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I am contemplating taking a position with a company for an annual salary of up to $150,000. I live in the South, though I lived the majority of my life in the DC region. My question is this, is it worth moving to the largest, most expensive city in the U.S for this salary? I have a wife, two dogs, and a child on the way. I could care less about Manhattan and its nightlife. I need a place to live that is;
1) Safe
2) Affordable to a degree ($3500-$4000 a month)
3) Green space for the dogs, not having to go 20 floors down to walk them (preferably a townhouse/condo with a yard)
4) Close to train- everyone goes commutes by train, I would be no different. 20-30 minutes?
5) Parking for car(s).
Be honest, please. I make a pittance now, but I work five minutes from home, rent a nice house, and my wife and I make about $75k annually. Additionally, she will bring home about $50k in NYC at an area hospital. Options? Opinions? Connecticut, Long Island, Jersey, Westchester County?
A family of 3 should be able to make it on $200K in the metro area without much difficulty. Whether it'd be worth it is another story. Your income would be increasing almost three fold, but depending on where you're moving from, it's quite possible that your housing costs would increase just as much or more, and you'd also likely be paying a lot more for utilities, groceries -- heck, most things.
With a kid on the way, you might be interested in good public schools, although you have a few years to worry about that. If that matters to you, stick to the suburbs -- most city schools are bad, or overcrowded, or both. And you want green space, which is certainly more doable in the suburbs.
Then, your problem becomes that, depending on where your job is located, you're not likely to be within a 20-30 minute commute. If you lived, say, in Nassau County (western Long Island), and you were working downtown, your one-way commute would almost certainly be at least an hour.
I am contemplating taking a position with a company for an annual salary of up to $150,000. I live in the South, though I lived the majority of my life in the DC region. My question is this, is it worth moving to the largest, most expensive city in the U.S for this salary? I have a wife, two dogs, and a child on the way. I could care less about Manhattan and its nightlife. I need a place to live that is;
1) Safe
2) Affordable to a degree ($3500-$4000 a month)
3) Green space for the dogs, not having to go 20 floors down to walk them (preferably a townhouse/condo with a yard)
4) Close to train- everyone goes commutes by train, I would be no different. 20-30 minutes?
5) Parking for car(s).
Be honest, please. I make a pittance now, but I work five minutes from home, rent a nice house, and my wife and I make about $75k annually. Additionally, she will bring home about $50k in NYC at an area hospital. Options? Opinions? Connecticut, Long Island, Jersey, Westchester County?
Thanks,
Buddy
Everything I have seen posted on here it seems like your options are slim on living near or around the city unless you have a nice sized bankroll. 20% down on your town home or condo will set you back at least $60,000 out of pocket on a modest $300,000 place. The good news is you and your wife combined make the required 45x monthly rent at least qualify for the privilege of renting around NYC.
I would say trust in your gut - go to NYC, as I did, look around, and see (or feel) what your gut tells you. I don't care how good the position looks, or how much money it offers. If you don't feel comfortable there, you won't last long in that job. Or in New York City.
I would say trust in your gut - go to NYC, as I did, look around, and see (or feel) what your gut tells you. I don't care how good the position looks, or how much money it offers. If you don't feel comfortable there, you won't last long in that job. Or in New York City.
Parts of Brooklyn and parts of Queens are good for apartments, while Country Club in the Bronx will get you a beautiful house. You can also find nice apartments in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
I loved it. I am back home now, but I am planning to return soon to take another look, to see if it's where I really want to end up. But lots of people I know hate the city.
You know any lawyers I can contact, bud?
Last edited by CanuckLawyer; 08-27-2007 at 10:48 PM..
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