It’s impossible to ignore the moving vans that clog the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn on the first weekend of June. The scene is the same every year: Moms lug around rugs from Ikea while dads look flustered and defeated from trying to navigate a couch up a narrow pre-war stairwell of a fifth-floor walk-up apartment. Nearby, a 22-year-old texts their NYC friends from college about celebrating their move at the usual watering holes: 13th Step, Hair of the Dog, Professor Thom’s, etc.
Thanks to phenomenal pizza, endless Tinder options, and a 4AM closing time, New York City is a millennial-friendly urban paradise. In reality, the rent is ridiculous, the people who go to the Joshua Tree are douchebags, and the island of Manhattan is one giant Duane Reade, but never mind that — NYC is where it’s at! Crossroads of the universe! That’s why millennials move to the city I call home by the tens of thousands after college. They are here *mostly* to pursue dream careers in fashion, finance, and media while hanging with friends forged in college and having casual, no-strings-attached sex with fellow millennials.
Sometimes the East Village, the neighborhood that I’ve called home for the last eight years, feels more like a post-grad playground than an actual neighborhood with real adults doing real adult things, liking taking care of babies and figuring out their 401ks.
But do these hundreds of thousands of transplant millennials really belong in NYC? According to “millennial-run apartment search site” Abodo, no. Not at all. They belong 100 miles south, in Philadelphia, where a true millennial paradise with modest rent and decent pizza is waiting for them. According to Forbes, Abodo surveyed 2,000 people born between 1982 and 1998 on 20 qualities important to a city. These city traits include the job market, affordable rent, parks and/or hiking trails, non-chain restaurants, quality pizza, and an LGBTQ-friendly environment. The results found that millennials want to live in New York, but probably should live in Philadelphia. Via Forbes:
When it comes to location, nearly 20% of people surveyed list New York as their perfect city. Next up is San Francisco at 10%, Seattle and Portland at 9% and Los Angeles at nearly 8%. All of these cities have 80% or more of the 20 qualities Abodo pegged as important and most have several of the traits Millennials value highest. By Adodo’s calculations, however, several cities that barely registered with the survey-group may have more of what the generation is looking for, including Philadelphia (which got top city rating from just 0.89% of people), Washington D.C. (1.36%) and Boston (2.3%).
The company judged Philadelphia as the best city for Millennials in part due to solid marks on job market (the Philadelphia region’s unemployment rate was 20 basis points below the national average when the data was pulled) and average home prices (sale and rental) of at or below 30% of average income.
As a current New Yorker who lived in Philly once upon a time, I can attest to the fact that Philly is awesome. The food is delicious (even the pizza!), the people aren’t elitist yuppie douchebags, and, for the price of one month’s rent for my shoebox 500-square foot apartment, you can rent a freakin’ four bedroom dream house. It is truly a chill city in every way imaginable. Plus, the job market is great since it’s home to some of the world’s biggest pharma companies, finance companies like Vangaurd, and everyone’s favorite cable service provider, Comcast.
Also, they have Rocky. NYC may have Robert De Niro in his prime, but that will never be as cool as Rocky. Adrian!
But — and it’s a big, immature but — the thing the thing Philly doesn’t have is the “gotta be here” factor. If FOMO isn’t a big deal to you, please move to Philly. I’m getting older and grouchier and I don’t need any more millennials getting in my way at my favorite downtown Manhattan bars.
So please, millennials, skip New York and just do all of us already here a favor and move to Philly.