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My husband was just offered a job opportunity with a company in NYC and we obviously need to move. We are from MI and we live in your typical neighborhood of homes with 3000+ sq. ft, yard, kids riding on bikes on the sidewalk, bbq's, etc. (you get the picture). We have never lived in a big city before. We are excited about moving but I am overwhelmed on where to start.
For sake of discussion, let's say that the amount we can spend is about 6K+/month.
We have a daughter who is 3.
He will be working in the Financial District. We want to keep commute time to as short as possible but are willing to sacrafice a longer commute for a better place to lvie.
Where should we start to look?
We have discussed New Jersey, as we are kind of hoping we can get a suburban feel but with quick access to the city for commuting purposes. However, I have read that quick access is not a reality and the schools aren't that great. We can go private but would like to live in an area where public schools are rated high. However, what parts of NJ would you recommend if we were trying to achieve that raise your kid in the suburbs kind of feel?
What about parts of the city? I am CLUELESS as to where I would even begin to consider but what about Brooklyn or Queens? Or what about Chelsea (is that in the city)? Can we get a townhouse in any of these places or are we strictly talking apartments? Yard space? Or is that just a dream?
My husband was just offered a job opportunity with a company in NYC and we obviously need to move. We are from MI and we live in your typical neighborhood of homes with 3000+ sq. ft, yard, kids riding on bikes on the sidewalk, bbq's, etc. (you get the picture). We have never lived in a big city before. We are excited about moving but I am overwhelmed on where to start.
For sake of discussion, let's say that the amount we can spend is about 6K+/month.
We have a daughter who is 3.
He will be working in the Financial District. We want to keep commute time to as short as possible but are willing to sacrafice a longer commute for a better place to lvie.
Where should we start to look?
We have discussed New Jersey, as we are kind of hoping we can get a suburban feel but with quick access to the city for commuting purposes. However, I have read that quick access is not a reality and the schools aren't that great. We can go private but would like to live in an area where public schools are rated high. However, what parts of NJ would you recommend if we were trying to achieve that raise your kid in the suburbs kind of feel?
What about parts of the city? I am CLUELESS as to where I would even begin to consider but what about Brooklyn or Queens? Or what about Chelsea (is that in the city)? Can we get a townhouse in any of these places or are we strictly talking apartments? Yard space? Or is that just a dream?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Just a correction to your perception--schools in most suburban towns in New Jersey are probably better than pretty much anywhere else in the country. There are reasons that NJ is the most densely populated state in the nation, and that is one of them. (The negative of that is that the good schools are also part of the reason NJ has some of the highest property taxes in the nation.) However, you are correct in that you will not have a short commute. Manhattan's on an island, and there are a finite number of ways to cross the water to get there, and about a quarter million people from NJ are doing that at the same times every day.
The upside, in addition to the good public school systems, is that if you are willing to accept that you have a longer commute and learn how to use that time to your advantage, you have a wide selection of suburban settings to live in, from wooded, rolling hills to close proximity to the ocean.
If you do decide to look at New Jersey in addition to the New York options, come to the New Jersey forum, and people will be willing to help you and give you ideas.
Consider Battery Park City. Your husband can walk to work in the Financial District and the area is absolutely overflowing with young families. The esplanade along the Hudson in the neighborhood is one of the most well kept public spaces in all of NYC, in my opinion. There's many playgrounds, parks, basketball courts, etc. You'd probably be looking at about $4000 - $5000 for a two bedroom in the area but you'll be living in Manhattan in a very quiet, family friendly area while still having access to everything. I can't speak to the caliber of schools but it's popularity with families is probably a good sign.
If you're looking for suburbs you'll be talking about an hour door to door (at minimum) from a nice suburb in NJ. I'm sure others can make better suggestions than I can on that front.
The great thing about the Financial District is its public transportation access. You could live almost anywhere in Manhattan or the more inner sections of Brooklyn and be within a quick subway trip of the area. Lower Manhattan, Tribeca, Battery Park City, and Park Slope in particular are magnets for families, so they're your best bet.
My husband was just offered a job opportunity with a company in NYC and we obviously need to move. We are from MI and we live in your typical neighborhood of homes with 3000+ sq. ft, yard, kids riding on bikes on the sidewalk, bbq's, etc. (you get the picture). We have never lived in a big city before. We are excited about moving but I am overwhelmed on where to start.
For sake of discussion, let's say that the amount we can spend is about 6K+/month.
We have a daughter who is 3.
He will be working in the Financial District. We want to keep commute time to as short as possible but are willing to sacrafice a longer commute for a better place to lvie.
Where should we start to look?
We have discussed New Jersey, as we are kind of hoping we can get a suburban feel but with quick access to the city for commuting purposes. However, I have read that quick access is not a reality and the schools aren't that great. We can go private but would like to live in an area where public schools are rated high. However, what parts of NJ would you recommend if we were trying to achieve that raise your kid in the suburbs kind of feel?
What about parts of the city? I am CLUELESS as to where I would even begin to consider but what about Brooklyn or Queens? Or what about Chelsea (is that in the city)? Can we get a townhouse in any of these places or are we strictly talking apartments? Yard space? Or is that just a dream?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
NJ - Chatham, Summit, Madison, Montvale - great school systems, commute would not be less than 1 hour. Maybe Ridgewood (ultra-competitive school system - suicide due to peer pressure is not uncommon (unpublished secret), maybe Glen Rock (next town over - not as nutso, Westfield (though sort of over-priced snobby atmosphere).
Brooklyn - will not find a house with 3000 sq. feet in a suburban feel and the public school system is hit or miss. Private school is ridiculously expensive.
We have discussed New Jersey, as we are kind of hoping we can get a suburban feel but with quick access to the city for commuting purposes. However, I have read that quick access is not a reality and the schools aren't that great. We can go private but would like to live in an area where public schools are rated high. However, what parts of NJ would you recommend if we were trying to achieve that raise your kid in the suburbs kind of feel?
Westchester County in NY, specifically parts of lower Westchester are known for excellent public school systems and fairly quick commutes into Manhattan. It would be 30 minutes on the Metro North to Grand Central/42nd street then another few minutes on the subway downtown- total travel time would be under an hour.
Scarsdale has one of the most renowned and best public school systems in the country. Not sure what the rental market is like there, but I'm sure you can rent an apartment (which are actually right next to the Metro North station) at that $6K (maybe even a small house???). If you want to go the suburban route, you should also post this question in the Westchester forum.
We are also from MI - Holland, MI. We moved and currently live in Park Slope this past Aug., which is considered one of the best family friendly neighborhoods in NYC, and honestly, I can't wait to move to NJ. This may be *more* of a suburb feel than others, but it's not at all. NO yards, you have to walk EVERYWHERE. Can you imagine that with a stroller, etc? The schools, and we're in PS321 (i.e. best public elementary school) have no grass. You have to apply to get your children into a middle school, which are hit and miss. Coming from MI, it's just not been what I'd hoped for. We are planning to move in Aug., when our lease is up, to NJ. We have zeroed in on Ridgewood, NJ and Westfield, NJ. Both have excellent school systems, great community feel, the neighborhoods feel like the nice, well taken care of homes back in MI with your choice of well maintained vicorian, cottage-y, or new developments. Lots of trees. And the commute was actually nice. It was an hour, but a nice calm relaxing hour. My husband,even though he'd love to live in Manhattan, actually appreciates the idea of being able to go to work in the city and get his fill of it, but then come home to quiet peace. Plus, we can still go to NYC on the weekends easily if we wanted to sight see. Visiting NYC is fun. Living here has not been so much. That being said, I've heard you either love it here or you hate it. Unfortunately I'm in the latter group. So now I'm faced with moving my children to another school, AGAIN, which stinks. Perhaps you'll end up loving it here, though. I would think long and hard about what kind of lifestyle you want before you choose to make the leap and what is worth what sacrifices.
Westchester County in NY, specifically parts of lower Westchester are known for excellent public school systems and fairly quick commutes into Manhattan. It would be 30 minutes on the Metro North to Grand Central/42nd street then another few minutes on the subway downtown- total travel time would be under an hour.
Scarsdale has one of the most renowned and best public school systems in the country. Not sure what the rental market is like there, but I'm sure you can rent an apartment (which are actually right next to the Metro North station) at that $6K (maybe even a small house???). If you want to go the suburban route, you should also post this question in the Westchester forum.
It is not just "another few minutes" on the notoriously backed up 4 n 5 "cattle car" trains to downtown financial district, more like 30 minutes if you get jammed in the tunnel with the famous "attention ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the delay, we have train traffic up ahead of us" from NYC Transit. Then you have to account for the time travel from office to train station.
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maiabella
from NYC Transit. Then you have to account for the time travel from office to train station.
