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Why do people always compare New York City proper to the "metros" of cities like Boston?
Although Boston proper is not as expensive as NY.....it is still expensive. If you're complaining about the costs of Boston --- you likely can't afford NYC either.
If you want the type of cheaper lifestyle you're looking for, but with a more cosmopolitan edge (because let's face it -- Boston is neither interesting, glamorous or cosmopolitan), why not a satellite city to NYC like White Plains...or Hoboken?
You don't have to live within the city limits to have easy access to the best of NYC.
Says the peanut gallery from Dupont Circle. Yes, White Plains is infinitely more interesting than Boston, one of the most important cities in American history and home to one of the most highly educated populations in the world. All 3 blocks of downtown malls in White Plains are fascinating, and the new Applebees. And Hoboken? A city of under 40,000 completely overrun with frat boys?
People compare "NYC proper" to "Metro Boston" because people get up every day and live their lives. So they say, well, where can I get myself a nice place to live within X minutes commute time of my job? And if they have kids they add the schools into the equation.
When they're looking at what's within a 40-minute commute of east Midtown, they're looking at the 5 boros, NJ right along the Hudson, or the very closest towns in Westchester. When they're looking at what's within a 40-minute commute of downtown Boston, they can consider a whole number of nearby towns that are outside Boston, but closer than the farther corners of the outer boros in NYC.
what part of Boston are you looking at? have you actually compared salaries in your field? are they the same (or close to it)? cause I agree if you have no special draw to NY, and the salaries are the same, I would say stay in Boston. If you DO have a draw, well its a tradeoff, and probably worth exploring more.
Salary's in my field are almost exactly the same in Boston and NYC. In the North Cambridge/ West Somerville area that we already know we like we can afford a pretty spacious condo on our budget.
I wouldn't be in the NYC forum if there wasn't a draw to be there but I'm starting to wonder if it isn't what it is cracked up to be. As much as I've always wanted to live in NYC I'm not really sure if I can express directly why besides the fact of it being NYC. So many that isn't a good enough reason.
And Hoboken? A city of under 40,000 completely overrun with frat boys?
People compare "NYC proper" to "Metro Boston" because people get up every day and live their lives. So they say, well, where can I get myself a nice place to live within X minutes commute time of my job? And if they have kids they add the schools into the equation.
When they're looking at what's within a 40-minute commute of east Midtown, they're looking at the 5 boros, NJ right along the Hudson, or the very closest towns in Westchester. When they're looking at what's within a 40-minute commute of downtown Boston, they can consider a whole number of nearby towns that are outside Boston, but closer than the farther corners of the outer boros in NYC.
Is Hoboken really that bad? I haven't been there in over 30 years, I don't know the "scene" there.
Also note, our OP said schools don't matter.
Holden, are you really discussing the OP, or defending your own choice? Really, it sounds like a great choice, for you, you sound kinda defensive (though boston being uncosmopolitan is a bit much, if theres a seed of truth to it)
Yea I'm not looking for a house just maybe a 1 or 2 bedroom condo in brownstone Brooklyn. I'd guess our budget would be maybe 300k-450k From what I've seen we'd be sacrificing a lot to get a place in that range.
No offense but you really are sort of all over the place.You say you want brownstone Brooklyn now but in other posts on other threads you said:
"I am wondering if anyone knows any neighborhoods that compare to the neighborhoods in Somerville: Union, Porter and Davis. The main things I think we would be looking for are a neighborhood that has young professional but doesn't have the snobby pretentious feel you get in "Yuppie" neighborhoods of Boston Proper(Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill,etc). "
Well "brownstone Brooklyn" are exactly the kind of neighborhoods that tend to be populated by snobby,pretentious yuppies.The somerville neighborhoods you mention are absolutely nothing like brownstone Brooklyn in look or feel.
Maybe you are having problems finding a neighborhood that fits because you are actually very unfamiliar with NY and are sending out mixed signals as well?
If you want something like Somerville I would definitely not be looking in browntone Brooklyn.Brownstone Brooklyn is more like Back Bay,South End and Beacon Hill which you say you don't want.
You started this thread off with touting all the research you have done about NYC but I am getting the feeling that you really might not even know what you are talking about .
Why would you be expecting to find a place for in brownstone Brooklyn any easier than you would find one in Back Bay for that amount?
No offense but you really are sort of all over the place.You say you want brownstone Brooklyn now but in other posts on other threads you said:
"I am wondering if anyone knows any neighborhoods that compare to the neighborhoods in Somerville: Union, Porter and Davis. The main things I think we would be looking for are a neighborhood that has young professional but doesn't have the snobby pretentious feel you get in "Yuppie" neighborhoods of Boston Proper(Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill,etc). "
Well "brownstone Brooklyn" are exactly the kind of neighborhoods that tend to be populated by snobby,pretentious yuppies.The somerville neighborhoods you mention are absolutely nothing like brownstone Brooklyn in look or feel.
Maybe you are having problems finding a neighborhood that fits because you are actually very unfamiliar with NY and are sending out mixed signals as well?
If you want something like Somerville I would definitely not be looking in browntone Brooklyn.Brownstone Brooklyn is more like Back Bay,South End.
Exactly its true I don't exactly know what I want because I don't know NYC well enough but I think that goes to the point that there is a sort of sharp dichotomy in NYC as far as I can tell from Snobbish to Gritty.
It very well could be the sort of neighborhoods that appeal to me don't exist in NYC.
Exactly its true I don't exactly know what I want because I don't know NYC well enough but I think that goes to the point that there is a sort of sharp dichotomy in NYC as far as I can tell from Snobbish to Gritty.
It very well could be the sort of neighborhoods that appeal to me don't exist in NYC.
How would you know unless you have been to all 350 of them?
Have you been to Ditmas Park,Forest Hills,Kew Gardens,Riverdale,Morris Park,Woodlawn,Windsor Terrace,Midwood ,Rego Park ,Pelham Gardens,Van Cortlandt Village and other neighborhoods where middle class NY'ers live?
Have you been to Hoboken ?
Where exactly have you been ?
Exactly its true I don't exactly know what I want because I don't know NYC well enough but I think that goes to the point that there is a sort of sharp dichotomy in NYC as far as I can tell from Snobbish to Gritty.
It very well could be the sort of neighborhoods that appeal to me don't exist in NYC.
Whats somerville like these days? My views on it are somewhat dated. I assume somewhat gentrified but not too snobbish?
There aren't any triple decker areas in NYC I know of. It does sound like maybe Windsor Terrace might be up your alley, though not an ideal commute to NJ.
I wonder if there arent some other towns in NJ that might fill the bill, that are older and more funky but not so yuppified or expensive as Hoboken. Theres been some expansion of transit in NJ lately, so maybe more towns that I am not aware of.
Is Hoboken really that bad? I haven't been there in over 30 years, I don't know the "scene" there.
Also note, our OP said schools don't matter.
Holden, are you really discussing the OP, or defending your own choice? Really, it sounds like a great choice, for you, you sound kinda defensive (though boston being uncosmopolitan is a bit much, if theres a seed of truth to it)
I took the OP's OP to be about him specifically but also about the appeal of NYC to the middle class generally. From the thread I get the sense I'm a bit older than he is and looking for different things at this point. I brought up my own experiences as part of the broader discussion of why middle class people might want to go elsewhere.
I'm not defensive about my choice, I know I did the right thing for me. I just get frustrated with the tone on this board when anyone points out the drawbacks of NYC. I spend a lot of time on the Mass. and Boston boards. We get a lot of people considering relocating from Indiana, or whatever, and they're dismayed they can't find a big brand new house for $200K. But it's fairly uncommon to see the kind of stuff that happens on this forum: "Well, if your (sic) a loser and you cant (sic) afford it you should stay in your podunk walmart cowtown. ha ha ha nobody will ever be as cool as nyc your (sic) just jealus (sic)"
Quote:
Originally Posted by brooklynborndad
I suppose I could try to come up with similar commuter rail oriented NY towns. But Im not sure thats to the point.
Again, I was speaking more to the general phenomenon of the NYC area for middle class people, not so much the OP personally. I actually didn't think he was looking for recommendations in NY since the thread is titled "Why I won't ever move to NYC."
I don't think it's that easy, though, to find towns on the NY commuter rail that are as close. From the commuter rail stations in Newton, Belmont and Melrose it's 20 mins train time to Boston. From Pelham you can get to GCT in just under half an hour. From Great Neck you can get to Penn Station in about half an hour, but those places generally are more expensive.
Most of the tech jobs in Boston aren't in Boston or Cambridge,They are out on 128 in Waltham,Burlington,etc.How is that different from NY tech jobs being in NJ ?
Wait...................... NY'ers are now proclaiming jobs in NJ as being "NY jobs"?
Oh, that's right, when it fits within the context of trying to boost NYC, NJ & NY are one big, happy, unified family. How silly of me.
In every other instance though, it does not seem to be that way. Quite curious.
Here let's assume some things and maybe you can give me some places:
-Assume commute to NJ, around Morristown/Parsnippany maybe.
-Looking for a neighborhood that a good amount of Professionals in 20s 30s 40s with local bars a step up from the having budlite on tap but atleast two steps down being a martini bar place to be seen in NYC, local music, nice grocery store, like that.
-Assume we'd probably want to be in BK, I'm guessing that NYC doesn't have any neighborhood below 96th st that aren't snobby, although I feel like Morningside Heights could what we kind of want especially with the influence on the University, much like where we live now
- Assumed we'd want to buy a condo for at most 500k, and would hope that price would get us a 2BR with around 1000sf.
Does this place exist? I know I'm pretty picky but I had some pretty crappy experiences living in various neighborhoods in Boston where we just didn't feel at home, so if I were to go to NYC I'd want to nail down the perfect spot.
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