New York City - where to live? Need advice from locals!

[PCsucks]

disagreed

why so

 

[beatzfreak]

What's your budget?

Rents are coming down in NYC.

Brooklyn is awesome. My husband works at Madison & 48th, the commute is pretty easy from Park Slope / Prospect Heights Brooklyn. We have 13 subway lines within a couple of blocks, lots of trees and brownstones; zoning is limited to 4 stories. Oh and there's the Chip Shop, pretty decent fish and chips wrapped in the NY Times.

It depends on what you want.

I lived in Alphabet City for a while, until it was over-run with bars and weekends became a nightmare. I still hang out there, though. Same with Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

 

[chstr]

why so

I think parts of Brooklyn are really cool but I would hardly call the entire burough "real" NY. Some parts of it are like small towns. no high rises, very quiet, etc.

 

[zen]

Thanks for all the replies so far. This is really interesting.

I guess the case now is whether I can find a decent place that will take a cat. Getting permission to have a pet can be a bit of a chore in the UK - what's the deal in the US rental market? A real problem or not really?

 

[andiwm2003]

Untrue- Brooklyn is a great place and the only place I'd ever live in NYC. Manhattan has become overrun and far too yuppie, with the exception of some parts of Lower Manhattan.

uh, you got me there. brooklyn is actually close enough and well connected to manhattan. i kind of counted that to manhattan (and offended probably a whole lot of people. sorry. ).

Anyway, my point is that moving from far away and then working in manhattan and living outside is IMHO not a good idea because you won't integrate or find friends easily. You also miss out on a chance to try big city life. So I would recommend to find a place in or close enough to manhattan to be able to join all the dinner parties, movie and theatre and opera events with colleagues. after a year it's then easy to move again.

 

[PCsucks]

uh, you got me there. brooklyn is actually close enough and well connected to manhattan. i kind of counted that to manhattan (and offended probably a whole lot of people. sorry. ).

Anyway, my point is that moving from far away and then working in manhattan and living outside is IMHO not a good idea because you won't integrate or find friends easily. You also miss out on a chance to try big city life. So I would recommend to find a place in or close enough to manhattan to be able to join all the dinner parties, movie and theatre and opera events with colleagues. after a year it's then easy to move again.

dude trust me its good to hang out in the city but almost everybody lives in queens brooklyn or staten island the city just makes ur head hirt after a while

 

[beatzfreak]

Thanks for all the replies so far. This is really interesting.

I guess the case now is whether I can find a decent place that will take a cat. Getting permission to have a pet can be a bit of a chore in the UK - what's the deal in the US rental market? A real problem or not really?

Not really a problem. Most landlords are fine with cats. Just another way for them to make money by charging a pet deposit.

 

[zen]

uh, you got me there. brooklyn is actually close enough and well connected to manhattan. i kind of counted that to manhattan (and offended probably a whole lot of people. sorry. ).

Anyway, my point is that moving from far away and then working in manhattan and living outside is IMHO not a good idea because you won't integrate or find friends easily. You also miss out on a chance to try big city life. So I would recommend to find a place in or close enough to manhattan to be able to join all the dinner parties, movie and theatre and opera events with colleagues. after a year it's then easy to move again.

Yeah, sounds reasonable. Do it for a year, see what happens. If we hate it, fine, move somewhere else and try the commute.

I must say Hoboken looks quite nice.

 

[Boneoh]

I would recommend Hoboken, NJ. It is just across the Hudson river.

I have a friend that in Hoboken, living in a lovely apartment overlooking Manhattan. I have stayed there a couple of times, and it is nice and quiet, has green space, feels safe but there are still lots of nice bars and restaurants around.

I realise it is not in NYC, but you can get the Path straight into NYC in minutes, or a bus direct to Port Authority which is also very quick. You can even jump on a commuter ferry!

For somebody not keen on 'big city living', I think it would be perfect.

Second on that one. I grew up in NJ, we always caught the train into the city. The only problems I remember were that a couple of times they went on strike for a few days and things were a mess.