By Philip Newman
Queens is the sixth most-expensive place to live in the United States, but finding an apartment you can afford is harder in Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to an economic research agency.
“One word explains it,” said Dean Frutiger of the Council for Community and Economic Research. “Housing.”
The council tracks the Cost of Living Index for 304 urban areas, where the national average is 100.
In 2012 the cost of living in Manhattan, the priciest spot in the nation, was 225 in the survey. For Brooklyn, which was ranked second, the index was 178.5 and for Queens, in the sixth spot, it was148.3.
In third place on the high cost of living list was Honolulu at 167.0, followed by fourth-ranked San Francisco at 163.4, No. 5 San Jose, Calif. at 153.4, seventh-ranked Stamford, Conn. at 146.1, No. 8 Washington, D.C. at 144.7; ninth-rank Orange County, Calif., at 140.6; and No. 10 Boston at 139.9.
The rankings are reports on conditions in 2012 and based not only on housing but on the cost of utilities, groceries, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.
“In most of New York City, space for building more housing is ever edging toward the limit,” Frutiger said. “Demand is still rising.”
So why is Brooklyn more expensive than Queens?
“Large areas of Brooklyn have been renovated, places like Dyker Heights and Gravesend, areas where you find rows and rows of brownstones,” said Rob MacKay, of the Queens Economic Development Corp.
“Also there are large areas of Queens with inadequate public transportation where residents must take both buses and subways. Renters or buyers certainly take something like transportation into considering where they want to live.”
Harlingen, Texas, with an cost of living index at 81.8, is the nation’s cheapest place to live, according to the survey.
All things considered, renters would pay three times more in Brooklyn for housing than they would pay in Harlingen, the survey found.
Harlingen is followed by McAllen, Texas, both in the lower Rio Grande Valley of extreme south Texas.
The least expensive list is as follows:
1. Harlingen, Texas
2. McAllen, Texas
3. Norman, Okla.
4. Ardmore, Okla.
5. Memphis, Tenn.
6. Fayetteville, Ark.
7. Wichita Falls, Texas
8. Muskogee, Okla.
9. Pueblo, Colo.
10. Ashland, Ohio
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
