I am that rarest of rare birds—a fourth-generation, middle-class Manhattanite, barely hanging on. I have watched the ebbs and flows of this tide my whole life. What is going on now in demographic and commercial transformation is as dramatic as the abandonment of the ’70s, but this time it is by intent and design, not out of desperation.

John Albin

New York, N.Y.

Having lived in the West Village and now on University Place for 40 years, I’ve watched as high rents and wealth have stripped these neighborhoods of their small businesses and village color. Your article paints an accurate picture of the how and the why this has happened. I’m giving up my beloved Greenwich Village for a smaller city in South Carolina. I look forward to a less crowded environment and a spot where, for now at least, a young entrepreneur can open up a business and thrive. Sure there are things I’ll miss, but I’ll have immediate access to nature and an apartment whose amenities make it like a five-star resort, right downtown. Greenville, here I come.

Elizabeth Feinman

New York, N.Y.

As a New Yorker my whole 38 years, and a police officer for 15, I know the pulse of this city. Manhattan needs to institute a tax on properties that have been vacant for more than a year. Most any New Yorker who really knows what is going on is hunkering down in Long Island City, Astoria, or certain parts of Brooklyn (all which have became overvalued). But at least those areas I just mentioned don’t have Duane Reades on every corner. All of my friends on Long Island who used to go to NYC for a night out at a restaurant, entertainment, etc., instead go to either the places I mentioned or actually stay on Long Island (you can blame the wretched Long Island Rail Road for this, as well). Actually, with all of the restaurants and bars on Long Island, many people stay there not wanting to see sterile NYC blocks with Duane Reades and homeless individuals every 10 feet. There is zero charm to the city now. It’s not even worth living in NYC anymore.

It’s gridlock and construction warfare everywhere, and the subway is in need of a costly makeover. Almost every meal I now order in an NYC restaurant sucks. Years ago it was always mouthwatering. Here’s another reason how I know this city is in trouble: Being a police officer, I get to speak with basically hundreds of tourists a day. I can honestly say that about 90 percent of the tourists say they will never come back. They plop down in Times Square hotels and are exposed not to great cuisine, but to Bubba Gump Shrimp tourist traps and lame wax museums. I tell them that they have to go to Brooklyn or Astoria to experience New York. Most don’t go. The biggest beneficiaries of the decline of NYC are New Jersey and Long Island. At least the strip malls there have parking.

Christopher James

New York, N.Y.