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Parking is very neighborhood-specific. As a general rule, the further away you are from the subway, the easier it will be to park on the street. But it really varies. The only way to see if it's manageable for you and your schedule is to experience it for yourself for a few weeks. I agree with the suggestion above that you should look at areas with street cleaning that is 2x a week vs. 4x a week. I'm pretty sure all of Sunnyside, Woodside, and Elmhurst have 2x a week street cleaning. But check out the NYC Dept of Transportation map with all the parking sign rules to make sure: NYC DOTMAP PORTAL
As for your other criteria, I'll mention that the Queens neighborhoods that you listed don't have many black people. They're still pretty diverse otherwise but just so you know. Sunnyside has a huge mix of ethnicities, Woodside is mostly Hispanic and Asian, Elmhurst is also mainly Hispanic and Asian. The others like Glendale and Middle Village are mostly white, I believe. Not saying there will be issues for a black person to live (I don't think there will be any problems) but that's how the demographics shake out. Brooklyn neighborhoods that have gentrified or are in the process of gentrifying have many more black folks.
As for nightlife and being single, I find the Queens neighborhoods to be more couples and family-oriented. That's gradually changing as rents are rising everywhere and more people are looking towards Queens for more reasonable rents (Sunnyside in particular seems to have a growing number of young people, Astoria which you didn't mention has a lot of single young people). But I think Brooklyn may have more single folks. At the very least, there is more nightlife in some Brooklyn neighborhoods so living in that borough would mean you have better access.
Budget-wise, I'm assuming you are looking to live alone in which case most Queens neighborhoods (with the exception of LIC) are doable. I don't know about Brooklyn. If you were open to living with roommates, pretty much any neighborhood in the city (including Manhattan) is doable.
Thank you to all of people that actually contributed something positive to the thread. I also posted this same exact question on the New Jersey thread, and got no jackass responses, which I appreciate. The ones that chose to mouth off are obviously all of the internet tough guys that wanted to flex their muscles. Do us all a favor - stay in your mom's basement and be quiet if you got nothing to actually contribute here.
Thanks. Bushwick is a consideration. Brooklyn will probably have limited options because I want/need to keep my car. Queens, in that regard, seems more doable. I do like Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village, Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, and Elmhurst. What about any of those?
Bushwick by far has the highest crime of all these neighborhoods. But it is also trendy. To live amongst the trendy people you will have to pay more money. Otherwise the block will be hot, and might still be more expensive.
Ridgewood is basically a nicer Bushwick. Not as trendy, but is just as close to the trendy parts of Bushwick as other parts of Bushwick is itself. I live here. It is a great old fashion NYC neighborhood that you might still be able to find a place within budget. I park on the streets, which I think is fine, but learning the ropes will take some time.
Glendale doesn't have much train service so X most of it off your list. But stay opened minded to the western part of the neighborhood closer to Ridgewood. Say west of 65th st as it might be the perfect balance for you.
Middle Village, like Glendale, lacks train service. It is a nice area, but you're going to want to stay as close to the Metropolitan M train stop as you can. That won't leave you all that many options, but might be worth looking into. Keep in mind that it is a bit further out, so walking to bars in Bushwick or Ridgewood won't be an option. Uber is a quick ride though, and you do have a bus that takes you right down into Williamsburg.
Forget LIC. It is going to be out of budget. Bonus it that there is no alternate side parking, so if you find a spot you can bunker down for the week (or longer). Don't waste your time though. Its for families that want luxury apartments, but can't afford it in Manhattan with their kids.
Astoria will likely be out of budget too, but you might get lucky if okay in the more industrial part of town further from the subway. Parking is rough. They are adding ferry service, so anything that would have been within budget by the river won't be for long.
Sunnyside is a good option, but at your price range they'll be slim pickings. Parking can get challenging. Geographically it is a tiny little neighborhood, so much of my commentary on Woodside and Elmhurst below would be applicable to Sunnyside as well. For local bars, it was an Irish neighborhood once upon a time, plus getting to and from LIC or Greenpoint isn't too bad.
Woodside and Elmhurst are great neighborhoods. Like everywhere, parking will take some getting used to, but these are some fun neighborhoods with great affordable food options. You just have to stay open minded to its immigrant culture. It could overwhelm out of towners, but the vast diversity of immigrant cultures commingled into one area is fascinating.
Bushwick by far has the highest crime of all these neighborhoods. But it is also trendy. To live amongst the trendy people you will have to pay more money. Otherwise the block will be hot, and might still be more expensive.
Ridgewood is basically a nicer Bushwick. Not as trendy, but is just as close to the trendy parts of Bushwick as other parts of Bushwick is itself. I live here. It is a great old fashion NYC neighborhood that you might still be able to find a place within budget. I park on the streets, which I think is fine, but learning the ropes will take some time.
Glendale doesn't have much train service so X most of it off your list. But stay opened minded to the western part of the neighborhood closer to Ridgewood. Say west of 65th st as it might be the perfect balance for you.
Middle Village, like Glendale, lacks train service. It is a nice area, but you're going to want to stay as close to the Metropolitan M train stop as you can. That won't leave you all that many options, but might be worth looking into. Keep in mind that it is a bit further out, so walking to bars in Bushwick or Ridgewood won't be an option. Uber is a quick ride though, and you do have a bus that takes you right down into Williamsburg.
Forget LIC. It is going to be out of budget. Bonus it that there is no alternate side parking, so if you find a spot you can bunker down for the week (or longer). Don't waste your time though. Its for families that want luxury apartments, but can't afford it in Manhattan with their kids.
Astoria will likely be out of budget too, but you might get lucky if okay in the more industrial part of town further from the subway. Parking is rough. They are adding ferry service, so anything that would have been within budget by the river won't be for long.
Sunnyside is a good option, but at your price range they'll be slim pickings. Parking can get challenging. Geographically it is a tiny little neighborhood, so much of my commentary on Woodside and Elmhurst below would be applicable to Sunnyside as well. For local bars, it was an Irish neighborhood once upon a time, plus getting to and from LIC or Greenpoint isn't too bad.
Woodside and Elmhurst are great neighborhoods. Like everywhere, parking will take some getting used to, but these are some fun neighborhoods with great affordable food options. You just have to stay open minded to its immigrant culture. It could overwhelm out of towners, but the vast diversity of immigrant cultures commingled into one area is fascinating.
Thanks. Yeah, those particular areas of Glendale and Middle Village (near subway stops) are what I would be looking at. I think my top 6 right now (in no particular order) are Ridgewood, Glendale, Woodside, and Elmhurst, Middle Village and Bushwick.
Last edited by kxr203; 08-15-2017 at 07:54 AM..
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