You can live in the boroughs and still enjoy NY, and the rents are a lot less. Still some nice slums in the Bronx I hear. Home Sweet Home!
The fact that you registered a new username just to post this tends to indicate you're not an NYC kind of guy. If you had posted this under your usual username it might have a bit more cred. It would still be wrong, though. Especially the bit about the women. I mean, jeezus.
I just got back from a two week stay in NYC. One thing I noticed is that the city feels really safe. NYC is actually the first large city where I didn't feel the need to be constantly on guard for pick pockets when taking the subway. Streets seemed pretty clean too, at least when compared to other major cities. The OP is only right when it comes to women. Even though the male to female ratio in manhattan is ~ 45% men, 55% women, the amount of good looking women is staggeringly low. Compared to major European cities like Paris or Berlin I'd even go so far as to say there's a real dry spell of good looking women in NYC. This remains true even if you hit the nightlife in the trendy SOHO and Village districts.
Something is wrong with your taste then. You must be into pale, anorexic looking women. Stop hating. Stop hating and start participating!
New York City does have one thing over every other city in the world. There is such a high concentration of talent and such a superior work ethic in a small area. When the transit workers went on strike, many persons hiked 3-5 miles in the cold and snow to get to their jobs. You will not find that kind of work ethic anywhere else. If your looking to live in a quality affordable apartment, stay in Pennsylvania. Stay in Maryland. If your looking to get laid with some model chicks, learn some Spanish and go to Columbia. However, if your looking to move yourself up and network with some talented people then go to NYC. You can meet analysts, you can meet hedge fund managers, you can meet them all. However, its going to cost you yes. It will cost you some loot. What are you going to find in Ohio or Pennsylvania? Lots of open fields and prairies, but where is the talent? Im sorry, the talent is in NYC. Go there, stay there, pay the rent and do what you have to do. Donald Trump didnt get rich living in Chicago.
I did some real estate scouting in the Upper West / Harlem area while my girlfriend went shopping. This area is overrun by developers and there seems to be alot of inventory on the market. Compared to the asking price for real estate in this area rents there are pretty low. A decent rent to pay for a one bedroom will be between 1250 and 1500 USD a month. With some perseverence you may find a shared two bedroom appt for ~1000 USD a month there. Rents in the rest of Manhattan will be 20-40% higher. The 2,3 B or C subway trains make an excellent connection to the rest of Manhattan & Brooklyn so you'll never be far from where all the action happens. There's nothing wrong with my taste, women from Manhattan just aren't as good looking as the women in other places I've visited.
Whatever you smoking, you should let others in on it. New York City is filled with gorgeous women of every flavor. Very few cities in the world that allow this type of variety.
One thing I noticed about the women in Manhattan is that their version of sex is noticably different then when you travel about to other states or the world. The women outside of the tri-state just seem naturally hornier and seemingly wanting more of it. The women inside NYC just seem to have their own pace with sex. The women inside NYC are noticably less slender then in other places. Florida and California have some amazing women. A NYC 10 is a Florida/California 6 or 7. There is only one reason to live and be in NYC and thats for business and moving up. I cant think of other reasons.