Dose of Reality for Trust Fund Kids
Reality (along with a little schadenfreude) has come to the post-college rental market in Williamsburg: According to an article in The Times this weekend, the twenty-somethings who’ve been able to rely on Mom and Dad when the first of the month rolled around are finding that they have to come up with the rent the…
Reality (along with a little schadenfreude) has come to the post-college rental market in Williamsburg: According to an article in The Times this weekend, the twenty-somethings who’ve been able to rely on Mom and Dad when the first of the month rolled around are finding that they have to come up with the rent the old-fashioned way now that the older generation is struggling more under the weight of the financial crisis. And while having less time to play in a band or work on a canvas may not be music to the ears of those used to being on the receiving end of parental largesse, some who watched jealously without help can’t help but take some pleasure in their neighbors’ misfortune. If I’m going to be completely honest, it does make me feel a little bit better, said one struggling wallpaper designer. It’s bringing a lot of Williamsburg back to reality.
Parents Pulling the Plugs on Williamsburg Trust-Funders [NY Times]
Photo by Ando228
sam, i hope you refused to give up your seat! (i hope that didn’t come out sounding bad)
*rob*
Agreed, it’s very weak reporting. The writer pieced started with a provocative topic, strung together a few anecdotes from a handful of subjective sources, and presents the results as evidence of a “trend.” Laughable.
“I was surprised to see when I got on that although the bus was very crowded I was the only white person, the only one, including the driver, on the bus.”
Here’s more of the same. sam got on a bus, didn’t see any white people other than himself, and on this basis concludes that we haven’t “come a long way baby.” Silly.
whoever came up with all those theories about how poverty is inherited had it right. thanks mom! where’s my down payment and trust fund 🙁 grrrrr. luckily it stops here, with me. and i hope my sister turns into a full fledge lesbian so she doesnt continue the madness lol
oh i am sure in a mood today haha.
*rob*
Heather, a lot of them are not as lucrative as they somehow appear, the money helping to pay for these places wasn’t earned money.
I disagree with Sam that having your parents help with a downpayment is a major humiliation. If we’re talking about gifting the money, then maybe. But I feel like many folks borrow money from their ‘rents (and pay it back) as a way to get into homeownership.
nearly, mainly white polish.
ditto, why? is the reverse true?
I think that prior to 1990 or so New York City’s racial apartheid was every bit as strict as Johanesburg’s, although not legally mandated. It takes time for that to dissipate. I would imagine many generations.
I’m still confused as to how creative professions became so lucrative in the first place. Every other mother I met in Williamsburg was a stylist, yoga instructor or interior designer. And they were all buying those condos that my lawyer husband and I couldn’t afford. (Not that we’d want to, since they were so small and crappy with too many bathrooms and located on brownfields, but I digress.)
So, yeah, who knows? I guess there is some la-la land where everyone makes $300K doing what they love, part-time and from home. Or at least there was, before the economic collapse.
I am actually pretty happy about the financial apocalypse.
Sam, you need to take the bus in Greenpoint.