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Comment by pradn | Hacker News Reader

Yes! This person was living in East Village, which is probably the most happening/hip neighborhood in Manhattan. Tons of bars, restaurants, theaters, other young people. Neighborhoods in upper Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Jersey City have easy access to the city (30-45 min train rides) and cost less.

I don't think it makes sense to live in New York unless there is something you can only get here. There's only one MoMA, one City Ballet, one Film Forum. (Not to mention the business and professional opportunities - the city is a business city first and foremost.)

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The difference between 45 minutes (+60 mins/-5 mins) on the unreliable subway and a 15 minute walk / bike ride / UberPool / etc cannot be overstated. That's 250 hours per year, not to mention the stress and hassles of being reliant on the ever-spiraling subway.

Definitely.

As with anything else, there are compromises to be made, and NYC has a unique set of them. If you really think this way, go ahead and live in a densely populated neighborhood with the compromises that come along with it.

For what it's worth, I commute before/after on-peak hours to avoid delays. The subway is very efficient at 7am-7:30am, and is a shitshow at 9am when everyone is trying to get to their 10am start job. Then everyone complains about the delays, as if they can't make changes to their schedule when they _know_ it's a shitshow at certain times.

You can get things done on a train that you can't if you need to focus on walking or biking. By the time I arrive at work I've gotten through my emails and read the days headlines.

Which wasn't possible 10-15 years ago before ubiquitous smartphones and cellular data.

Emails, sure, but plenty of people read and continue to read newspapers, or review their printed material or notes.

Depends on the train type and crowdedness.

Similarly, I've taken to using UberPool during winter because, while it's a little slower, it gives me back 1-1.5 hours per day of productive time, for a marginal cost of $2-3 beyond the subway cost.

Granted, and vice versa: you can do things walking or biking that you can't do on a train. Eg get a regular amount of exercise.

Less than 200 calories burned from these activities, not a good source of regular exercise.

Are calories burned the one and true way to measure whether exercise is "good"? Are you saying biking is not a good exercise?

What does one do in the winter?

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