Long time NY'er now with a wife, baby, and car... (New York: apartments, rentals)
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After years of living all over Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, I am finally resigned to the fact that I am now a married family man and must choose a new place to live based on what's best for my family. Here are my requirements:
- 2/3 bedrooms for about $2400/mo. Ideally, 1000 sq ft or greater for a family of 3...
- Stroller-friendly neighborhood (my son is 13 months old)
- On-premise laundry
- Private parking for 1 car
- Close to public transit w/ 1 hr commute to Financial District
We currently live in a 2 bedroom in a multi-family house in Astoria which meets all of these requirements and we love the area. However, the owner will not renew our lease and I suspect it's due to our active toddler (the landlord lives below us and his bedroom happens to be right below the nursery).
After looking around on Craig's List, I doubt that we can continue to live in Astoria and we're willing to move further out in Queens, Brooklyn, or Jersey as long as my commute time to the FiDi remains reasonable and the neighborhood is safe and family-friendly. Sufficient space, laundry, and parking is actually really important to us now also.
These areas seem to fit the bill:
- Bayside / Flushing
- Bay Ridge (Brooklyn)
- West New York / Weehawken (NJ)
Anyone have any thoughts or opinions about these places? Or suggestions for other neighborhoods we could check out?
I would also suggest looking at Forest Hills. Since you are already considering Bayside, I would also look at all of NE Queens that falls into District 26 schools (Little Neck, Douglaston, etc.) because you can take LIRR to Penn on the Port Washington line, which does not go through Jamaica, and offers a faster commute. From Penn, it's not difficult to get to the Financial District via subway. Even though your son is only 13 months, you will need schools before you know it, so looking to an area with good zoned schools would make sense, so you don't have to move again when it's time to start kindergarten.
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I think OP's money will go further in Bayside than in Forest Hills. The only thing with Bayside is that the places are more spread out. If Pokey wants to stay in central Queens near Forest Hills, he can look at Kew Gardens which is a lot cheaper and has a nice neighborhood with young families moving in. Kew Gardens also has an LIRR stop.
Bay Ridge is also not bad and might be a faster commute to the Financial District.
I would not worry about schools at this point. There is still a lot of time before the kid starts school. One thing I learned is that circumstances, preferences and expectations can still change.
What about Long Island? ROckville Centre is a 35 min commute to Manhattan, shorter than some commutes on the subway. LI is a great place to raise kids and schools are generally better than city schools.
These are all great suggestions. My wife was working in Westchester and would drive, hence our choice of Astoria at the time. She's given up the job after having the baby so we're more flexible on area at this point given that our list of requirements has grown.
We're on track to buy in about 2 years and will seriously consider school districts and her return to work at that point. For the time, I'm leaning towards Forest Hills myself. It's probably another step towards our inevitable move to the LI suburbs .
From Middle Village and Ridgewood it is fairly easy to get to the Financial District by subway (M to the J). Definitely easier than from either Forest Hills or Astoria. I'd think you would get more for your money as well.
of those neighborhoods your money will go farthest in bay ridge and it's a great place to raise children. R to financial district is not a bad ride at all and there are also express buses if you feel like it. if you drive to work, gowanus to lower manhattan will definitely be better than driving from queens (although still crappy )
of those neighborhoods your money will go farthest in bay ridge and it's a great place to raise children. R to financial district is not a bad ride at all and there are also express buses if you feel like it. if you drive to work, gowanus to lower manhattan will definitely be better than driving from queens (although still crappy )
^This. And you can definitely find something in your price range. I'm sure if you look around CL you can probably find house rentals with parking---apartments will be more difficult. R would take you less than an hour to get to the financial district. Lots of families too.
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