Reply to Do you think raising kids in the NYC area is the best place to do so in the US?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not necessarily, and I am saying it as someone who’s lived in NYC since 1992 and still likes it.   I am strictly a city person (grew up in a city of about 1.5M in Europe), but even I see that there are pluses and minuses everywhere. [/quote]

Like what for NYC?[/quote]

Pluses: you can have pretty much anything you want/need within reach.  However much of a freak you are - you’ll find your people here, your kind of food/music/theater/etc here.   Whatever your lifestyle and parenting philosophy is, therewill be other people and services/activities geared toward people just like you.  If you have always dreamed about doing a button accordion family quintet with your kids, you’ll be able to find a teacher who will help you accomplish it.   Kids are getting around on their own from about age 11-12, so their activities are not limited by your availability to drive them.  It’s a big deal for the teenagers, and city kids are, generally, less sheltered.   My two oldest are in college, and they said they feel much older than some of their classmates who were thoroughly supervised 24/7 up until they were dropped off at the dorm.

Minuses: it is more expensive here.   Having a car is a hassle and not particularly convenient.  As I said, I grew up in a city, my parents never owned a car, so I am used to this lifestyle, but for some people being at least somewhat dependent on public transportation and/or walking may be an issue.  But the biggest minus is the schools.  Given the enormous social and cultural diversity of the kids’ backgrounds, no one seems to be able to come up with a solution that would work well for everyone, so it’s literally a constant “you snooze, you lose” situation.   Some of the things that are being proposed now are exactly how things used to be when my brother went to public schools in NYC, and all the bright eyed and socially conscious crowd thinks it’s going to be the silver bullet, but I remember how well it worked then.   Not.[/quote]

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