Moving to NYC from Orlando for career...i'm scared (New York: apartment, rent)

[KillaFlav]

Ok, so I'm in the midst of making some big decisions. I moved to Orlando to go to school for music production which I completed a year ago. I now hold a Bachelors Degree in Marketing and an Associates Degree in Recording Arts. I moved to Nashville earlier this year thinking it would be the best decision for my career. It turned out to be not what I expected. The city was soooo small compared to Orlando. I want to pursue a career in Music Business (marketing, management, artist relations, tour management, etc). I have a good friend up there who loves it, he's from Atlanta/Orlando. ANYWAY, here is the point, here are my concerns, if anyone has any insight, please let me know.
1. I want to be sure I'm coming to a place where I can pursue this career path. There is next to nothing down here.
2. I am scared to be in a city as big as NYC, I come from a small town but I like being in Orlando, it doesn't scare me at all.
3. I'm big into Indie Rock/Indie Dance music. I love dancing. I really missed the indie dance scene here when I moved to TN. I can't imagine not being able to find a scene up there.
4. I'm scared of the weather, freeeeeeeezing cold!
5. I'm scared of not being able to find a safe, affordable place to live and a job to sustain me until I get a real job.
I have the same romanticized picture of NY that people who only see it on tv and in books do. Sex and the City and every cutesy novel about single girls kickin' it in the city have shaped my view of NYC. Then there is every catastrophe movie made and of course NYPD Blue. I'm afraid it will be all sidewalks and hoodlums. I've seen Dangerous Minds one too many times. I know this is SUPER long and I'm sorry. But at least this will give you something to go on. Please, give me a little insight. I would love to hear anything and everything you all have to say. Thank you so much!!!

Oh yea, I have a car too....and I'm not really wanting to get rid of it....I like to drive and travel a lot!

[SaintLaurent]

Don't be scared of New York. In my opinion, New York is like an enormous small-town, in a sense. Many areas of the city have this vibrant small town feel. You will very much enjoy it.

1. New York is the capital of music, you will have absolutely no problems with that.

2. New York is not always cold. It does get real cold during the winter, but it's not that bad once you get used to it.

3. Don't move to New York without a job or a place. Take some time off and travel to New York and explore the town and look for an apartment.

4. Sidewalks and hoodlums? No. You really need to come to New York and see it for yourself. Some areas of course will be some sketchy like you see on NYPD Blue but there are many beautiful, clean and glamorous areas like you see on Sex and the City.

5. I don't know where in New York you will end up living in, but in Manhattan, to the average person, monthly parking garage costs are very high. Just parking alone can run you the same amount as the average apartment rent in Orlando. I pay $750 a month to park my car in the underground garage of my building. But I don't know your economic status, so I don't know if cost will be an issue for you. But if you live in the outer-boroughs (Parts of Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island), parking isn't bad so you will not have much of a problem (excluding the price of insurance and such)

[Queens2QueenCity]

I believe you should visit NYC and see for yourself and hookup with the friend who already has NYC music biz ties to see if he can assist you. NYC is definitely the place to pursue a career in the music industry but I always heard Nashville is a great place. Why do you want to give up so quickly?

NYC winters will seem very harsh to you since you're from the south but thats a tradeoff to living in the capital of the world and the cold seems to fluctuate from freezing(<32F) to moderate(about 35-40F) usually on a weekly basis.

Expect to pay upwards of $1200 a month for something in a relatively safe area in the outer boroughs.NYC has a surplus of service jobs to tide you over until you get a "real job" but they dont pay much so you would want to already come to NYC with job in hand which is why I say network with your friend who is already in NYC.

As for NYC crime it is pretty much isolated to the bad areas. Avoid them and you will be safe. I will leave it to Hustla718 who is the human COMPSTAT to identify the areas in NYC you will need to avoid.

[BXGEAR]

Originally Posted by KillaFlav

Ok, so I'm in the midst of making some big decisions. I moved to Orlando to go to school for music production which I completed a year ago. I now hold a Bachelors Degree in Marketing and an Associates Degree in Recording Arts. I moved to Nashville earlier this year thinking it would be the best decision for my career. It turned out to be not what I expected. The city was soooo small compared to Orlando. I want to pursue a career in Music Business (marketing, management, artist relations, tour management, etc). I have a good friend up there who loves it, he's from Atlanta/Orlando. ANYWAY, here is the point, here are my concerns, if anyone has any insight, please let me know.
1. I want to be sure I'm coming to a place where I can pursue this career path. There is next to nothing down here.
2. I am scared to be in a city as big as NYC, I come from a small town but I like being in Orlando, it doesn't scare me at all.
3. I'm big into Indie Rock/Indie Dance music. I love dancing. I really missed the indie dance scene here when I moved to TN. I can't imagine not being able to find a scene up there.
4. I'm scared of the weather, freeeeeeeezing cold!
5. I'm scared of not being able to find a safe, affordable place to live and a job to sustain me until I get a real job.
I have the same romanticized picture of NY that people who only see it on tv and in books do. Sex and the City and every cutesy novel about single girls kickin' it in the city have shaped my view of NYC. Then there is every catastrophe movie made and of course NYPD Blue. I'm afraid it will be all sidewalks and hoodlums. I've seen Dangerous Minds one too many times. I know this is SUPER long and I'm sorry. But at least this will give you something to go on. Please, give me a little insight. I would love to hear anything and everything you all have to say. Thank you so much!!!

Oh yea, I have a car too....and I'm not really wanting to get rid of it....I like to drive and travel a lot!

NYC is no big deal

[KillaFlav]

gee clubBR, what an in depth response. ha.

[Motion]

Moving to New York will be an adjustment so expect for the city to be different than where you're from because taking this view may reduce much of your culture shock. Knowing what a city is known for can help you to adjust. I'am from a town in Georgia. The closes big city is Atlanta. It's funny but whenever I go there I'am rarely shocked by anything I see because I expect to see things in Atlanta that I don't expect to see in my hometown. Things that would be surprising to see in my hometown don't seem to stand out to me that much when I'am in ATL. It could be similar for you in NYC when you see things there that you don't normally see or experiance in your hometown. So again just expect for things to be different and you'll probably adjust quicker to life there. Also,in some ways I think it will be easier to adapt to New York more than you realize because we see the city so much in the media so when you get there it will be like what you've already seen of it.

[KillaFlav]

i kinda hope it's not like what i see...bc all i see is a lot of crime and i don't wanna think that's all the city is about. and i have actually live in 3 "big cities" (quoted bc it's a matter of opinion i guess) Nashville, Atlanta and Orlando...i'm from a very small town but small town life does NOT fit me at all. i'm excited the more i read though...it sounds like an adventure i'm definitely up for =)

[Motion]

Originally Posted by KillaFlav

i kinda hope it's not like what i see...bc all i see is a lot of crime and i don't wanna think that's all the city is about.

Well alot of cities have high crime rates like Atlanta. Anyway,what I ment was that since NYC is shown in the media so much you'll probably have some familiarity with it based on what you've already seen of it in the various news and entertainment media(TV shows,movies etc). Not all of these images deal with crime. I mean will you be surprised at how crowded and busy Manhattan is since you've probably seen many images of downtown Manhattan already?

[NooYowkur81]

I think you shouldn't move here honestly. Partially because I don't think you are ready for it yet and because I think you will set yourself up for disappointment. I think you should visit, and seriously think it through.

The music business has changed quite a bit in the last 10 years, NYC is not really a main city (music wise) like it used to be. As a matter of fact a lot of the indie rock stuff is coming out of other places not NYC. Music scene is kinda dead around here to be brutally honest.

I know what I'm about to say seems crazyer and like more of an adjustment but If I were you I'd consider going to Europe for a few years. Your young and can take a lot more risks. I think the payoff would be better in Europe than in NYC.

[madmj]

I am from Orlando and moved to L.A. some years ago. I am in the process of moving to NY. I can't help you with the ins and outs of NY but I can tell you that if you have any doubt about moving somewhere that is a big metropolitan area then you are already in a bad spot. To make it in a place such as NY or LA, especially with the desire to do something for a living in the arts, you need to be headstrong and very confident. Otherwise you will get eaten up by the competition. With that said keep in mind that people do it every day and there are tons of success stories. Also I can tell you this, if you like Orlando you would probably lile L.A. They are similar in a lot of ways, especially how sprawled out everything is and the living situations are similar. I was tired of O-town and moved to LA. I feel like I never moved at all and I'm still in Orlando. That's just me and why I'm moving. Do your research on the music scene. Check out your genre of music and see where the production of their records take place. I wouldn't be suprised if the majority took place in the west coast. Just my 2cents.