Pretty much every other building I looked at that was cheaper had a serious rat and or roach problem and also didn't have a garage for my car and was far away from the PATH train. People get stabbed for their cars in Jersey I wasn't risking it and I wasn't trying to live with rats and roaches or walk far and get robbed when I get home from work. I'm pretty much paying for safety.

But i may just chalk it up once my lease is up in a few months and move to Irvington because the rent should at most be $1,000 with utilities included. I'm not staying eastcoast though I am definitley going back to Chicago when my time here is done. There's no way anyone over here can save any money, but this is the GOAT learning experience for me, I'm glad I'm seeing it first hand for a little bit. The 1% really pulled it off spectacularly.

The landlords were really looking at me with a straight face when I was apartment hunting months ago, saying the rent was $1,800+ utilities to live in a small ass 1'bedroom in Teachers Village in downtown Newark and as soon as I walk out the front door it's bodegas with old dudes selling dusty fake hats and crackheads drinking out of brown liquor store bags in front of abandoned buildings. Talking about "the area is gentrifying"

It ain't gentrified yet, why the rent so high.
It's just making me appreciate the Chi more and more every day.