New York is...

...all i know, for the most part. The object of my affection and the source of my abundance of nervous energy. As a native, a REAL native, NOT a long-term transplant, a product of the sub-urbs, a poser, a out-of-towner or a malcontent hipster...all of these things are both the bane of my existence and the source of my environment's influx of wealth and prosperity. THIS, is the crux of my species' (manhattanite) paradox...we get priced out of our own neighborhoods, over-looked for jobs because we have no desire to mearly subsist or be used and taken advantage of by the older generations of New Yorkers, who, in their infinite wisdom have decided that you can have two overly eager transplants do the job of a savvy, over-achieving New Yorker for half the price. YET, our city continues to prosper at a staggering rate and the development of previously ignored or unknown territories (LES, Murray Hill, Hell's Kitchen, Harlem, etc.) seems to have no clear end in sight. Our habitat has evolved greatly from the crack infested cesspool that we grew up in, but at what cost? What has transpired in the time New York City has seen this great and visible transformation?