[hart]

I'm coming back to work after 10 years away and looking at both freelance and "real" jobs. I started working in NYC back in '85 and went through the recession then so I've seen some economic ups and downs. I've also seen apartment and house prices in our neighborhood double, triple, and generally get hugely expensive and unaffordable.

BUT all the jobs I'm looking at are offering the same pay rates as ads I was looking at in 1990. Am I crazy or has compensation not anywhere near kept up with inflation. Or is it just that designers are easy to exploit?

What's your experience with pay rates in the last 10 or 20 years?

[Mastrap]

Cities like London and NYC have become more expensive and salaries have not risen accordingly. When I first moved to London you could, on a normal income, afford a house in central London. No more, and that was one of the reasons why we've moved on to Toronto. NYC is much the same, in my experience.

[design219]

The last 10 years have been pretty good for me in the graphic design field, but I'm about as far away as I could get from the big city markets.

[hart]

the 2 bedroom apartment we had for $900 15 years ago is probably closer to $3000 now. I haven't seen any jobs offering 3 times the pay rate that was around then though. Not even close.

I keep wondering who can afford these places if the salaries are staying the same. People were all sharing apartments back then just to afford them. Are they living 10 to a room these days? I feel immensely fortunate to have bought a house over a decade ago or we would have had to leave town long ago.

edit: I keep thinking of moving to Vancouver. How's the weather out there?

[Mastrap]

Rainy.