Let's say you lived in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn and rented a 1600 a month 1BR apartment of decent size (entirely realistic). You have a Trader Joes that's a 10 minute walk. You have a Michelin star restaurant that's a 10 minute walk. I could go on and on, but basically, you have dozens and dozens of nice, reasonably priced bars, coffee shops, butcher shops, produce stores, movie theaters (well those aren't so reasonably priced) and restaurants that are a 10 minute walk. And you have a 35 minute commute to midtown... 20 minutes to SOHO. That's not bad at all.
However if you measure quality of life by the cleanliness of the subway or having to wait 15 minutes because you just missed the last F train or it annoys you that a lot of people commute during rush hour, then yeah, NYC probably isn't for you.
Your knock on consumption culture is overstated. I guess if you want to get a meal or have a drink in the same places that finance and law douches do, you are going to run into that, but that's your fault for not taking a look around and realizing there is so much more to be had in this city.
However if you measure quality of life by the cleanliness of the subway or having to wait 15 minutes because you just missed the last F train or it annoys you that a lot of people commute during rush hour, then yeah, NYC probably isn't for you.
Your knock on consumption culture is overstated. I guess if you want to get a meal or have a drink in the same places that finance and law douches do, you are going to run into that, but that's your fault for not taking a look around and realizing there is so much more to be had in this city.
[edited: underestimated the commute time to SOHO]