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Old 03-19-2014, 12:15 PM
 
7,296 posts, read 11,817,309 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Dale View Post
Nothing against Jackson Heights, but you find a neighborhood that has better schools, less crime, more parks and a superior little league to be less child friendly? There are parts of Forest Hills where you can physically play in the middle of the street as kids do on LI or Westchester. Don't think you'll find that in Jackson Heights.
FH having "better schools" was irrelevant for me since the MS and HS were not good enough anyway and neither are they zoned (AFAIK). I have a co-worker who attended Russell Sage and told me it didn't go too well according to her. The elementary school has 27+ kids in the classroom. Actually PS 96 was what first attracted me to FH. Once I lived there and learned more about the schools, I realized I would not be sending my kid there anyway (even if arguably it was better than other PSs in the city) and once you strip out PS 96, the luster of FH vs. other area starts to fade.

Either in FH and JH, I would have gone private. JH actually has one of the better performing charter schools in the city and its parochial is a blue ribbon school. I suspect that once OP has kids and they have reasonable means, they would also either go parochial, send to private or try charters rather than throw their kid in an overcrowded class.

Commuting to schools - I think JH is generally better. If you live in the north side of QB (where most of the affordable apartments in FH are) then your kids would have to cross QB to parochial everyday. Amenities and acticvities would also require crossing QB. In JH, you can get to schools, worship, kids activities etc. without crossing wide busy streets.

More parks? JH has enough. If you live in the historic district you can choose 2 between Northern and Roosevelt, which is nearly the same number you have in the north side of QB in FH. Not sure why one would require more than that. Kids playing in the streets? Does not happen in FH excepyt maybe in FHG and the homes near Metropolitan but hardly in the area north of QB where majority of the coops are located.

Crime - don't think this is inordinately different from other highly dense places in Queens. On an ordinary day, you are not going to get mugged while doing groceries in 37th Ave.

Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 03-19-2014 at 12:32 PM..
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:34 PM
 
6 posts, read 13,943 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skinnayyy View Post
exactly. Most calculators estimate 7 years usually. Also, selling a COOP can be a pain, so when and if you do decide to sell, it might not be an easy process.

If I were in your shoes and was uncertain of my near term goals I would keep myself in a position to be open to changes. If you buy, you're "stuck". Especially after putting all that money forward, you won't want to just up and leave.

Staying open does sound sensible and I feel more open to the idea of renting given everyone's advice so far. It's just the thought of spending 2200-2500 per month on rent for a 2 br that hurts a bit but I guess that's the price of living within a tolerable commuting distance to the city.

7 years is a long time to commit to staying in a 2 br coop given that life will change drastically if we do decide to have kids (even though we never thought we'd stay in our 1 br for that long and here we are 7 years later...)
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:43 PM
 
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As for whether to buy - it's a tough call. Most apartments in central Queens are coops. If I stayed in that vicinity I would have kept on renting.

I actually found Jackson Hts. (the historic district) to be more child-friendly and family-friendly, as well a s commuter friendly, than the FH-Kew-Briarwood area. Subway service is better, sidewalks are wider and no need to cross dangerous streets to get to neighborhood amenities. New York Times ran a story about a couple who bought an apartment there:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/re...ills.html?_r=1[/quote]




That's a great article, thank you! Jackson Heights is kind of on our radar, too. We need to learn more about the area. My sister lived there a while ago with roommates and they had a gorgeous spacious apartment. One of things I had thought was a negative about JH though, was the 7 train. I know any train is crazy during the morning rush hour but I had the impression this was one of the more crowded lines. Any experience with the 7?
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:47 PM
 
7,296 posts, read 11,817,309 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lookingforhome1 View Post
That's a great article, thank you! Jackson Heights is kind of on our radar, too. We need to learn more about the area. My sister lived there a while ago with roommates and they had a gorgeous spacious apartment. One of things I had thought was a negative about JH though, was the 7 train. I know any train is crazy during the morning rush hour but I had the impression this was one of the more crowded lines. Any experience with the 7?
The #7 is now one of the better performing subways in NYC in the rush hour. It might be due to the new signaling system which made the service better. I don't see an issue with crowds esp. if you take the local at 82nd or 90th sts. stations. Either you will find a seat or a nice secure corner standing up.

It's those who live in Sunnyside who have a problem with trains getting crowded.
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:51 PM
 
Location: new yawk zoo
8,632 posts, read 11,001,900 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skinnayyy View Post

you will likely have to sell, which then will have been a waste of money to buy and sell within 5 years given the amount of money spent in closing costs and fees and what not.
this is hard to say. I've known people who had 50-100% return within a 5 year mark during the run up of prices in nyc. Will this happen? Not very high...but who knows what the value hold in the future.
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Between the Bays
10,786 posts, read 11,259,267 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forest_Hills_Daddy View Post
FH having "better schools" was irrelevant for me since the MS and HS were not good enough anyway and neither are they zoned (AFAIK). I have a co-worker who attended Russell Sage and told me it didn't go too well according to her. The elementary school has 27+ kids in the classroom. Actually PS 96 was what first attracted me to FH. Once I lived there and learned more about the schools, I realized I would not be sending my kid there anyway (even if arguably it was better than other PSs in the city) and once you strip out PS 96, the luster of FH vs. other area starts to fade.

Either in FH and JH, I would have gone private. JH actually has one of the better performing charter schools in the city and its parochial is a blue ribbon school. I suspect that once OP has kids and they have reasonable means, they would also either go parochial, send to private or try charters rather than throw their kid in an overcrowded class.

Commuting to schools - I think JH is generally better. If you live in the north side of QB (where most of the affordable apartments in FH are) then your kids would have to cross QB to parochial everyday. Amenities and acticvities would also require crossing QB. In JH, you can get to schools, worship, kids activities etc. without crossing wide busy streets.

More parks? JH has enough. If you live in the historic district you can choose 2 between Northern and Roosevelt, which is nearly the same number you have in the north side of QB in FH. Not sure why one would require more than that. Kids playing in the streets? Does not happen in FH excepyt maybe in FHG and the homes near Metropolitan but hardly in the area north of QB where majority of the coops are located.

Crime - don't think this is inordinately different from other highly dense places in Queens. On an ordinary day, you are not going to get mugged while doing groceries in 37th Ave.
The OP does not have children yet, so elementary school will be very relevant. As for private HS, Kew Forest is better than Garden. As for catholic HS, Molloy is better than either McClancy or St Johns Prep. As for parks, Jackson Hts does not have any large parks that can compete with either Forest Park or Flushing Meadows. Although they do have that park by the BQE near the strip clubs. Kids can definitly play in the streets in FHs much easier. I used to go there all the time as a kid to play street hockey. I've also hung out with kids from both JHs and FHs, and the FHs kids would be thought of as being much softer, which is a good thing. You must not have grown up around here.
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Old 03-19-2014, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Sunnyside
2,008 posts, read 4,708,679 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forest_Hills_Daddy View Post
The #7 is now one of the better performing subways in NYC in the rush hour. It might be due to the new signaling system which made the service better. I don't see an issue with crowds esp. if you take the local at 82nd or 90th sts. stations. Either you will find a seat or a nice secure corner standing up.

It's those who live in Sunnyside who have a problem with trains getting crowded.
Boy oh boy do I know all about that! Sometimes the local trains just pass my station at 40th, but stop at 46th and 33rd in the morning.

The good news is that if you do get on a crowded train, it usually empties out at 33rd because of the kids going to school so it's not too terrible after that.
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Old 03-19-2014, 01:10 PM
 
7,296 posts, read 11,817,309 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Dale View Post
The OP does not have children yet, so elementary school will be very relevant. As for private HS, Kew Forest is better than Garden. As for catholic HS, Molloy is better than either McClancy or St Johns Prep.
These comments are misleading. Kew Forest is not better than Garden - not academically. College admissions between the 2 schools are similar yet KF costs nearly 2x as much. My kid went to both KF for K and Garden for 1-2 so I really know the difference between the 2 schools.

As for Molloy being better than SJP - Even if this were true, you don't have to live in FH if your kid really wants to attend Molloy. Lots of kids in Queens also go to St. Mary's, SFP and TMLA for HS even if they don't live in the adjacent neighborhood.

Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Dale View Post
As for parks, Jackson Hts does not have any large parks that can compete with either Forest Park or Flushing Meadows.
Again, misleading.

Forest Park in North of QB and a long walk if you live in the coops north of QB. Flushing Meadows is too far away for a daily walk with kids.

I lived in FH north of QB. Families with kids there simply contend with the 2 playgrounds north of QB. Very few make the extra effort to walk to FP or FM on a regular basis. Where they do often go to is the Barnes & Noble in Austin but as I mentioned, might not be a good idea to have to cross QB with kids regularly.

So while you may be correct about geographic proximity, very few families in FH avail of these large parks in reality. The only time we walked kids to FP was after we moved to Kew. Too far away coming from FH.

Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Dale View Post
Kids can definitly play in the streets in FHs much easier. I used to go there all the time as a kid to play street hockey. I've also hung out with kids from both JHs and FHs, and the FHs kids would be thought of as being much softer, which is a good thing. You must not have grown up around here.
Not if they live north of QB, at least not today. You cannot play hockey or ball in 68th drive or any of the roads that feed into Yellowstone.

You can do it probably in Loubet but that is not where people are likely to live.

Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 03-19-2014 at 01:32 PM..
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Old 03-19-2014, 01:13 PM
 
Location: Sunnyside
2,008 posts, read 4,708,679 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lookingforhome1 View Post
As for whether to buy - it's a tough call. Most apartments in central Queens are coops. If I stayed in that vicinity I would have kept on renting.

I actually found Jackson Hts. (the historic district) to be more child-friendly and family-friendly, as well a s commuter friendly, than the FH-Kew-Briarwood area. Subway service is better, sidewalks are wider and no need to cross dangerous streets to get to neighborhood amenities. New York Times ran a story about a couple who bought an apartment there:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/re...ills.html?_r=1



That's a great article, thank you! Jackson Heights is kind of on our radar, too. We need to learn more about the area. My sister lived there a while ago with roommates and they had a gorgeous spacious apartment. One of things I had thought was a negative about JH though, was the 7 train. I know any train is crazy during the morning rush hour but I had the impression this was one of the more crowded lines. Any experience with the 7?[/quote]

I would strongly recommend going with Sunnyside gardens after 5 ish years. You can buy there not coop, at least the one I looked at, for ~800k and have a backyard plus one the best private parks in the city. (or so I've read. I've never been as I'm not in the gardens) You'll get a a duplex with 3+ bedrooms and a basement. Honestly, if we would have had the money when we looked at this place it would have been sold and we don't even have kids and won't for a few more years.

Also, they just built a brand new mixed use park that is connectedish to a play ground and both of which are pretty big.
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Old 03-19-2014, 01:22 PM
 
43,351 posts, read 44,062,834 times
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As already said most apts. for sale in the area are in co-op buildings and therefore I think renting is the better option.
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