You have to think of rent as paying for a service, for a lifestyle. That makes it easier to accept the fact that you aren’t building your own equity, but your landlord’s. I consider not owning a house to be well worth not having to deal with a suburban commute, though I would consider owning a condominium should the opportunity arise.
I have to ask the New Yorkers here about the driving. I’ve notice that in movies and on TV, you see much more driving from point to point within Manhattan, than I imagine you would actually do. On Seinfeld, they were driving their own cars all the time, and they were all living in Manhattan, except for the period when George had to move back to his parents’ house in Queens. Does this strike you as not being true to life?
Of course, I can see that in the context of a half-hour sitcom it’s much easier to put your actors in a car-prop and shoot the scene that way, than it is to do a bus or train shot, and round up extras to be the other passengers, and so on.
To me, rent is not primarily paying for a service (only a small portion of it goes towards things that the landlord or super/manager do for you,) or paying for a lifestyle (though it is often paying for something which is a component of and requirement for a particular lifestyle.)
It is simply paying for having the use of a piece of property.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but when you purchase property, at least on a mortgage, you’re still paying that price for the use of the property, though it’s sometimes hidden. You’re just building equity in addition to paying for use. You’re not really any better or worse off than renting a comparable place and putting a little extra into some other form of savings investment, except that housing prices might do better or worse compared with other investments.
Except I’d say that by owning you eliminate the risk that a letter will come in the mail saying that your building’s going co-op, or condo, or being torn down, or whatever. Or that you rent is going to be raised 50%. I rent because I couldn’t afford to buy a house in my neighborhood, but want the convenience and lifestyle. One thing I have noticed, at least IME is that landlords value stability and uninterrupted rent revenue, and tend not to raise existing tenants’ rents to market rates even though the law says they can.
It’s absolutely unrealistic. I’ve never met anyone who lives in Manhattan and owns a car. Not having a car is my favorite thing about living here. There’s no reason to have one. If I were wealthy and had a house in the Hamptons it might be nice, but still not worth the hassle.
I’d say about a quarter of my friend who live in Manhattan own cars, but very few of them are used on a daily basis. I’m a walkin’ subway girl myself.
Wow. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I had never met anyone who had a car. You must have rich friends.
I love NYC. I’ve talked about living there someday since I was in high school. My uncle used to have an apartment in Westchester, and would give me crap whenever I talked about wanting to live in the city: “Why would anyone wanna do that? Just live in the suburbs and take the train in!” But when he moved several years ago, where did he go? Manhattan! And he still lives there, in a very nice upper-west-side condo with his wife and daughter. He is the consummate New Yorker, and I visit roughly once a year (pub crawl every February).
I hate that it’s so difficult/expensive to get to NYC: it’s either an hour’s drive (or Metro ride) to the Amtrak and a $150 train ride, or an hour’s wait in the airport and a $150 flight. Not counting, of course, the cab fare, tolls, airport parking, etc. (Still, all of that is better than driving up there would ever be! 
)
Much as I love NYC, I don’t know if I could live there. I earn a modest salary but definitely like having more than 2 rooms to call my own, and when I’m at home I don’t want to hear any noise that I haven’t originated. So maybe my uncle was partly right, and we just had it backwards: he’s better off living in Manhattan, but I might be better off in the 'burbs. 
They’re related to the people who live in MD and VA and never go to DC. 
I have a car in Manhattan and I’m not rich by a long shot. It’s a '93 Ford Escort and I park it on the street. We use it on weekends to go upstate. I’m not making payments on it so the insurance is cheap, relatively speaking.
I think only Kramer and Jerry actually owned cars.
We’re not wealthy and have a cabin in the Catskills, and it’s worth the hassle, but just barely.
And George. Elaine was the only one who didn’t. The portrayal in Sex and the City was more realistic - the girls go to California and none of them knows how to drive.