Not Going Anywhere

This is the first time I have seen wrestling in a park in New York City. I found it an appropriate metaphor - living in New York City is often a contact sport and in many respects we do wrestle our way through life here. Much of my life seems to be finding ways to navigate the shoals, looking for ways to soften the blows of the city. There are great conveniences living here - the depth and breadth of products, food, entertainment and culture is perhaps unequaled. However, it does come at a price and the population density both giveth and taketh away. A New Yorker I know, born and bred in Brooklyn, once said that New York City was the punishment for living. A bit harsh perhaps. She now lives in California.
Why do New Yorkers do it? What type of people would want to live here and bear the slings and arrows and fight their way through daily life? Perhaps the individual's T-Shirt in the photo "psych ward" offers a possible answer.
I am reminded of a business owner who was asked the question "Do you ever think of selling your business?" to which he answered "Every day." For those of us who are business owners, this is stating the obvious. I might speculate that on a similar note, I have often been asked, in response to my whining about some aspect of the city, particularly real estate costs and lack of space, "Do you every think of moving out of the city?" My answer is, I would guess, the same as that of many fellow residents - "All the time."
The number of times that I have "planned" to move from the city, fantasized or looked at homes all over the planet are innumerable. Most residents I know speak of moving with a smugness about how easy it would be and often with an assuredness of how they will be doing this soon. I remember a Brooklyn resident who had returned from Santa Barbara, California. He was on a rant about why there was no good reason not to move there immediately. Except that he would not.
But all this is just retelling the obvious and although some move away and others retire elsewhere, the biggest obvious fact to many of us here about these whiners and malcontents is that like most dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers, they are not going anywhere ...