Does anyone notice how expensive it is to live a middle class life in 2006?

I am 26yrs old and live in Long Island, NY. The cost of living for middle class people is getting out of hand. I went on a job interview last week as a account manager for a major hotel company in NYC. I thought i might not get the job because of how young i am. However when it came to salary discussions they said they could not pay me as much as my last job, but anyway they offered $40,000 plus a 12.5%max annual bonus and benefits. Then i thought about it when I went home and realized that i would probably get the job not only because of my exerience but the fact that no one older than me that lives in the NYC area and has my qualifications could be able to live off that litlle salary. Its pushing it for me to even live off that. So I got to thinking what the hell is going on, areas that are affordable in this country have no employment and are less affordable now then they have been in the past, and the middle class is getting squeezed out of the NYC area.