# Question for New Yorkers - The Jeffersons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680 "2018-02-27T17:14:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/21 "2018-02-28T14:08:09Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > The set had a front porch - but the house featured in the opening credits didn’t. ( at 0:46) > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d8FTPv955I&ab\_channel=Thefamilyalbum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d8FTPv955I&ab_channel=Thefamilyalbum) Hmm. you’re right. That is confusing though. When they said the Jeffersons lived next door, surely they didn’t mean in the other half of a duplex? If the Bunkers lived “cheek and jowl” with another family, surely they would have been mentioned somewhere along the line? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/22 "2018-02-28T14:20:29Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Hmm. you’re right. That is confusing though. When they said the Jeffersons lived next door, surely they didn’t mean in the other half of a duplex? If the Bunkers lived “cheek and jowl” with another family, surely they would have been mentioned somewhere along the line? One would think so. Despite what the credits show, everything in the show itself fosters the impression that there were two regular houses, on separate lots. If the Jeffersons had lived in what was essentially the same building, separated only by a wall, I’m pretty sure that Archie’s reaction would have been even more extreme than it was. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/23 "2018-02-28T15:28:09Z")
Houses in Queens (standalone or part of a row) are a fraction of the cost of a condo on the Upper East Side. I have no clue what prices were like back then, but these days a house in Queens is probably a few hundred thousand dollars. A decent 2-3 bedroom condo on the Upper East Side would be a few million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/24 "2018-02-28T15:43:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Generally speaking in the 70s and 80s moving from the outer boroughs to Manhattan was looked at as a sign of success and “making it”. In some ways it still is but the outer boroughs (especially Brooklyn) can be just as expensive these days so the line isn’t quite as clear. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This was also a theme of _Saturday Night Fever_. Right. Having lived in New York during that time period, moving to Manhattan from the outer boroughs was seen as a huge step up (unless it was to one of what were the low-rent areas at the time like Harlem or the Lower East Side). People who lived in Manhattan looked down on the “BBQ” (Bronx/Brooklyn/Queens; Staten Island was completely off the map) crowd aka the “Bridge and Tunnel” crowd. If you lived in the outer boroughs you were probably just a working stiff and definitely not hip. (This was before neighborhoods like DUMBO in Brooklyn had become trendy.) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/25 "2018-02-28T16:41:54Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > The set had a front porch - but the house featured in the opening credits didn’t. ( at 0:46) > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d8FTPv955I&ab\_channel=Thefamilyalbum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d8FTPv955I&ab_channel=Thefamilyalbum) - Squee \* The little sapling in front of the house is all growed up now! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/26 "2018-02-28T16:47:44Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > In the show the Jeffersons “moved on up” from what was a brownstone home in Queens to a Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan. > > I’d like to ask you people who know New York: Was it really such a big “Move up”? I mean to me they are trading the security of a brownstone home they own which always increases in value (and assumed is located near some of Georges cleaning stores) to a very high rent apartment area. > > It seems to me that in the show part of the reason was that George wanted to mix with a wealthier clientele. Also living next to other top business owners would increase his chances are landing more business accounts. > > But then I dont know NYC. I forget the specifics of the show, but yes. Moving from Queens to Manhattan (particularly Upper East Side Park Avenue) is a step up, both in terms of cost and prestige. It is a step up today, even with the recent gentrification of those neighborhoods. I don’t know what it would have been in the 70s, but a modern Manhattan UWS “deluxe apartment in the sky” easily starts at several million. If the Jeffersons didn’t rent, their apartment might have been a co-op (where the apartment owners own shares of the building). Although they may have had trouble getting the approval of the co-op board, given the racial challenges of the time. Again, I don’t recall if this is every specifically addressed in the show. Apparently the Jeffersons bought the Banks’ house in the finale of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Some might find this link on the subject interesting: > **[Just How Much for the Jeffersons' Deluxe Apartment in the Sky?](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/how-much-the-jeffersons-deluxe-apartment-in-the-sky-cost/)** > > The Jeffersons moved on up to the Upper East Side in 1975. How much would you have to pay for their deluxe apartment in the sky today? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/27 "2018-02-28T19:47:39Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Hmm. you’re right. That is confusing though. When they said the Jeffersons lived next door, surely they didn’t mean in the other half of a duplex? If the Bunkers lived “cheek and jowl” with another family, surely they would have been mentioned somewhere along the line? I’m not sure if the house is actually supposed to be semi-detached like the one in the credits, but I will say that it wouldn’t necessarily have been mentioned if it was. In large parts of Broklyn and Queens, living in a detached house is also pretty much “cheek by jowl” since there are only a couple of feet between houses. [These](https://www.google.com/maps/place/89-07+91st+St,+Jamaica,+NY+11421/@40.6903445,-73.8528762,3a,75y,58h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slZDUW4oArir7mAzXH8nxvw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlZDUW4oArir7mAzXH8nxvw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D86%26h%3D86%26yaw%3D58.64532%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c25dfb3be507f7:0xd8b7e051d29c4570!8m2!3d40.6904619!4d-73.852623) are some detached houses in my neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/28 "2018-02-28T20:03:38Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well yes actually. Several episodes are about George cosying up to someone whom he hopes to land a new contract with and often they lived in the same building or nearby. > > Thing is that his new address gave him some credit as a big time player to meet such people especially when you look at all the people he had come visit. I didn’t watch the show enough to pick up that kind of detail. The show was a clever idea for the time, flipping roles and circumstances established on All in the Family. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/29 "2018-02-28T20:16:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > (This was before neighborhoods like DUMBO in Brooklyn had become trendy.) Heh. At one point my brother was renting in 110 Livingston Street and I wikied it, read “In 2003, the City of New York sold the building to Two Trees Management, a primary developer of the DUMBO neighborhood” and made some comment about him living in DUMBO. “I DO NOT live in DUMBO!” One of those word combinations you don’t expect to ever hear, especially so indignantly. OK, OK, you don’t live in DUMBO! ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/30 "2018-02-28T20:24:02Z")
Looking at the _All in the Family_ opening sequence gave me a shock when I realized that Edith doesn’t look as old as she used to. She only looks in her forties. So, you know what that means, don’t you, kids? It means _I, myself_ have become old. :eek: I think I’ve narrowly avoided having the vapors here. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/31 "2018-02-28T20:38:50Z")
Yeah, we had another thread a little while ago about how Archie and Edith were supposed to be 50 in “All in the Family” and were old, old, old. Well, now I’m 50 and I’m not old. My response was that growing up during the Great Depression and then fighting in WWII is going to leave a mark. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/32 "2018-02-28T23:29:30Z")
… and the Meathead really was a meathead. This knowledge imparted courtesy of The Wisdom Of The Years. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/33 "2018-03-01T00:35:30Z")
I thought Maude (Bea Arthur) lived next to the Bunkers. StG ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/34 "2018-03-01T00:37:35Z")
Archie’s house is a duplex. [https://goo.gl/images/6nHc9f](https://goo.gl/images/6nHc9f) I used to think it was a bit up scale for Archie. He was a foreman on a loading dock. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/35 "2018-03-01T01:50:03Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I thought Maude (Bea Arthur) lived next to the Bunkers. > > StG No, Maude was Edith’s cousin, and lived in West Chester County. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/36 "2018-03-01T02:10:22Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > No, Maude was Edith’s cousin, and lived in West Chester County. Tuckahoe specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/37 "2018-03-01T03:18:24Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I used to think it was a bit up scale for Archie. He was a foreman on a loading dock. Not at all. Lots of working-class families in my neighborhood lived in houses exactly like that. And foreman on a loading dock would have been a union job in New York and paid relatively well for a blue-collar job. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/38 "2018-03-01T17:00:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Archie’s house is a duplex. > [https://goo.gl/images/6nHc9f](https://goo.gl/images/6nHc9f) > > I used to think it was a bit up scale for Archie. He was a foreman on a loading dock. Until the Reagan era it was pretty common for labor to be paid a decent, livable wage. And as someone else wrote it probably would be a Union job but not sure if they addressed that in the show (Unions seem like a topic they would have talked about at some point). ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/39 "2018-03-01T18:02:00Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Until the Reagan era it was pretty common for labor to be paid a decent, livable wage. And as someone else wrote it probably would be a Union job but not sure if they addressed that in the show (Unions seem like a topic they would have talked about at some point). There was an series of episode where Archie’s union was on strike. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/40 "2018-03-01T18:16:10Z")
It was obviously a prestige move. The theme song sequence says that blatantly. One of the constant themes of the show was “fish out of water” especially in George Jefferson’s case. They even got a full-time maid, Florence, even though she hardly ever did anything just for show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680.md?page=3)