NYC suburbs to London, what am I getting into? (living, cost, state)

[JonJT]

Hello, I impetuously volunteered myself for an exchange program my company is offering. Living in London for a year sounded like a fantastic idea. I still think it is but, now I'm not sure I'll be able to live and enjoy the city for the time I will be there. My American company will continue to pay me in American dollars for the entire year that I'll be there. I make ~73k My office is in the Hammersmith area. I want to live near the office so that I don't have to take the tube to work. I've been researching the cost of living in London versus New York but, I haven't been able to find any quantified information. People seem to believe that London may be a bit more expensive than New York. However, such statements tend not to take neighborhood into account. I've spent much of my live in the NYC area so, I know how expensive that area is. My concern is that I don't know if I can handle a similarly expensive area when I have to deal with the exchange rate and the VAT taxes. Both of these are not in my favor and, I don't wan to be in a position where I cannot afford to live. Can anyone here comment on my situation? Thanks

[JonJT]

The posted text didn't retain the formatting I applied when writing it. Is there a setting I need to change? I've never encountered this problem on vBulletin boards before.

[evan83]

There is a UK section. And the subforum beneath it is London. You may want to post the question there. As you can see above you, this is the GENERAL U.S. forum.