What borough fits this description? (apartments, rentals, condominiums)

[samyn on the green]

Originally Posted by Don'tLikeToBeBored.

what is a co-op? We don't want to rent, we would rather buy. Also, we only get to choose a borough and then work with wherever they put him.

A co-op is like a condo. I will try to describe this in as few words as possible. The difference between a condo and a co-op is that instead of directly buying the condo property you buys shares in the co-op corporation. A co-op is not as desirable as a condo as you must first be approved by a co-op board before you buy. The co-op board is made up of residents.

[Don'tLikeToBeBored.]

Originally Posted by samyn on the green

The Dad is a retail manager so he will most likely be driving to a strip mall, lets go out on a limb and say Target in College Point.

Close, Walgreens. And yes, he wants to keep a car so he doesn't feel trapped. You were right on. :-)

[samyn on the green]

Originally Posted by Don'tLikeToBeBored.

And which borough has the least crime? I don't want him to get shot when he's working or he'll be pissed at me for wanting to move to NYC in the first place.

Each neighborhood varies greatly. There are dangerous parts of each borough and safe parts of each borough. The important part is that you find a spot where your kids will fit in. Part of the beauty of New York is that it is not homogenized like some American Cities. Every neighborhood has a different ethnic identity and it is important to get in where you fit in. It does not matter much for adults but if your kids go to public school in the outer boroughs they will be miserable/outcasts if they find themselves as the extreme racial minority.

[MattSiggs]

SI has a "downtown" according to the Borough President and others that labeled St. George as downtown. I don't think there's anyone that would consider it a real "downtown." If my friends and I want to experience a night out downtown, we'd most likely take the ferry to the city. St. George does have some cool attractions, though. There's a minor league baseball team that's pretty good for the price(15 bucks for seats right above the dug out). Snug Harbor has some cool cultural things going on, and the children's museum was fun as a kid. Again, I don't really know what your family is into culturally, but I had my fair share of fun growing up. Getting to the city can be a chore, but if you're only going for entertainment and aren't traveling every day, it's not so bad, especially if you park at the ferry.

SI is kinda weird in that each neighborhood has its own minitown. For instance, Great Kills has the library, a barbershop, the train station, and a whole slew of stores along Giffords Lane. There's not one centralized area that everyone goes to.

SI is pretty safe, although there are some bad pockets on the North Shore. I live in Great Kills(South Shore of SI), and I was never robbed, mugged, or shot at. Similarly, all my friends are pretty dispersed across the island and I don't think any one of my friends has ever even come close to being shot at.

I agree with samyn- you can find safe parts in all boroughs, the important thing is a place where you feel comfortable. SI can be pretty homogenous socially. If they're in catholic schools, you'll most likely be in with a lot of Italian and Irish kids, whose parents grew up on the island as well(and possibly grandparents, too) and families that moved in from Brooklyn.

Also, you said you wanted to move to NYC, but keep it in mind that SI is only technically a part of NYC. There's a lot of people who don't even acknowledge SI as a borough because it's a world apart from the other boroughs. It's a lot more suburban, with urban qualities sprinkled throughout. If you really want an urban feel, I'd suggest not moving to Staten Island.

[Viralmd]

A co-op is a building in which the residents own shares of the building, entitling them to a proprietary lease on their apartment. There is a managing board, comprised of residents of the building and there is a financial means test to buy an apartment, as well as an interview with board members.

Condominiums are buildings in which you own the unit, rather than shares in the building. There is no means test or interview. But the units are more expensive than in co-ops, and there's no board control over subletting (which means that your upstairs neighbors can sublet to Babar and Celeste and you have no substantive control over the noise they make).

In both arrangements you pay a monthly fee, in a co-op that fee depends on the number of shares (i.e. size and desirability of the apartment) or just the price of the apartment in a condo. In a condo you also pay real estate taxes, which are part of the co-op fees, but in a condo you're responsible for them separately.

[oc200]

Some people might say that condos are much better than co-ops, but I disagree.

There are pluses and minuses for both.

First of all, co-ops are cheaper, and significantly in many cases. Yes, the maintenance tends to be higher for co-ops but that's because a large portion of it already includes real estate taxes and co-ops tend to hire more work staff.
And as Viralmd said, you kind of WANT a board interviewing who will live next to you. You don't want some crazy child molester with no job walking up and down the hallway 24/7. In most cases, anyone with money can buy a condo.
In addition, you are responsible for less in a co-op. For example, damages to the outside walls of your co-op is not your responsibility, etc.

[LIPumpkin]

I second Whitestone as an area to choose for your description with good public schools and private schools people seem to enjoy..I work in the area and it is nice...there is also a Walgreen's there and a downtown..good luck!

[KimandPete]

Definitely check out Whitestone. Its not near the subway but its not far from the LIRR which is a 20 minute ride into Penn station. Probably one of the nicer and safer neighborhoods in queens.

[NooYowkur81]

Italians are really spread out in NYC these days. The only borough that a strong concentration of them is SI. But SI might not be comfortable for you depending on where you are going to be working.

[Guywithacause]

That was a dumb comment...nobody would shoot your husband. They will just beat him to a pulp, rob him, and drag him through the streets for being an outsider. Oh sorry..I thought you were moving outside of NYC.