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.... and I'm not talking "Manhattan". I mean the outer boroughs. I currently live on LI and I absolutely HATE it!!! I've been wanting to move to Queens or Brooklyn for the longest time (I actually lived in NYC for the better part of my life and moved out to suburban HELL about 16 years ago and have wanted to move back ever since.).
Anyway, I've been looking all over at apartments in Queens and I can't believe not only how high the rents are but how much they've gone up over the past six months! I'm not familiar with Brooklyn neighborhoods but the rents there are just as high (if not higher) and the rents that seem affordable are in areas I know to be unsafe or undesirable in some other way.
Just looking at these rents and thinking about all the other bills (Con Ed, cable, MetroCard, Brooklyn Union Gas, groceries, etc) I can't help but wonder how in the world do working class people make it in NYC???? I am a single mother (divorced) of a teenager so college is very close on the horizon as well.
Other than working 2 full time jobs and a part time job on the weekends, how do you make it????
I believe we talked about Mitchell-Lama before - have you looked into it? Around my way you can rent a Mitchell-Lama studio for $707.
.... and I'm not talking "Manhattan". I mean the outer boroughs. I currently live on LI and I absolutely HATE it!!! I've been wanting to move to Queens or Brooklyn for the longest time (I actually lived in NYC for the better part of my life and moved out to suburban HELL about 16 years ago and have wanted to move back ever since.).
Anyway, I've been looking all over at apartments in Queens and I can't believe not only how high the rents are but how much they've gone up over the past six months! I'm not familiar with Brooklyn neighborhoods but the rents there are just as high (if not higher) and the rents that seem affordable are in areas I know to be unsafe or undesirable in some other way.
Just looking at these rents and thinking about all the other bills (Con Ed, cable, MetroCard, Brooklyn Union Gas, groceries, etc) I can't help but wonder how in the world do working class people make it in NYC???? I am a single mother (divorced) of a teenager so college is very close on the horizon as well.
Other than working 2 full time jobs and a part time job on the weekends, how do you make it????
Surprised you would be asking this question given that you have more experience living in the NYC metro (NYC+suburbs) than most posters in this forum.
In terms of starting out, NYWriter's depiction is somewhat correct. With a son, you can probably look at a 1BR in an immigrant enclave in Corona/E. Elmhurst, Woodhaven or middle class neighborhood like Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale. Brooklyn would have their own areas. It may not be 100% ideal but it's doable.
Over time though the key is to keep striving to be moving up or else circumstances will eventually catch up with you. Keep looking for jobs that pay higher so you can afford to live somewhere better in NYC, not unlike the pre-WW2 immigrants who came to NYC doing menial work and eventually buying their own diners and taverns. Never settle for what you currently have.
Amisi, for better or worse, almost everything in this city is determined by money.
This city is increasingly becoming a town for people who are wealthy, poor or young.
A very sizeable portion of the population gets by with government subsidies, while the young make it by living with several roommates.
The suggestion of moving out altogether is actually not a bad one. You might want to consider your options, as you might get a bigger bang for your buck elsewhere.
But assuming, Brooklyn or Queens is where you want to be, what's your financial situation like? What's the approx. household income? Rent budget?
Will you be able to get a better job if you stay in NY?
A lot of younger people in Manhattan live with 3-4 roommates in small apartments with barely a kitchen, rent a room on a temp basis from a (usually older) apartment owner while they look for a better situation or roommates their age or put up with some other undesirable living situation. Or their parent's pay a fair portion of their rent until they "make it"... whatever that means to them. IMO though it's too expensive to live in Manhattan as a single person on your own unless you're making six figures. A lot of younger people struggle and even those with jobs that pay around the average income ($40-$50k per year) still struggle due to student loan debt among other things. In the outer boroughs (Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx specifically) you stand a better chance of being able to afford your own place or on an entry level salary/ 20 something income but there's aspects of that which can still be difficult (long door to door commutes of 50 mins- 1 hour to the affordable neighborhoods, walking far from the nearest subway station...) It's a matter of what you're willing to give up in terms/ how much you can put up with until you "make it" and move to a "better" area or apartment. What ForestHillsDaddy said about being persistent and striving is key with this phase of making it since there are days and weeks when you're convinced you'll never "make it" here.
Striving to live in better, livable areas, the kind of life you want requires a reasonable income due to the 40x income rule from landlords and property management companies (for a good reason in most cases though). For the working class/ working poor in NYC it can be a extremely hard to make it at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amisi
I didn't say that service people would live on the UES, the Village, Gramercy, Tribeca, etc... Many people who do "service" jobs in Manhattan live in Bx, Bklyn, Qns, etc. If the rents continue to increase, where is everyone going to go? And who is going to work these service jobs unless they all live the way NYWriter described.
I've lived in LEGAL private two family homes twice in my life. Hated it both times. The first time, the LL would go into my apartment EVERYDAY when I left for work to make sure I had turned everything off before I left. She would also bring my mail in (after looking through it all, of course) and she was constantly in my business. The second time, the LL was just a scumbag who thought he was doing me a favor by renting to me. He did no repairs but was salivating on the 15th looking for his rent check. Never again.
Went through an experience similar to this in Inwood when I made the mistake of moving up there, not as bad as what you're describing but the lady I rented a room from was a born and bred NYer in her early 60's, making $50k, paid off her own place yet barely had a retirement account and "couldn't afford to move to a better area" which is why she was renting out a room in her apartment charging a bit too much for it... Plus living in that crazy neighborhood for 20 years had worn her down and made her super cynical and jaded about people. I kind of felt bad for her) Seeing the way she was living at nearly retirement age motivated me to start taking steps for myself now to make sure I didn't turn out that way if I wanted to stay in NYC or wherever I live. Packed up left and moved to much nicer and more affordable Sunnyside Queens where I could rent a studio. Unfortunately the 7 train is not fun and that commute from Midtown started to get to me almost as much as the overcrowded A train... Being pushed and jammed into already crowded subway cars every day after work didn't fit within my definition of (barely) "making it" in NYC. Plus, I noticed a shift toward a trying to live a suburban lifestyle in NYC (commuting on LIRR to and from Sunnyside, appreciating quiet tree lined neighborhoods, wanting a car to go on summer trips, etc...) The writing was on the wall of that being what I was wanting.
Personally I couldn't afford to live the way I wanted to and I was gravitating away from the "NYC" lifestyle toward a lower key one. Ironically after apartment hunting and budgeting I could afford to live the way I wanted in the suburbs ironically, moved there and am saving more money than I was in Queens. Plus I have a much better commute on the Metro North (longer commute but it takes less time to GCT than a subway commute). A move back to the burbs is something I never would've dared think of when I first moved to the city. Now I'm making it... in the suburbs. What's interesting is I'm coming across more and more similar minded younger people (and 20-30 something couples) in the burbs who moved out of the city (for the same reasons mostly) but still want to be nearby NYC. But for a lot of other young people who can't afford to live the way they want in NYC they move to a lower cost city where competition for living wage jobs isn't as fierce (Austin, San Diego, Chicago, Portland, etc...)
The best places to rent are the places offered by relatives or acquaintances. My father in law only rents to people he knows that has some references that can voucher their credibility. He offers a really good rate like $1100 for a 2BR Bklyn only if you pay cash and don't complain about stupid crap.
I think I'm the only grown, gainfully employed adult in NYC that really actually enjoys living with random (but screened) people or friends (not so much cramped spaces). As in I actually prefer it. Only issue is my SO really is not into it.
If I were Op I would actively look into remarrying...one stone killing two birds sort of solution to her situation. Being a single parent is hard, and much harder to make it in NY. The COL will not go down just because so many are struggling.
Went through an experience similar to this in Inwood when I made the mistake of moving up there, not as bad as what you're describing but the lady I rented a room from was a born and bred NYer in her early 60's, making $50k, paid off her own place yet barely had a retirement account and "couldn't afford to move to a better area" which is why she was renting out a room in her apartment charging a bit too much for it...
I think Amisi will have to accept that if she moves to the city, she will have to take a QOL hit at least for a few years until she can work her way up to better circumstances. If it means initially living in Inwood, Corona or Maspeth then so be it. We all have to start somewhere.
My first apartment in NYC was a "one bedroom" in Rego Park, in which the bedroom was really a converted study. It got cold in the winter because of the large windows. The upstairs tenants were female "students" from Taiwan who were brought to America to be paired with boyfriends; could sometimes hear them when they were banging. The landlord was a nice man but did not have enough funds to make repairs. Through the next few years we moved around several other neighborhoods in central Queens before renting now in Westchester. There was always something less desirable in all the Queens apartments we lived in but each move was always a step up. That is what makes life in NYC - it is to work oneself up to a better life.
Should be easier for the OP since she already has a job which she can use to aspire for something that pays even more till she can afford better accommodations.
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