No Garage in New York City? Try Walking Instead
It’s true that you will want to keep out of a big city, too crowded for cars unless of course, you love New York City. Now, there’s a new way to stay out of traffic, try walking instead.
I can sympathize with New Yorkers who have to pay outrageous amounts for parking as I live in San Francisco and it’s pretty bad over here too.
For example, you can work in downtown San Fran and expect to pay at least extra $300-400 a month on parking. For people who live in high-rises near downtown, the same goes as with New York.
The good part about San Francisco is that a majority of residences are far away from the downtown and near the Ocean Beach. If you enjoy coastal weather, this might be it for you but if you still plan to stay in New York, go ahead but be prepared to walk a LOT even if you have a million dollar car.
The New York Times’ story, “The Ultimate Luxury: A Garage,” gives us even more reason to shun The Big Apple as a place of residence. Apparently, New York houses, condos and apartments with garages command about 5% more than those that don’t. In some neighborhoods, add 25%. So that means if you have a condo worth $1 million, adding a garage could get you at very least $50,000 more than your car-hating neighbors. One real estate broker estimated that a six-bedroom townhouse he’s selling will bring an extra $1 million because of its car accommodations. The townhouse is priced at $18.75 million.
So why aren’t real estate owners on a garage-building spree? Because convincing the city’s Department of Buildings that you need a curb cut is a long, trying process. The government agency approved only 54 new Manhattan curb cuts in 2008; three less than last year.
And then there’s the anecdote of one family paying $6,600 a year to put their car in a public lot. That’s enough to convince this bunch of car guys that there are better places to call home.
via autoblog
2 Responses to No Garage in New York City? Try Walking Instead
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Walking more is great considering the city is such a hard place to drive through anyways. A big problem in this country is that too many people are moving far away from the cities and forcing people to drive to work. This causes the need for high congestion on the city’s roads.
That is one of the biggest reasons I couldn’t live in NYC. There is a certain amount of freedom that comes along with being able to jump in your car and go wherever you want, but there it is near impossible to do. I have been to New York a few times, it is an interesting city but not my cup of tea.