20 years old with a new job in Jersey City, should I move to Manhattan? (New York: apartments, rental)
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I'm graduating from college this spring and recently received a job offer in Jersey City near the Paulus Hook ferry station.
I'm from the west coast, so I'm a little confused about the rental situation around New York. I'll be turning 21 a few months after moving; will living in Jersey City kill my social life? I'd like to be able to go out regularly, but from what I hear it's difficult to get a taxi from NYC to JC late at night so coming home could be difficult. Unfortunately the JC location makes any other borough pretty much a non-starter; anywhere in Queens or Brooklyn (minus Brooklyn Heights) would be a 1 hour+ commute.
Living in the upper east\west side would be 40 minutes (doable); would it be worth stretching my budget to try and find a decent studio in those areas? I'm working in finance so my pay is pretty bonus-dependent; base salary is 85k which limits me to $2.1k\month with the 40x rule. I've found a few places in Manhattan in that range but I'm not sure how reliable online sites are, and Jersey City is tempting for the low prices (I could get something < 1.5k\month 5 minutes from work). Any advice would be appreciated.
If you want to have any sort of social life that involves Manhattan late a night, I suggest looking in that area, period.
Path does not run all night service and yes some taxi drivers are not keen on going to NJ (or even Brooklyn for that matter), so unless you want to crash at friends or "other" persons' apartments overnight; and doing the walk of shame the next day, live in Manhattan.
I'm graduating from college this spring and recently received a job offer in Jersey City near the Paulus Hook ferry station.
I'm from the west coast, so I'm a little confused about the rental situation around New York. I'll be turning 21 a few months after moving; will living in Jersey City kill my social life? I'd like to be able to go out regularly, but from what I hear it's difficult to get a taxi from NYC to JC late at night so coming home could be difficult. Unfortunately the JC location makes any other borough pretty much a non-starter; anywhere in Queens or Brooklyn (minus Brooklyn Heights) would be a 1 hour+ commute.
Living in the upper east\west side would be 40 minutes (doable); would it be worth stretching my budget to try and find a decent studio in those areas? I'm working in finance so my pay is pretty bonus-dependent; base salary is 85k which limits me to $2.1k\month with the 40x rule. I've found a few places in Manhattan in that range but I'm not sure how reliable online sites are, and Jersey City is tempting for the low prices (I could get something < 1.5k\month 5 minutes from work). Any advice would be appreciated.
Better off living where you work dude. When I drove a cab many moons ago I loved going to Jersey at double the meter. The key to getting a cab to go to Jersey is to get into the cab and then ask him to take you to your destination. By law he has to take you.
Does it? Quick check of it's website said something about 6AM to 11pm
It absolutely does run all night, every night. The routes change slightly after 11 and on weekends, but there is service at every station at all hours.
You might be confused by three lines only running 6am to 11pm (though Newark-WTC with three stops in Jersey City, including Exchange Place, runs the same route 24/7). The reason is that those three lines are merged into a single line late nights/on weekends, but the trains still run to all stations.
Anyway, don't use the ferry. It's ridiculously expensive for the service it offers ($7 for a really short ride). It's also not helpful for late at night; unlike the PATH, it closes, and pretty early--I think the last ferry to Exchange Place is at around 9:30.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Above Average Bear
Better off living where you work dude. When I drove a cab many moons ago I loved going to Jersey at double the meter. The key to getting a cab to go to Jersey is to get into the cab and then ask him to take you to your destination. By law he has to take you.
This is not true. They are only required by law to take you within the five boroughs or to Newark Airport. They can decline to take you anywhere outside the five boroughs except Newark Airport. Some will take you anyway, but some also will not. OTOH, it's always convenient to take a taxi to the WTC PATH station and then a train.
Last edited by BrownstoneNY; 11-29-2013 at 09:58 PM..
It absolutely does run all night, every night. The routes change slightly after 11 and on weekends, but there is service at every station at all hours.
You might be confused by three lines only running 6am to 11pm (though Newark-WTC with three stops in Jersey City, including Exchange Place, runs the same route 24/7). The reason is that those three lines are merged into a single line late nights/on weekends, but the trains still run to all stations.
Anyway, don't use the ferry. It's ridiculously expensive for the service it offers ($7 for a really short ride). It's also not helpful for late at night; unlike the PATH, it closes, and pretty early--I think the last ferry to Exchange Place is at around 9:30.
This is not true. They are only required by law to take you within the five boroughs or to Newark Airport. They can decline to take you anywhere outside the five boroughs except Newark Airport. Some will take you anyway, but some also will not. OTOH, it's always convenient to take a taxi to the WTC PATH station and then a train.
Living in NJ will also keep more of your salary in your pocket as you will not have to pay city resident income tax, which can pay for transit to/from Manhattan. The UWS is easier for JC, or Midtown West, as you can get to Penn easily and then the PATH to JC, but you could find a 1BR in JC for the price of a studio in Manhattan (with NYC resident income tax). An easy commute to JC with the long hours that are required for your first few years would be more beneficial than being located across the river and having to commute the longer distance to/from work.
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