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Single mother of one grade-school age child and planning on taking a job in NYC in a few months, currently in Virginia.
Have been checking out areas of Queens and Brooklyn as well as NJ. Even though most will tell you that NYC is the most expensive place to live....my research is showing that NJ is more expensive....and I'm not talking about pricey suburbs, just family friendly areas like Union County, where rents for a decent two-bedroom apt are $1500 and up.
By the time you add in car insurance, commuting costs, etc., NJ is definitely more expensive.....yet people are still telling me that I'll never afford Brooklyn or Queens.
Of course schools are a concern and I've been researching that as well. I just want the best overall situation when you figure in cost, schools, quality of life and all the rest.
Any input?
Last edited by wanderlost; 12-31-2007 at 07:17 AM..
Reason: grammar
I grew up in NY but am currently living in Hoboken and working in Jersey City so I can probably comment on this.
First of, what part of NYC will you be working? And what's your budget? And how long do you want to commute? All are factors to possible recommendations.
You should be able to find something decent in Queens, Brooklyn or Jersey City if you look. I won't recommend Hoboken since it's definitely above $1500 for a decent 2BR and the school district is rather lacking.
Single mother of one grade-school age child and planning on taking a job in NYC in a few months, currently in Virginia.
Have been checking out areas of Queens and Brooklyn as well as NJ. Even though most will tell you that NYC is the most expensive place to live....my research is showing that NJ is more expensive....and I'm not talking about pricey suburbs, just family friendly areas like Union County, where rents for a decent two-bedroom apt are $1500 and up.
By the time you add in car insurance, commuting costs, etc., NJ is definitely more expensive.....yet people are still telling me that I'll never afford Brooklyn or Queens.
Of course schools are a concern and I've been researching that as well. I just want the best overall situation when you figure in cost, schools, quality of life and all the rest.
Any input?
Can't speak about Queens since i never lived there
But Brooklyn, I don't think you will find any decent 2br for less than 1500
probably a lot more than 1500
As far as insurance , you will have to pay that either here in Jersey or in Ny
When i moved out to Rahway from Brooklyn in 1998 i was paying 1900 for 2 cars
ANd everybody told me NJ has the highest insurance cost so i was suprised to find out that i would only be paying 1250 for the same 2 cars .
Also i worked on Wall St and when i moved out and changed my address
My first check was over $100 dollars more so i had them double check to make sure they did not change anything besides my address. It turned out i no longer had to pay city taxes to nyc ,just Non resident taxes and the difference between that plus adding in NJ state taxes worked out as a plus for me , which i quickly gave back to nj transit for my monthly transit pass (oh well)
The schools out here are not as good as some of the surrounding towns but compared to Brooklyn they are great.
There are pro's and con's to each state so good luck to you
and welcome to YANKEE country
Oh yeah
Gas in Jersey is cheaper and you are not allowed to pump it yourself
Single mother of one grade-school age child and planning on taking a job in NYC in a few months, currently in Virginia.
Have been checking out areas of Queens and Brooklyn as well as NJ. Even though most will tell you that NYC is the most expensive place to live....my research is showing that NJ is more expensive....and I'm not talking about pricey suburbs, just family friendly areas like Union County, where rents for a decent two-bedroom apt are $1500 and up.
By the time you add in car insurance, commuting costs, etc., NJ is definitely more expensive.....yet people are still telling me that I'll never afford Brooklyn or Queens.
Of course schools are a concern and I've been researching that as well. I just want the best overall situation when you figure in cost, schools, quality of life and all the rest.
Any input?
In general, the closer to Manhattan, commute wise, the more expensive on living cost. On the other hand, the closer, the better pay for the job. So, you can be sure Northern Jersey, especially, Hoboken or Jersey City, would be much more expensive than Centural Jersey, like Edison, Piscataway, North Brunswick ...etc.
You may buy a coop of Riverview as low as $54,900, and of course, rent would be very affordable. It is right next to Rt 1 and nice river view and Rutgers Univ, near Highland Park (which has great school district and great rent too), and New Brunswick Stn. The price is great because most people are not familiar with coop ownership. Apartment wise, they have all new windows and nicely renovated. Savvy empty nesters often move over.
You may also buy a 2br 1ba condo as low as $163,000 that is right next to Middlesex County College and easy access to many highways such as Fwy 287, NJ Turnpike, Rt 514 ...etc. The price is great due to the fact Centerplace at Edison just built many condo/townhouses on the other side of Middlesex County College.
mon ami, Brooklyn is more affrodable compare to Queens unless you go to deep queens like queens village than that is different.
Brooklyn everything is .50 cents less than queens the closer the part of queens is to NYC the more expensive.
Please if anyone can tell me is jersey city is it overpriced than brooklyn?
Live in NYC all my life
live in NYC all my life brooklyn is affordable in groceries by .50 less than queens the closer you are to manhattan the expensive it is. But queens is beautiful, safe environment there different ethnic groups compare to brooklyn. unless you go more towards queens village than that is different. Certain parts of brooklyn easier commute to Manhattan so the rent is pretty high an 1 bdrm apartment is no less than 1,200
Can anyone tell me if jersey city miscellaneous groceries are overpriced than brooklyn or cheaper?
Generally I find that people expects certain amount of things, and only consider places that are "on the same level". There might be trade offs here and there, but on average are comparable. And since a person generally has the same money, most places they compare are equal. There are many different parts of queens, brooklyn, and NJ. Make sure you are comparing parts that you are willing to live in.
I also found when buying a home in NJ comparing to moving to Brooklyn, the places in both areas came out to be about the same cost. Still needed a car in Brooklyn, so
low commute cost+parking+car insurance+city tax+low property tax==commuting cost+no parking+car insurance+no city tax + ridiculous propoerty tax
were about the same
and thirdly, depending on where you work, the commute into the city from Union County might be faster than from Brooklyn and/or queens.
Northern NJ is a big area, and Brooklyn and Queens are big boroughs. There's an enormous difference between Summit and Irvington, and there's an enormous difference between Park Slope and Brownsville.
If you're looking for NJ town suggestions, you should answer the questions in the sticky thread at the top of the forum. If people think Brooklyn or Queens are a better idea, they won't be shy about saying so :-)
As for schools, the NYC school system is a patchwork of decent schools and not so decent ones, and even then, what school your kids go to is not always decided entirely on where you live. The NJ systems tend to be more similar within their district (with exceptions in a few towns), and with a very few exceptions, where the kids go is entirely based on where you live.
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