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What is the noise like over there? LGA is so close by.
There is only airport noise when there are runway closures -- perhaps 6-10 days per year. I imagine this was part of designating a historic district -- that it wouldn't have plane traffic over it.
Yes, it's funny what people think they know from riding the 7 train and looking out the window, or going a few times to the Jackson Diner for Indian food.
Right. And it was never about wealth in the first place. Only that the area is a clean, family and school-friendly neighborhood inhabited by college educated residents while offering cheaper rents and better quality apartments than Manhattan. One only needs to visit the place to see the truth first hand.
My friends in Queens would refer to it as "Rego Pakistan."
That's weird. Haven't seen too many Pakistanis over there. I guess when they say this, they mean to say "Rego Parkistan" but they got confused. Oh well. Sometimes people aren't too bright.
That's weird. Haven't seen too many Pakistanis over there. I guess when they say this, they mean to say "Rego Parkistan" but they got confused. Oh well. Sometimes people aren't too bright.
Oops! One letter, big typo. Yes, "Rego PaRkistan" is what I meant to write. My fingers got ahead of me.
There is only airport noise when there are runway closures -- perhaps 6-10 days per year. I imagine this was part of designating a historic district -- that it wouldn't have plane traffic over it.
Historic district designation has more to do with aesthetics than noise. If it were in a truly noise flight path, an area could still be deemed historic, which is a good thing. It would be a crying shame to see any of those beautiful old apartment buildings torn down to make way from a modern monstrosity.
My friends in Queens would refer to it as "Rego Pakistan."
Why not? Have the Bukaharian Jews posted signs forbidding non BJs to enter? Are they that closed a community, or are they hostile toward non BK? I haven't any experience with the Bukharians, so please fill me in.
Agree with Rego, but it also has a large Russian and Eastern European Jewish population. Most of the Eastern Europeans allegedly living in FH actually live closer to Rego and the Corona border than they do to 71st.
FH residents have no business going to that part of 108th because there is nothing for most of them to do there (not in the absolute sense, of course). Promenading is done mostly in Austin which offers boutiques, chain stores, restaurants and cafes. Groceries/staples are bought in Keyfoods, Trader Joes and COSTCO plus a couple of organic shops. There are mini parks and playgrounds near Austin and Yellowstone and sit down restaurants in Metropolitan.
Again, most activity in FH does not reach as far as the area mentioned. There are bagel stores and mom and pops that sell Russian and Kosher goods there but unless that is what you specifically want then there is really little reason to be there and definitely no basis to worry about Eastern Europeans occupying FH now or in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhBeeHave
I like Queens and usually suggest Bayside Gables, Douglaston or Forest Hills Gardens, but if the OP has the money to spend and is talking about Manhattan, why suggest a borough which is merely a suburb on steroids? Queens can be a great place to live, has all the diversity one seeks in a quasi-urban environment but lacks the vibrancy of Manhattan.
FH Gardens has few apartments; sometimes there are townhomes available for rent and they usually cost more than $5K depending on the market. It's needlessly overpriced if a person just wants a 3BR apt - he/she can just check out the Windsor, Kennedy or Pinnacle.
I don't know what the conveniences are in Bayside Gables or Douglaston - if these are places where you can walk a few blocks out of your apartment and find cafes, restaurants, stores and what not - similar to what you can do in JH and FH. I do know these places do not have independent nondenominational private schools in the immediate neighborhood though Douglaston has a newly founded independent Catholic school. They can commute to private schools in FH or JH but they would need a car and as I mentioned, the weekday AM commute in Queens is a pain.
Can't say much about the airplane noise in JH. My LO attended private school there briefly before we moved and noise was never an issue during school hours. In FH, airplane noise was not an issue while we were living there. I lived in a 10th floor apartment in the UWS (113th St.) for 2 years and the noise coming from ambulances and barhoppers in Broadway 24x7 was much more unbearable, not that the OP would consider living there (hopefully not).
Vibrancy - It has vibrancy, just not to the same level as Manhattan. Those parts of Queens have multi-ethnic cuisine, musical concerts, artistic movie theaters and galleries. But as has been mentioned in other threads, much of the higher rents in Manhattan under present conditions is not related to vibrancy or convenience to be gained by the renter but rather to money pouring in from overseas.
Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 10-05-2012 at 09:43 PM..
Historic district designation has more to do with aesthetics than noise. If it were in a truly noise flight path, an area could still be deemed historic, which is a good thing. It would be a crying shame to see any of those beautiful old apartment buildings torn down to make way from a modern monstrosity.
I believe they keep the flight path off of the historic area because it's a historic area.
I love how tempermental this person got. I only asked for numbers so we could look realistically at how much could be afforded. If the OP stated it's harder to go for Private, one would assume they don't have enough money. She wanted areas to live, she got areas to live. So what's the problem here?
There is a hidden wealth in Jackson Heights. It's not at all apparent when you walk around, but I know of residents like a partner in a law firm who easily makes $1.5 million a year and plenty of other dual income professional families that make plenty and bought in JH over Brooklyn/Manhattan either because they prefer it or want more space.
It's not exaggerating to talk about the fact that the wealth and the highly educated class exists. So I'd rather not be thanked for "not exaggerating". The reason I posted the information about $800K apartments is to illustrate that it's not a 100% working class neighborhood, which some seem to assume when they ride by on the 7 train.
Also, there are several buildings that have consistently had sales over $400K or over $500K over the past several years. This includes Hawthorne Court (33 sales over $400K and 500K in 6 years), The Chateau (17 sales between 400-600K), The Towers (11 sales in the over $600K range); Laburnum Court - 9 sales over $400K. I am not talking about just 2006 --these sales continue at this price into 2011 and possibly beyond (my info is from 2011).
I looked it up because it seems you might have trouble believing this-- I guess because you think you know about something that you really don't. Please let me know if you'd like the real estate analysis pdf I got the info from.
Edited to say that the pdf does not show the exact sale price of every unit -- it shows the average sale price of the apartments by size and by building.
For example, in one building called Hawthorne Court:
2006 - 4 sales of 5 room apartments at average $422K
2006 - 5 sales of 6 room apartments at average $509K
2008 - 3 sales of 5 room apartments at average $452K
2008 - 4 sales of 6 room apartments at average $542K
2010 - 3 sales of 6 room apartments at average $553K
And that is just one building.
Jackson Heights is not wealthy overall but the historic district does contain a fair number of people well-off enough to be buying 500K and 600K apartments and managing not only to get mortgages but also pass the coop boards.
I already knew some people with means existed in Jackson Heights. I just don't think there is a large amount of them compared to everybody else in the neighborhood or that Jackson Heights is considerably gentrified, which was the impression I got of the type of place the OP was looking for. What percent of Jackson Heights is actually upper middle class or wealthy? There are some and that's nice but it's far from the majority of the neighborhood.
Please don't take offense, but I just thought the neighborhood had been misrepresented as more gentrified than it is to the OP as suitable for her and her family. In an earlier post you even agreed with that.
I think Jackson Heights is a very good choice for many people who come on here asking for ideas on where to live. Definitely. Actually I feel the same way about Bay Ridge and Forest Hills. The whole reason I responded was to say that I did not think these neighborhoods would be right for the OP, that's all. It is not because I think any of them, including Jackson Heights, are terrible places. Far from it. Personally I would rather live in Queens than Manhattan, but there are a lot of people who are just stuck on Manhattan and I think from what the OP wrote she leans that way.
When someone asks about where to live, unlike some, I am not the type to try and force MY own ideas on them since I think I'm so perfect and everyone else must follow what I do. If I were, surely I would have tried to talk her into Long Island and its private schools. However, the OP said she was looking to get out of suburbia and for all I know, she could be looking to get off LI!
The OP clearly wrote she didn't like Queens and preferred Manhattan or parts of Brooklyn (I am sure more like Park Slope than Bay Ridge). I found Jackson Heights, Bay Ridge and Forest Hills to be inappropriate choices for the OP which were also based on the peculiar "logic" that the OP must live within walking distance of half price private schools. The OP has a teenage son and nowhere did she indicate she was a helicopter parent or her teenager is a wussy who must come home everyday and have lunch with mommy and needs a walking distance school. Nor did she indicate she needed a half price private school.
But I digress as the OP hasn't been back anyway. Perhaps she will not be moving to NYC after all ...
Maybe a lot of things can be taken for granted when living in the suburbs of Long Island, like being able to commute from house to school by car or schoolbus in 10-15 minutes. NYC is a different animal - either you live one way or another and nothing in between.
If you don't live in the UES (where most of the private schools are located) or UWS (where you can take the crosstown bus to the UES), you are looking at a 20+ minute commute by packed subways every single day. Is it doable? Of course it is and there are HS scholars and all-boy/girl students from the boroughs and counties who commute >1hr to school. But would a person do it if he thought he really didn't have to? Probably not. It's not a coincidence that most Manhattan families sending kids to private schools with the means to do so comfortably live in the UES and UES. They wouldn't have their kids take long commutes if they don't have to.
Which then goes to the matter about whether or not people can live in Manhattan for $5K/month in rent. Yes they can. But...if they rent in the UES/UWS, it would probably be in a 1-bath apartment in a walkup building with tenants fresh out of college. Or it will be in Washington Heights or some other neighborhood where the commute to the UES can take up to 40-50 minutes by subway, on top of paying for tuition approaching $40K/year. Manhattan may be more upscale than Queens but that is not an upscale QOL. It gets to be unpleasant if you do it every weekday for years. This is something that the OP or anyone moving into the city with that kind of a budget should be aware of.
And I haven't even brought up the ridiculous admissions processes of the Manhattan private schools. Gotta factor that into the upscale QOL consideration.
When living in the city, proximity and access to good schools, educational experience, size, features and condition of apartments and residential buildings, the kind of neighbors you have, and the care and uptake of the neighborhood are very important factors in influencing QOL or at least avoiding a really bad one.
As many posters have pointed out in the past, there are many other neighborhoods that can offer better QOL than Manhattan for those who don't have generous budgets to work with. They are just not marketed as prominently and maybe they are better for it but then a lot of people from out of town wouldn't know about them.
Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 10-08-2012 at 08:19 PM..
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