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My husband is interviewing for an international exchange within his company that could mean we end up in New York. He would be working in Manhattan (Park Avenue/5th Avenue I think).
I am British and he is Mexican and we are completely unfamiliar with NY and the surrounding areas. We currently live in Mexico City.
We are in our mid-late twenties and have a 10 month old baby. We want somewhere safe with a community feel, perhaps other expats.
On top of long hours at work, he doesn't want a ridiculous commute.
OUr budget limits us, we are thinking a max of 2000 per month. I think this would include the agent fee (a concept completely foreign to us - in Mexico and the UK this is paid by the landlord).
We would consider living within NYC if we could find somewhere we could afford that is safe and not a complete hole, but I know it could be hard with our budget. We have heard that parts of New Jersey are doable.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as it is very difficult to know where to begin with somewhere so completely unfamiliar.
I believe that upon arrival we get two week in a hotel paid for by the company to try and find somewhere and after this we are on our own!
I'm not sure exactly where he will work based on your description but something tells me your husband works in mid-town. If that is the case, then some neighborhoods in Queens might be a convenient commute -- and also much more affordable.
I assume the job will be in midtown Manhattan. Is this a temporary assignment? Look for a commute that terminates in Grand Central or Bryant Park. For $2,000, maybe you can find a studio in the Lower East Side or Harlem. In Queens, somewhere along the #7 subway that stops by Grand Central. Or a place in the Bronx that is served by the Metro North. Queens or Bronx will likely give you more space.
If you go to New Jersey, some extra time will have to be factored to commute to the east side.
Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 06-07-2013 at 08:41 AM..
I don't know exactly where he will be working as I don't know the area but yes I think mid-town Manhattan. I'm thinking a commute of up to an hour maximum would be tolerable, ideally perhaps 45 minutes. My husband hates trains and complains every time we go on the London Underground! He would much prefer to sit in his car, he thinks it's more comfortable! Creature of comfort and habit unfortunately! We both know he will have to make certain adjustments, and get used to certain things. His drive to work here takes 10 minutes with no traffic and up to 45/an hour during rush hour. But in all honesty, we don't really know until we see what's available in the New York area and the New Jersey area and test out the commute.
We may consider buying a car, not sure about this yet. My husband would rather spend on a car we can at least get something back on than throw money down the toilet on rent.
What would options in NJ be and what sort of commute would this involve?
I don't think a studio would be ideal with a baby...ideally we would like 2 bedrooms if possible, but the posting wold be for 18 months max 2 years so it's a fairly short time during which we could 'make do' with certain sacrifices.
We own a house in Mexico and potential could get some sort of rental income and POSSIBLY up our rent budget for New York, but this is not confirmed and it's not always easy to rent here so we would rather err on the side of caution and see what's available without assuming a rental income for our property. And we certainly don't want to suggest this to agents/brokers as we don't want them to up our budget and end up somewhere we can't really afford.
I don't know exactly where he will be working as I don't know the area but yes I think mid-town Manhattan. I'm thinking a commute of up to an hour maximum would be tolerable, ideally perhaps 45 minutes. My husband hates trains and complains every time we go on the London Underground! He would much prefer to sit in his car, he thinks it's more comfortable! Creature of comfort and habit unfortunately! We both know he will have to make certain adjustments, and get used to certain things. His drive to work here takes 10 minutes with no traffic and up to 45/an hour during rush hour. But in all honesty, we don't really know until we see what's available in the New York area and the New Jersey area and test out the commute.
We may consider buying a car, not sure about this yet. My husband would rather spend on a car we can at least get something back on than throw money down the toilet on rent.
What would options in NJ be and what sort of commute would this involve?
I don't think a studio would be ideal with a baby...ideally we would like 2 bedrooms if possible, but the posting wold be for 18 months max 2 years so it's a fairly short time during which we could 'make do' with certain sacrifices.
If 2 bedrooms is what you seek, then at $2,000 you will probably have to write off Manhattan and some of the more convenient parts of Queens like Long Island City or Astoria. Check out Sunnyside or Jackson Heights as long as near the #7 subway - they might offer apartments slightly over 2K. Or the Bronx but stick to somewhere near a Metro North station.
If your husband hates trains, then a Metro North ride from the Bronx would offer the least discomfort and would probably be faster and less crowded than riding a subway. It's still a train though.
You will be hard pressed to find a convenient place in New Jersey at $2K, let alone the longer commute. And he will still have to take a train coming into Manhattan unless he prefers the torture of driving through the Lincoln Tunnel.
I don't know exactly where he will be working as I don't know the area but yes I think mid-town Manhattan. I'm thinking a commute of up to an hour maximum would be tolerable, ideally perhaps 45 minutes. My husband hates trains and complains every time we go on the London Underground! He would much prefer to sit in his car, he thinks it's more comfortable! Creature of comfort and habit unfortunately! We both know he will have to make certain adjustments, and get used to certain things. His drive to work here takes 10 minutes with no traffic and up to 45/an hour during rush hour. But in all honesty, we don't really know until we see what's available in the New York area and the New Jersey area and test out the commute.
We may consider buying a car, not sure about this yet. My husband would rather spend on a car we can at least get something back on than throw money down the toilet on rent.
What would options in NJ be and what sort of commute would this involve?
I don't think a studio would be ideal with a baby...ideally we would like 2 bedrooms if possible, but the posting wold be for 18 months max 2 years so it's a fairly short time during which we could 'make do' with certain sacrifices.
We own a house in Mexico and potential could get some sort of rental income and POSSIBLY up our rent budget for New York, but this is not confirmed and it's not always easy to rent here so we would rather err on the side of caution and see what's available without assuming a rental income for our property. And we certainly don't want to suggest this to agents/brokers as we don't want them to up our budget and end up somewhere we can't really afford.
Thanks again for the pointers!
Riverdale would be perfect for your family. It is a suburban neighborhood in New York that is very safe, with very low crime and sits right above Manhattan. You could find a nice two bedroom for that price. Your husband can drive in though I don't think it would be wise, but if he doesn't want to take the Metro North train that we have, there are also express buses that run to Midtown. There is one for the East Side, one for the West Side and one for Downtown as well, but a car would be possible here for the weekends or for shopping. I have friends down in Spuyten Duyvil who walk to Metro North and their commute is roughly 30 minutes to Midtown, so 45 minutes to an hour should be fine from Riverdale.
Parts of Queens might be ideal for you. I suggest looking into Forest Hills, Jackson Heights and Sunnyside. Although I am not a parent, I know from living in Jackson Heights that there is an extremely active parents/family component, which tends to be very diverse -- lots of mixed marriages, people from other countries, etc. You could get some sense of it from this link Jackson Heights Embraces 78th Street Play Street and Makes It Permanent | Streetsblog New York City
Jackson Heights is a large, diverse neighborhood that has a quick commute to Midtown Manhattan on the E/F/R/M/7 line (20 minutes or so depending on the walk from your apartment to the train). The historic district is the most attractive and well-kept part of it. A few areas outside the historic district appear dirty and congested. Just a caveat, many people in this board on the past think they know Jackson Heights because they have been ONLY to the one street with Indian restaurants that tends to be dirty and congested and have never even seen the huge historic district with the well-kept buildings.
I'm not on here to sell the neighborhood to you. But please have a look into it and see if it's for you. If I were part of a young family with $2000 a month to spend on rent and the need for a quick commute to Midtown, I would most certainly consider it. $2000 a month could get you a 2-bedroom in a very nice building with a short commute to Manhattan, and the opportunity to meet many other young families.
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