Arlyn Danielson wrote:
>
> Well, what you describe in this reply is just what we are all talking
> about. You basically confirmed all my assertions.  You don't have to live
> in NYC to know that NYC is an extremely expensive place to live
> particularly if one is not independently wealthy or earning a lot of money.
>  While NYC is an interesting and stimulating place to live, a $25,000
> yearly salary will force an individual to make hard choices about quality
> of life and living arrangements.  This same $25,000 will go much farther in
> many other cities- perhaps one could even rent a house, or a 2 bedroom
> apartment in say Kansas City, or Richmond, VA.  The point here is that this
> salary in the non-profit world in New York City is not a lot.  If this
> organization is able to pay more for this type of position, then they
> should do so, and not be cheap about it.  I am not trashing NYC, I have
> enjoyed visiting on several occasions.  It's a great town.  Along with
> others, I am trying to raise the issue of museum salaries being too low in
> general.
>

Perhaps the sole reason NY is considered extremely expensive to live in
is because of the cost of renting an apartment.  However, I have friends
who have gotten incredibly lucky and rent 1 or 2 or 3 room apartments for
$500-$600.  In Manhattan, in the East Village.  There are great deals to
be found here, if you don't mind not living on the Upper East Side.

Besides rent, though, NY is not expensive, relative to other cities I
have lived near/visited.  Food - a range of choices, a range of prices.
There are more "discount", cheap-o, 10-pairs-of-socks-for-one-dollar
stores here than possibly anywhere else in the U.S.  Finally, I'd rather
be poor in New York than rich in Idaho, or Indiana, or Iowa.

Yeah, museum/non-profit salaries suck.  I know that many of these places
do not have the money to pay adequate salaries, and that's life.  If you
want to work in this kind of arena, you must accept this.  There's no
point in complaining about it.