense of entitlement that infest the roadways and stores here.
Another nice thing about being here is listening to the never ending complaints that algore wuz robbed despite the best efforts of the leftist state Supremes. Thank you, clueless codgers for not comprehending the dem-designed butterfly ballot and sparing us all that pompous windbag from Tennessee. And a big thanks to Tennesseeans also for rejecting their own favorite son too.
I have seen some units that have washing machines but no dryers.
What's that all about?
I have no idea why people would live there.
Is this a rent control problem like San Francisco?
"The couple we bought our house from had two little kids, and their washer-dryer ran non-stop all day long."
They're doing something wrong. I have two kids, and do fine w/ one laundromat run a week. Some parents are annoying and insist their lives are *so burdened* because they want to think they're special. So they make work for themselves. It's like Munchausen by proxy but with laundry.
Ah. Shoutingthomas is one of the profligate conservatives. Hauling the family around in a vehicle that gets only 12-14 mpg highway and 8-10 mpg city; thus putting ourselves in the hands of a bunch of people -- Middle Easterners and Venezuelans who don't like us very much -- is unpatriotic.
Who said anything about patriotism.
I'm talking so of consumer preferences.
In fact, when I could afford it I owned an Expedition, which got about 17 mpg. Abso-fucking-lutely the best car I've ever owned. Loved it. Great view of the road. Quick and fast. And nobody fucks with a 5,000 lb. SUV on the Thruway or on the Henry Hudson Parkway.
Can no longer afford this luxury. If I had the money, I'd buy another Expedition in a heartbeat. Very reliable car, too. Never breaks down.
AllenS pondered, If you put sheets on the clothes line when it's 20 below, they'll still dry. I'm not sure how they do it, but they do.
Sublimation.
"I have no idea why people would live there."
I feel the same about people that don't.
Titus: All dryers have the problem of exhausting moist air to the outside. Electric dryers would require a considerable circuit upgrade; gas dryers might require a gas piping upgrade.
Washers don't require an unusual amount of current, and tapping into the hot and cold water pipes should be relatively simple.
I rarely use a laundromat, but the convenience of doing multiple loads simultaneously is appealing.
My next house I will have built with a minimum of three washers and dryers. They will be close to the bedrooms, not the garage, so I don't have to haul clothes up and down stairs all day long.
I'll also have a three, or maybe a four car garage.
It's nice to dream. But at least it's a possible dream in Austin. In NYC it's pure delusionary.
I wish I was one of those people shoutingthomas refers to who purchased a loft in Soho in the 70's for 50k.
What a windfall those people received.
I had to replace my 1975 dryer just last year. They don't make dryers to last anymore.
The formerly matching washing machine still works.
somefeller said...
I believe much of the animus the left has to the successful is a simple matter of envy and a way to convert dejection to superiority.
The people being criticized here are affluent New Yorkers who can afford good condos in Manhattan, such as the attorneys in corporate law firms that shoutingthomas was talking about. You know, the sort of (generally socially liberal) ee-leetist urban yuppies that populist social conservatives always complain about. In other words - successful people. If fact, most of the class resentment I hear these days comes from the Palin crowd, because those libruls think they're better'n us.
Hardly better, just hypocrites. The Lefties believe only they should have money. They're the ones who resent Conservatives, mostly for doing as well, if not, better than them.
That having been said, New York is a great city
If you take away the crime, the squalor, the lack of responsive city services, the crushing debt, the high taxes, the intrusiveness of the city government, the arrogance of the public service unions...
Kookie,
How can you not continue to love NYC?
It's still got what you came here for... a community of free-lovin' commies ready to fight to the death for Utopia!
Where else, outside of some college towns, will you find a bookstore that sells nothing but UNOPPRESSIVE, NON-IMPERIALIST BARGAIN BOOKS?
Currently featuring a sale on everything relating to the great Prophet Dylan!!
One doesn't move to New York to find what is common and available where one is coming from; one comes here--or did at one time--to partake of what NYC had to offer that wasn't available elsewhere.
The thing is - many of the things that once were only found in NYC can be found everywhere, or at least in large cities. For example, while Anthology Film Archives is a a great and unique place, you can find lots of places that screen experimental films and documentaries outside of NYC, and that wasn't as common thirty years ago. (And let's not talk about the cultural implications of technological wonders like Youtube, Netflix and Amazon.com.) On that score, I can go see such films at venues here in Houston, park my car there for free or for cheap, stop by a supermarket (like Whole Foods - they started here in Texas) on the way home for an organic snack, and then wash my clothes in my own laundry in an urban home that costs about a third of what I'd pay for it in Manhattan. That ain't nothin'.
This is not so much class resentment as it is generational resentment. Those Swipples move to NYC to escape their own "backward" families. Palin reminds the Swipples of their Moms and Dads back in Kansas and Indiana.
That may be true for some SWPLs in NYC, but it doesn't explain the much broader rancor and resentments one hears from the Palin crowd towards anyone they deem class enemies. Just ask Barbara Bush.
The man lives in Texas -- he's already taken on enough punishing lifestyle issues for any man.
Only true because he lives in Dallas. I kid - actually Dallas is a great city, including for gay people. The Sheriff in Dallas County is a lesbian Latina who is presumably pretty good with firearms. That's probably not something you'll see soon in NYC government.
so I don't have to haul clothes up and down stairs all day long.
As far as I know, only in Ohio and Michigan are laundry chutes standard.
Then wear only white things and you can scoop it all up in one load.
You still have to carry them back upstairs, but you choose what wear from the top of the basket as needed.
@AllenS
I'm waiting for the clothes line police to thump on my door any day.
I put up a retractable clothes line where it can only be seen from a neighboring roof.
Wealthy SF liberals moved into our county in large numbers over the last twenty years. Hijacking prices and blotting tree lined, middle class family neighborhoods with their faux French facades and zero lot line monstrosities.
Of course their tender liberal sensibilities were offended by the mostly conservative rubes around them, so they began to ban neighborhood "eyesores" such as front yard statuary, house paint colors deemed inappropriatly garish, clothes lines and off street RV and boat parking.
Now they're discussing issuing "green" variances for clothes lines...of course there will be an annual permit fee.
FOR. A. FREAKING. CLOTHES. LINE!
Stupid is forever.
Lucky for you, you look good in white.
I had been working for 15 years before I bought my first loft with a washer and driver. It was bliss. I washed clothes 24 7.
Just three years ago I purchased my first loft with a parking spot, outside of course, but it was so incredible. I could of rented it out for 300 a month but I had a car.
I parked on the street for 20 years. Two of those years with Wisconsin Plates (totally degrading BTW). I was booted three times because of unpaid parking tickets. Each time I had to go to some God awful place and give them cash to release the car. It was something like $2500 each time. My car was probably broken into over 50 times and on nights that it rained. Fun.
somefeller said...
This is not so much class resentment as it is generational resentment. Those Swipples move to NYC to escape their own "backward" families. Palin reminds the Swipples of their Moms and Dads back in Kansas and Indiana.
That may be true for some SWPLs in NYC, but it doesn't explain the much broader rancor and resentments one hears from the Palin crowd towards anyone they deem class enemies. Just ask Barbara Bush.
More like the other way around, given what Mrs B actually said. Then again, she seems to be trying to prep the battlespace for Jeb in '16 and she would appear to see Miss Sarah as his biggest obstacle.
BJM,
That's terrible news. I'm sure that Ezra Klein would be able to tell you why you can't have those things.
More like the other way around, given what Mrs B actually said. Then again, she seems to be trying to prep the battlespace for Jeb in '16 and she would appear to see Miss Sarah as his biggest obstacle.
Yeah, because suggesting that Palin should politically "stay in Alaska" is totally an example of class warfare on Barbara Bush's part, the sort of thing Palin should respond to with comments about "elite blue bloods". But it's no surprise that sort of thing appeals to the subset (probably not a majority, thankfully) of conservatives who never accomplished much in life and resent those who have, particularly if they happen to couple that success with education and cultural interests. Sarah knows her audience and I give her a tip of the hat for that.
Yeah, wtf? Prius good; Excursion bad.
Depends. I have a friend who owns a diesel powered Excursion. On the highway it gets close to 20 mpg. He likes coaching basketball and hauling his team around. He pretty much only drives it on the highway. It would take 3 Priuses to do what he can do with one Excursion. Plus, you don't have to worry about battery disposal/pollution when the car wears out.
He drives a Toyota Highlander on a daily basis. As a large animal (horses and cows) veterinarian he needs the 4WD and some space for his equipment.
His wife drives a Prius.
"Here's the math per month of owning a modest car in Manhattan:
Minimal car payment: $400
Garage: $400
Insurance: $300"
I don't believe that car insurance rates in Manhattan are enormously high compared to other places. Drivers in the Bronx and Brooklyn get nailed for monumental premiums, which is why many of them find it cheaper to pay as much as $3K for counterfeit plates and registration stickers than to register their cars legitimately and provide proof of insurance.
Peter
For example, while Anthology Film Archives is a a great and unique place, you can find lots of places that screen experimental films and documentaries outside of NYC, and that wasn't as common thirty years ago.
Including, oddly enough, Hot Springs Arkansas. (2011 will be the 20th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival).
I knew an older couple who had six kids and umpteen grand-kid, so they had two dishwashers for big get-together week-ends...what a great idea.
$739k for a 1 bedroom, probably another $1000/mo in building fees...if you can spring for that much money you can send your dirty clothes out.
It's really not a big deal not having a washer or dryer. Laundromats are all over, and a lot of people utilize drop-off service. Life isn't harder w/o them (unless you're far from one), just ever slightly different.
Bullshit. You personally might not *mind* hauling stuff to a laundromat (for whatever bizarre reason??) but don't assert that it's no harder than having one in your own home.
A lot of people here in Germany have washers but no dryers. It's easy to lay your clothes out to dry on a rack. It's not easy to hand wash all your clothes. If you only have space for one, you want a washer.
Another thing they have here are condenser dryers. I'd never heard of those in the US, but they don't need to vent air. Instead, you pour out a tub full of water once your load is done. They don't get as hot as American dryers, which means your clothes don't feel quite as dry when they come out. But, they are dry and go through a lot less wear and tear.
Referring to NYC:
"If you take away the crime, the squalor, the lack of responsive city services, the crushing debt, the high taxes, the intrusiveness of the city government, the arrogance of the public service unions...."
Do you live here? Have you lived here?
You're speaking of a long-gone NYC...the crime is low, the squalor is much less in evidence, the city government hardly seems intrusive in my life, and I've never had any experience with "the arrogance of the public service unions".
"I could of rented it out for 300 a month but I had a car."
"I could HAVE rented it out...I could HAVE...."
If you want to use contractions, it's "I could've...."
Stop what you're doing and click on this
cheers,
"Matthew 19:24 (New King James Version)24
"And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
I've heard people try to explain this away in various ways, but it is simply a statement that rich people will not be able to enter heaven.
Jesus, what a commie shit!
Kookie,
You didn't respond to my question at 12:00.
So, your bitch is that you missed the glorious crack era of NYC in the 70s?
You're pissed that you didn't arrive in time for the filthy subway cars defaced by graffiti and the thrill of facing a mugging in broad daylight in Midtown?
"So, your bitch is that you missed the glorious crack era of NYC in the 70s?
You're pissed that you didn't arrive in time for the filthy subway cars defaced by graffiti and the thrill of facing a mugging in broad daylight in Midtown?"
Um, Tommy...bubby...dude...get a grip and read what I said.
Wasn't responding to the Catholic commie remarks.
Responding to your earlier comments that NYC is disappointing you.
The Catholic commie remarks are barely worth responding to. In fact, not worth a response.
The free love in NYC ain't that good any more? The commie girls ain't putting out? The pinko girls cry rape after you boink them?
What's the bitch? Why ain't NYC warming the cockles of your Catholic commie heart?
This is what I said:
"...the disappearance of the city's independent and revival film houses and independent bookstores over the years has been a calamitous loss.
One doesn't move to New York to find what is common and available where one is coming from; one comes here--or did at one time--to partake of what NYC had to offer that wasn't available elsewhere."
But, Kookie, I found you a bookstore.
See, NYC still has commie bookstores.
Now, tell me what's the problem?
Gotta be that the commie girls ain't putting out like they used to. They all became feminist witches. Even if you ask 'em nice before you screw 'em, they still cry rape.
Just as Julian Assange.
But of course my comment is about more than just the bookstores and cinemas...it's about the loss of so much more...about the loss of everything that made NYC unlike any other place in America...the artistic culture...the everyday street culture....
New York still has much to recommend it, but it is a lesser place than what it was.
Robert: Is NYC offering less than it did, or are the hinterlands offering more than they did?
I think if you want to go to a chess pro shop, your choice is limited to NYC.
I hear Havana is full of charming independent bookstores. You should look into it, Cook.
It is eventually more cost effective to own a washer and dryer than to go to the laundromat: especially, if you are a family with children or have a working spouse who will get clothing dirty.
Eons ago, when I was first pregnant, I calculated the cost of disposable diapers for a year and half, the cost of going to the laundromat two times a week for the same amount of time and compared it to the cost of a new washer/dryer, soap and increased utility bills at home.
It was cheaper to buy a new washer/dryer and cloth diapers. I had the appliances for 12 years before they had to be replaced and the cloth diapers make really good cloths for drying crystal and cleaining stainless steel. I still have a couple of them left after all these years.
"Robert: Is NYC offering less than it did, or are the hinterlands offering more than they did?"
It's both, actually.
"I think if you want to go to a chess pro shop, your choice is limited to NYC."
That may be so, but chess is not one of my interests, so I couldn't say. There is a chess shop downtown on Thompson Street just north of Bleecker Street and around the corner from The Bitter End and other such bars/clubs, but I've never been inside it.
"You personally might not *mind* hauling stuff to a laundromat (for whatever bizarre reason??) but don't assert that it's no harder than having one in your own home."
In my previous home, it was in the basement. Now, it's about 50 feet away from my front door. Roughly the same amount of time to get to either.
@Robert Cook: it is simply a statement that rich people will not be able to enter heaven.
Can you read? No really. Do you have a reading disability? Do words on the screen blur into a smorgasbord of meaning for you that you then project onto that blob your poor skills at understanding even common English?
Because that's not what the statement says at all.
Perhaps there are some eye exercises you could look into.
Paul a'Barge,
That is exactly what it is saying.
A modern analog would be:
A rich man will enter the kingdom of God when pigs fly.
The formerly matching washing machine still works
Dryers are good for getting out wrinkles, so of course the washer is going to look older after a while.
Roughly the same amount of time to get to either
Can you get to your laundromat in undies or less?
My washing machine was replaced when I got tired of fixing it, but my dryer is still Harvest Gold.
Cook exclaimed, I've heard people try to explain this away in various ways, but it is simply a statement that rich people will not be able to enter heaven.
Hmm. I've heard it said that Eye of the Needle was a euphemism for a certain gate in Jeruesalem (or whatever city) that had quite a low arch. Camels had to be unburdened before being able to pass through, so it was not preferred.
Whatever. It's certainly true that Judaism and Christianity would tend towards communism in the utopian expression of that term. It's a good reason to avoid both religions, but that's for another debate that really isn't worth getting into.
I've heard it said that Eye of the Needle was a euphemism for a certain gate in Jeruesalem (or whatever city)
No Biblical evidence for such a fanciful tale. The impossibility of the wealthy entering Heaven is obvious from context: Christ's statement immediately follows His advice to the rich young man to sell his belongings and give the proceeds to the poor if he wants to gain eternal life.
When Jesus heard this he said to him, "There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Pretty good interpretation here.
Now, the theology. The message was viewed by the disciples as pretty bleak. In 19:25 -- just after Jesus uses the comparison -- the disciples respond "Then who can be saved?" "By human power, it is impossible," says Jesus. Then adds hope: "With God, *anything* is possible." Even the salvation of the rich. As a miracle.
On the other hand, it would be equally dangerous to argue "but I'm poor, so I'm okay." The words of Jesus are not designed to give *anybody* a false sense of security. My friend the pastor adds, "Apart from the mercy of God, we're all done for."
If you read the entire chapter, Matthew 19, you can get a better idea of the meaning. Strange how people will make fun of people taking the Bible literally and then insist the Bible be taken literally.
@Robert Cook - no, that is not what it is saying.
And thanks for confirming that
(1) you do have a reading disability and
(2) you're a moron.
The thing now is to have a washer/drier in every closet.
Over the years, the number of horror stories of what happened to some woman who went down to the basement of the apartment building to do the laundry has fueled many a cop show episode.
If that's a concern, you could just do it in the bathtub or the sink and hang it up to dry. I've done that with my socks and undergarments on extended hotel stays. It's not that hard, even in an apartment (not that I would do it, if I had the choice).
That said, in the new, yuppy New York, I don't think getting assaulted in the basement laundry is quite the concern it might have been a generation ago. New York may not be quite up to the standards of, say, Tokyo, but it's not total anarchy.
"New York may not be quite up to the standards of, say, Tokyo, but it's not total anarchy."
Shit...NYC today is about as mild and safe as whatever town the Cleavers lived in on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.
Your average midwestern city--St. Louis, MO, for example--is more dangerous and crime-ridden than present day New York.
Why put up with these punishing lifestyle issues when you can fly there once a month and partake of all the cultural amenities?
Yes, this. If you have enough money to live in Manhattan, you have enough money to travel there regularly. You could live somewhere that costs less, offers many more everyday amenities, and visit any city you desire whenever you want. There are people in my hometown who do exactly that. Seems ideal.
There are direct flights from Northwest Arkansas to JFK for about $250. If you're willing to make a connection, you can get down to about $170.
"If you have enough money to live in Manhattan, you have enough money to travel there regularly."
Not necessarily. I could not afford to move to NYC today, given the rents which are typical. However, I moved here 30 years ago, and with rent stabilization my present rent, although three times what it was originally, is still far below what the apartment would rent for to a new tenant today. (I do live in Manhattan.)
Also, if I left NYC, I would probably not find a job with the same salary elsewhere. I would have rent and utility bills to pay elsewhere that wouldn't be considerably less than what I pay in Manhattan--and might even be greater. If I tried to buy a home rather than rent, that would involve taking on long term debt that I don't presently carry. I would probably have to buy a car--the purchase price itself a great added expense, compounded by the expenses of operating it: gasoline, insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc.
Not even a majority of Manhattan residents are rich and if most of us relocated, we would not have the disposable income to jet back and forth at whim.
I should have been more specific.
If you can afford to buy a condo in Manhattan...
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