The City University of New York's project on 1940s New York launched today charting 1940s Censu-..ooooh my gosh $30 dollar rent!  Whew, sorry, got distracted there. Where were we? CUNY's  Center for Urban Research launched a project entitled Welcome to 1940s New York today--a look socioeconomic climate of the city in the 1940s, or more simply, a look at how relatively cheap renting was way back when. Yes, yes, of course there's stuff like inflation (mind you $50 then would still be around $800 today and very affordable) and whatnot, but the project does hit on that same feeling of satisfaction/envy when you find out there are magical unicorns in Manhattan paying $332 for some grand apartment while parents stuff their fresh college grads in Murray Hill for double to triple that amount--and there's also a bit of weird Mad Men-esque nostalgia and anthropology looking at these old prices and neighborhood descriptions.  Take a look at what CUNY's Urban Research team unearthed about Manhattan's West Village which was pitched as "not a neighborhood for artists and writers" (mind you, rents there are now $3,000 and up):

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Alexander Abad-Santos