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I finally had a chance to actually visit NYC and I liked it a lot. The energy and feel (I LOVED the grid system) plus the fact that I won't need a car to live there makes it extremely appealing to me. However, if I chose to live there next year, I'm really worried about being able to afford living there. According to the program I am currently in, the average salary for grads who choose NYC is only around 60k all in. I also will be working terrible hours (think upwards of 80...no I'm not an investment banker...I just work similar hours without the financial upside sadly), so I'll need to live in a place close to Times Square/Rockefeller (sp?) Plaza, which is obviously a prime area and not easy to afford.
My question is how doable will NYC be on that type of salary? All of my friends are investment bankers and they complain that their 120k+ salaries are tough to live on in NYC and I can't imagine how much of a struggle it will be to live on half of that. I really want to be there, but at the same time, it may be more intelligent to go to another major city (such as DC or Atlanta) to work for a different branch of the same company with a better CoL adjusted salary (although less opportunities to work with multinational corporations of course).
Any thoughts on how feasible it is?
EDIT: Darn, I posted this in the wrong forum. Can a mod move this to the NYC specific page?
Last edited by west_2_east; 05-15-2013 at 03:41 PM..
I finally had a chance to actually visit NYC and I liked it a lot. The energy and feel (I LOVED the grid system) plus the fact that I won't need a car to live there makes it extremely appealing to me. However, if I chose to live there next year, I'm really worried about being able to afford living there. According to the program I am currently in, the average salary for grads who choose NYC is only around 60k all in. I also will be working terrible hours (think upwards of 80...no I'm not an investment banker...I just work similar hours without the financial upside sadly), so I'll need to live in a place close to Times Square/Rockefeller (sp?) Plaza, which is obviously a prime area and not easy to afford.
My question is how doable will NYC be on that type of salary? All of my friends are investment bankers and they complain that their 120k+ salaries are tough to live on in NYC and I can't imagine how much of a struggle it will be to live on half of that. I really want to be there, but at the same time, it may be more intelligent to go to another major city (such as DC or Atlanta) to work for a different branch of the same company with a better CoL adjusted salary (although less opportunities to work with multinational corporations of course).
Any thoughts on how feasible it is?
EDIT: Darn, I posted this in the wrong forum. Can a mod move this to the NYC specific page?
as you know, you won't be able to afford living in midtown, it's very pricey. i recommend you either look in brooklyn and take the subway in (which many people do) or live in nj and take the train or bus in. how much are you willing to spend on rent? you could look around sheepshead bay brooklyn or midwood, but give more info.
as you know, you won't be able to afford living in midtown, it's very pricey. i recommend you either look in brooklyn and take the subway in (which many people do) or live in nj and take the train or bus in. how much are you willing to spend on rent? you could look around sheepshead bay brooklyn or midwood, but give more info.
Isn't there some rule for NYC rent that you can only pay X amount * 60 or something like that for monthly rent? I"m not 100% sure what it is. I'm willing to spend up to $1600 though. I'd rather spend a bit more and live in a place with better facilities, living conditions, etc. than save $400 monthly but live in roach/rat infested sh*thole. If I can find people from the program I'll be graduating from that I can live with, I wouldn't mind having roommates either. I also don't have to live in Manhattan. I'm totally OK with living in Brooklyn or something. I just want wherever I live to be safe, be relatively clean, and have a gym nearby. I don't plan to blow money at clubs, on drinks, etc. (probably won't have the time to either) that frequently.
I mostly want to move to NYC to enjoy the free stuff around the city and meet interesting people while I'm young. I'm not as interested in the materialistic/boozing culture as many people my age (mostly will be doing work, gym, make food at first). I'm just trying to see how feasible the move is with my salary I'd be making.
outer boroughs only, just go to a place with good public transport access.
generally speaking asians flood these areas so if you find some sort of diversity map of NYC on the internet that will give you an idea of where to look for a place.
outer boroughs only, just go to a place with good public transport access.
generally speaking asians flood these areas so if you find some sort of diversity map of NYC on the internet that will give you an idea of where to look for a place.
I'm totally fine with non-Manhattan boroughs and I don't need to live within walking distance of my work. I'd actually prefer that in a way to some extent. I feel it'd be quieter, less dirty, and less crazy overall than Manhattan. When you say Outer Boroughs, however, does Brooklyn qualify as an "outer" one or is that out of my range as well. I've been looking at Brooklyn quite a bit, but I'm not sure if mere mortals like myself can afford that area anymore either.
Btw, my family is of Asian descent, so living in an area with other Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, etc. people would be good as I get along with those groups more readily than others (not that I dislike other ethnic groups, but it's a question of being more comfortable with cultures that are more similar to the ones you grew up in).
The Trulia iPhone/iPad app has a map feature where you just zoom to the area you're interested in and it will show available apartments in their database.
Google some MTA train maps and look at the N train south(going further from Manhattan) of New Utrecht Ave and the browse that area on Trulia.
D train south of 62nd St, F train pretty much avoid, R train I'd only go North of the 60's.
I'm a lifelong resident of here so I can only offer advice from that angle.
Note: In case this thread looks familiar, it's because I accidentally posted it into the NYC general forum when I wanted here in the NYC-specific forum. Apologies for the inconvenience.
I finally had a chance to actually visit NYC and I liked it a lot. The energy and feel (I LOVED the grid system) plus the fact that I won't need a car to live there makes it extremely appealing to me. However, if I chose to live there next year, I'm really worried about being able to afford living there. According to the graduate program I am currently in, the average salary for grads who choose NYC is only around 60k all in. I also will be working terrible hours (think upwards of 80...no I'm not an investment banker...I just work similar hours without the financial upside sadly), so I'll need to live in a place close to Times Square/Rockefeller (sp?) Plaza, which is obviously a prime area and not easy to afford.
I'm not hung up on Manhattan and would be fine with living in a less sexy/trendy area, but I definitely want to live in a place that is safe, has good access to public transport, is close to a gym (yes, I'm a health freak), isn't too much of a commute to where I'd work (30 minutes is probably max given the hours I'll be working), and isn't too grimy/filthy (although I understand that I'll probably have a few roaches/rats as roommates sadly). I'm also willing to pay more for housing and cut back a lot on entertainment (I doubt I'll have that much time to do things besides work, gym, and making food anyway) and am very, very low maintenance in that regard. One good thing is that the firm underpays the juniors, but we get nice salary boosts (I think they say that I'll be in the 6 figure range within 5 years), however, I'm concerned about living costs for my first few years when I won't be making much.
My question is how doable will NYC be on that type of salary? All of my friends are investment bankers and they complain that their 120k+ salaries are tough to live on in NYC and I can't imagine how much of a struggle it will be to live on half of that. I really want to be there, but at the same time, it may be more intelligent to go to another major city (such as DC or Atlanta) to work for a different branch of the same company with a better CoL adjusted salary (although less opportunities to work with multinational corporations of course). Part of this could be the fact that my friends are gigantic #YOLO yuppies (and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible), but still, whatever they said and some of the horror stories about NYC have me worried.
Any thoughts on how feasible it is?
Prepare to hate your life (im not joking, at all.)
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