> if provided at the same cost.

Pretty big if, if you ask me.

That's not what I'm writing about. It's obvious from the photos that they're living in apartments already (those who aren't living in vans), so a "modern" apartment is just a living accommodation upgrade. It's about trying to find relative solitude in a huge city. It's hard enough to do so in a modern sub-urban environment.

I'm personally paying about $1k/month more for relative solitude in an older place with some solitude near a large metropolitan area than I would for a modern apartment in the area. It's worth it not just for the solitude, but for the things not being physically connected, or even really close, to your neighbors' homes provides.

We all like different things.

I've tried many of the different lives, and there's nothing better than being in close quarters for me.

And people like you have got almost all of New York to do this in. At a cheaper-than-solitary rent, too.