If I Can't Make It Here...何處是應允之地?

為何他們選擇離開紐約?                
Photo Credit: amNY Photo Illustration

今天早上在搭乘地鐵通勤上班的路上
因為平常習慣拿的metro報發報人不見蹤影、
只好拿了因為沒有用訂書機裝訂、在人擠人的地鐵上閱讀不易而被我嫌棄的amNY報

這個迫於無奈的選擇卻讓我意外發現了一篇意外出現在頭版的有趣文章
在紐約各報幾乎都選擇以週末那場倍受矚目、由Jets對上Patriots的NFL季後賽大戰為頭版標題的今日
這篇名為 The Lost Generation: NYC losing young people to cheaper cities、
還搭配一張生動圖片的文章反而特別吸引我的目光

文章的主要內容是對紐約市的未來提出警告
因為在最近一份針對年齡層介於25-34歲的青壯年族群人口分布和遷徙做全面性統計的調查中發現、
紐約在吸引該族群從美國各地遷移而來、工作並定居下來的能力
竟然在全美各大都市中只能排到慘不忍睹的第52名...

關鍵因素很單純、就是一個字..."貴"

根據人口統計資料、大紐約地區在2007-09年間所流失、年齡介於25-34歲的人口有近三萬人
不過在上述調查中排名第一、位於德州的奧斯丁、在同期卻有著近一萬五千人的淨成長、
而第二名的科羅拉多州丹佛市、也有著一萬一千餘人的成長

進一步比較 紐約 和 奧斯丁 的生活數據後、這樣的人口消長似乎也不那麼讓人意外了

紐約目前失業率高過9%、而奧斯丁則是遠低於全國平均的6%
紐約一房一廳的平均月租金超過2,000美金、而奧斯丁則是還不到900美金
紐約平均一餐的開銷超過40美金、而奧斯丁則是30美金出頭...

對於一個才剛從大學或是研究所畢業的社會新鮮人來說、會選擇哪個城市作為自己邁向人生另一個里程碑的起點、
單看上面這些數字的比較、似乎也沒有那麼難做出決定了...

Frank Sinatra 在那可說是紐約市市歌的 New York New York 中高唱
"~If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere...It’s up to you - New York, New York~"

不過在工作難尋、生活開銷卻偏偏又和失業率一樣居高不下的狀況下、
還有多少擁有遠大夢想、創意、和衝勁的年輕人會把大蘋果當作是那實現願望的 應允之地?

how about I can't even get a chance to come here?
how can I show you what I'm capable of?

或許下一首紐約市的代表歌曲中應該考慮加上這兩句歌詞...

以下是報導全文...


THE LOST GENERATION: NYC Losing Young People to Cheaper Cities
Published: January 14, 2011 / amNY
By Sheila Anne Feeney

New York, start spreading the bad news.

More young people, concluding they can’t make it here, are setting their sights on more affordable cities such as Austin, the top U.S. destination for people ages 25 to 34.

New York is mired at a depressing No. 52 on a list of metro areas, according to Census data crunched by the Brookings Institution.

New York’s glittering nightlife and cornucopia of culture, long a draw for the young, just doesn’t pay the bills.

“Costs in New York have shot through the roof in the last 10 years at the same time a lot of other cities have become increasingly desirable,” said Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future.

The Brookings analysis of Census data for 2007-09 shows that the New York/Northern New Jersey area lost a net 29,292 of 25-34 year olds in that two-year span.

On the opposite end is the Austin-Round Rock, Texas, area, renowned for its music scene, which had a net gain of 14,318 so-called Millenials, followed by Denver-Aurora, Colo., which had a gain of 11, 207.

The loss of these folks also reveals “a serious problem in finding jobs,” probably as a result of the cratered finance industry, said John Logan, a demographer at Brown University.

In the long term, the trend will hurt Gotham, said the experts, as young, creative people are essential to a city’s future. These are “the generation of people who will be the leaders,” Logan said.

Young single people may not mind sharing a one bedroom with room mates, but when the nesting instinct hits, New York is an economic nonstarter, noted Sean Thompson, a 29-year-old bartender who shares a $2,000 a month studio in Battery Park City with his 30-year-old wife, a public school teacher.

“We both agree completely that New York is not the place to raise a family,” Thompson said.

Bucking the trend is Ken Leung, 31, co-owner of Ken & Dana Design, who came in 2001 and wouldn’t live anywhere else.

He lauds New York as an exciting, stimulating and creative place that confers international prestige on his jewelry business that it would not have if it were in, say, Round Rock, Texas. “New York is great,” Leung said.