If you don't like data, then move back to ... Washington, D.C.?

Oh, maybe you already saw this at Curbed on Wednesday... when they reported on the data that White Pages-style search engine Spokeo came up with regarding who is moving to NYC.

Here is Spokeo on what numbers they crunched:

Below is the Spokeo Mobile Migration Map, a visual representation of the most common out-of-state mobile numbers found in your selected city. All numbers are standardized to account for population. By identifying the origin of a mobile number and matching it to address records, Spokeo has pinpointed migration and settlement trends throughout the United States. The different colors represent the home states of transplants. Below the map, you’ll find a list of the top 20 U.S. cities from which new residents in [NYC] have relocated.

And here is that map... with New Jersey and Connecticut leading the way...


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... and for the cities... Washington, D.C.! San Francisco!


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Reaction on the survey from Virginia K. Smith at Brooklyn Magazine:

I’ve been saying for a long time that all the “GO BACK TO OHIO!!!” venom aimed at faceless gentrifiers is a crock. The real enemies are the hedge fund types or parent-bankrolled transplants from nearby wealthy suburbs, the kind of people who think condos are a perfectly nice place to live...

Stupid infidelity survey shows that cheaters prosper at Momofuku

A website called Ashley Madison — "the most famous name in infidelity and married dating" — asked its users to name the city's most popular "cheaters restaurants" ... and tallied up the 10 most popular affair restaurants, as published by the Post today...



As you can see, Momofuku on First Avenue ended up at No. 6 on the list. Why? Who knows! Of course, Momofuku does mean "lucky peach," as their website shows.

On the Lower East Side, New Yorkers no longer talking like New Yorkers, research finds

From Fox News:

In the early 1990s, comedian Mike Myers regularly dressed up in a giant wig, gaudy fake nails and gigantic sunglasses to become Linda Richman -- a stereotypical New Yorker who had fits of feeling "verklempt" and thought that Barbara Streisand's voice was "like buttah."

"Welcome to Coffee Talk," Myers said at the beginning of his Saturday Night Live sketch, twisting the vowels with an exaggerated New York accent.

This unique accent -- which has set New Yorkers apart for decades -- may now be disappearing among some of Gotham's natives, according to a Jan. 9 presentation at the Linguistic Society of America in Baltimore.

In 1966, linguist William Labov noticed that New York City residents had a peculiar way of saying words like "bought" and "daughter" that pushed the vowels up and into the back of the throat. He included this linguistic quirk, the "raised bought," in his "Atlas of North American English," a definitive text for scientists who study language.

"The longer your family's residence in New York, the more likely you are to raise bought," said Kara Becker, a graduate student at New York University in Manhattan.

Becker revisited the way people talk on Manhattan's Lower East Side for the first time in 40 years. Working with local community activist groups, she interviewed 64 native speakers over the course of two years and analyzed thousands of vowel sounds in their speech.

Older residents like Michael, born in 1933, still sound like New Yorkers when describing their mother's "sauce." But younger residents of Manhattan's Lower East Side, like 25-year-old Sam, did not pronounce "talk" and "cause" like their older neighbors, even though their families have lived in the neighborhood for several generations.

There won't be anyone left to enjoy those safe, clean streets if we can't afford to live here

The new Citizens Committee for New York City Neighborhood Quality of Life Survey Report is now out. You can download the whole thing here.

Here are some excerpts, including the statement from Peter H. Kostmayer, president of Citizens Committee for New York City:

Every year, Citizens Committee for New York City conducts a citywide survey to find out what New Yorkers think about their neighborhoods. We want to know what they think is important, what they like about their own neighborhoods and what they don’t. We also want to know what they think should be done about it, and what they themselves are willing to do to help

This year we surveyed almost 3,000 New Yorkers, online and on the street. We held survey events in more than 45 neighborhoods, focusing on neighborhoods we serve, some of the city’s poorest and most stressed, found that these New Yorkers think first about safe neighborhoods, but with the exception The Bronx, they seem fairly satisfied that their neighborhoods are safe.

One thing that we found different about this year’s survey, is that there seems to be a growing interest in life in the streets and on the sidewalks. Safe streets, dangerous intersections, street noise, safe conditions for walking and bicycling all drew more concern this year.

We think this is a good sign. In a city of neighborhoods (there are more than 400 in New York City) where neighbors live cheek-to-jowl, and where open space and parkland is in short supply, there’s a lot going on in the streets and on the sidewalks. Making the streets and the sidewalks of New York safer, cleaner and quieter took a hit when the Mayor’s courageous congestion pricing plan was defeated, but that only means that we at Citizens Committee for New York City need to do more to help neighborhood organizations throughout the five boroughs do more to take back the streets.

And we will.

This is all fine, Peter. But there won't be anyone left to enjoy those safe, clean streets if we can't afford to live here.

Anyway, here's what the survey found in Manhattan (you can check out the report for all the boroughs):

Seventy percent of Manhattan residents rate the overall quality of neighborhood life
between good and excellent.

Residents rate the following five characteristics as the most important in determining the overall quality of a neighborhood:

• Close to public transportation
• Safe from crime
• Safe conditions for walking or bicycling
• Clean streets, sidewalks and open spaces
• Clean air

The characteristics with which Manhattan residents feel most satisfied are:

• Close to public transportation
• Close to parks and playgrounds
• Close to shops and restaurants
• A diverse mix of people
• Neighbors I can get along with

The characteristics with which residents feel least satisfied are:

• Youth programs
• A quiet neighborhood
• Decent housing at a reasonable cost
• Clean streets, sidewalks and open spaces
• Public officials who are responsive to neighborhood needs

The characteristics that Manhattan residents report as most important, but find the least satisfactory are:

• Decent housing at a reasonable cost
• Clean streets, sidewalks and open spaces
• A quiet neighborhood
• Public officials who are responsive to neighborhood needs
• Safe conditions for walking and bicycling

In the list of top neighborhood problems overall put together by the Post, "lack of affordable housing" was No. 4 (right before potholes!) and "too much growth, overbuilding" was No. 8 (right before illegally parked cars).

Priorities, people!