New York City: The Challenges of the American Dream

New York City is one of the most important and influential cities in the world. To many, it is the true embodiment of the “American Dream” – every citizen of the city has the chance to become wealthy and successful, as long as he or she works hard enough. Yet even a city with great amounts of opportunity has elements that prevent its citizens from achieving greatness, and New York City is no exception. With an overall high cost of living, including high price points for education and rent, New York has many characteristics that are roadblocks to social mobility, especially for its most vulnerable citizens. All these combined factors contribute to a relatively high socio-economic divide. The aforementioned high costs of rent and education, paired with high employer demands for skilled and educated workers, only exacerbate the problem. This analysis of the city has also pointed out the necessity of further investments in infrastructure, especially in specific neighborhoods that have poorer populations. New York City may be able to mitigate these issues by improving its social programs, funded by generating more revenue, revising its current tax code, and changing current budget allocations. Of course, as a city within the United States, these changes require strong partnerships between the city government and the state and federal governments.