New York City - cost of living advice (Lincoln: rent, house)

[Henna]

I'm not a commuter but when I need an F train from Jackson Heights during the day I find it's pretty reliable. Weekends are a different story - on all the lines -- you have to really keep up with the service advisories on the mta website. For this reason it's nice to be in an area that is serviced by more than one line. Jackson Heights has the E, F, V, R and 7. If you know track work is going to cause delays or skipping of stops, you can ride a different train.

The trains are ok. They are certainly not as clean as some other cities (like Washington DC or Boston) mainly because of the immense volume of riders and the fact they run 24 hours a day. Not too many creeps -though I have heard some stories. More likely any problem you would encounter would have to do with a smelly or disturbing person, not a "creep" like a sexual predator.

When a train is pulling into a station and you are watching every car go by -- and most of them are pretty crowded -- and when the train stops you thank your lucky stars that the car that is about to stop in front of you is so much less crowded than the others. . . guess what. It's not crowded for a reason. It means something disgusting happened in the car or someone is very smelly or a homeless person is using one of the benches as a bed.

If you see a train of crowded cars and the car that's about to stop in front of you is not crowded, think fast and hurry over to one of the crowded ones. Sorry, but that's the way it goes.

[missbonfig]

Originally Posted by Henna

I'm not a commuter but when I need an F train from Jackson Heights during the day I find it's pretty reliable. Weekends are a different story - on all the lines -- you have to really keep up with the service advisories on the mta website. For this reason it's nice to be in an area that is serviced by more than one line. Jackson Heights has the E, F, V, R and 7. If you know track work is going to cause delays or skipping of stops, you can ride a different train.

The trains are ok. They are certainly not as clean as some other cities (like Washington DC or Boston) mainly because of the immense volume of riders and the fact they run 24 hours a day. Not too many creeps -though I have heard some stories. More likely any problem you would encounter would have to do with a smelly or disturbing person, not a "creep" like a sexual predator.

When a train is pulling into a station and you are watching every car go by -- and most of them are pretty crowded -- and when the train stops you thank your lucky stars that the car that is about to stop in front of you is so much less crowded than the others. . . guess what. It's not crowded for a reason. It means something disgusting happened in the car or someone is very smelly or a homeless person is using one of the benches as a bed.

If you see a train of crowded cars and the car that's about to stop in front of you is not crowded, think fast and hurry over to one of the crowded ones. Sorry, but that's the way it goes.

LOL! Now THIS is a great insider comment! Love it! I can see what years of experience have taught you. Once again, LOL! I like the fact that Jackson Heights has more train/connection possibilities. I have always been one to try several different routes to get to my destination. Of all the Queens neighborhoods you have advocated, how would you personnaly rank them in order of preference? Astoria, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights, etc.?

[graveldriveway]

Regarding Astoria; you would need to also CHECK OUT THE SUBWAY LINES; some are worse than others; Queens is weird. It took my Aunt near Kennedy airport over an hour to get to Wall St. through very NASTY subway sections of Brooklyn....Austoria was not too far away from where she lived. The bus lines were pretty nasty and inconvenient, too but maybe they've changed now. I wouldn't consider Astoria exactly SAFE nowadays, but that's just me. You have to be street-smart. Jackson Heights is a funky area but good on the subway lines; straight, short and sweet. And ps; I lived in midtown in 1993; shared a sub-leased apartment with 3 other gals who were never there; (I was the only native NY'r!) we had one cat and some mice and roaches but it cost me more to park my car in a lot two blocks down ($135 a month) than it did for rent! OK of course you will NEVER find that kind of deal on 59th st. again; but you can check out many renters-on-line places and ads in the NY Times for city rental locations. I found mine after two or three apartment ads. OK so I was lucky.

Some real advice: don't take an apartment lower than the 5th floor on a corner building no matter where it is, unless you are hard of hearing. It's noisey and maybe dangerous if there's bullets flying around. Been there, done that! Also, don't rent in a building that has allot of empty buildings near it; lots of homeless and druggies, etc. people hang out there.
Hope this helps, too.

[Henna]

1.Astoria
2. Jackson Heights
3. Sunnyside
However, there's no decent gym in Jackson Heights so if you want to live nearby your gym, don't move to JH. Sunnyside has a new NYSC and there are several gyms in Astoria.

Astoria is younger and hipper and has the most amenities. Jackson Heights is popular with people buying apartments (rather than renters), is less hip and more diverse. It has plenty of amenities but they tend more towards more cheap and moderately priced places - in other words, there is tons of very good cheap ethnic food but not a good French bistro or even really a great bar for that matter. Sunnyside is a sleepier neighborhood than the other two but is becoming popular with young people priced out of Brooklyn. Certain blocks are quite charming (esp. near Sunnyside Gardens) but I find it's missing the energy of the other two neighborhoods. However, I would certainly not be unhappy if I had to live there.

I'm in Jackson Heights because I couldn't afford to buy in Astoria (or nearly anywhere in Brooklyn for that matter), but actually now that I've been here two years I wouldn't trade.

[graveldriveway]

OK, one last post. Of the neighborhoods you've asked for ratings, well I've already commented about Astoria and Jackson Heights. But Sunnyside!

You must be rich! From what I know about it this neighborhood (the old section) it is rich in great Architectural history, but very expensive to live/own a home rent(?) in. -Not sure about the subway connections. I would assume that the thieves would gravitate towards that area.
*************************************************
Have you considered Greenpoint, Brooklyn? It's was a great funky neighborhood when I visited it; it was "up and coming" the last time I was there, but that was (again) years ago now, err.

Long Island City was a pretty cool place, too. Also "up and coming" with lots cheap lofts with a GREAT view of the City next to the river. I guess that's all changed now, but both had good subway connections too I think.

Oh this is making me nostalgic! Hope this helps and good luck in your hunt. You are smart to ask help for something like this before you sign any lease!

[Henna]

Originally Posted by graveldriveway

Regarding Astoria; you would need to also CHECK OUT THE SUBWAY LINES; some are worse than others; Queens is weird. It took my Aunt near Kennedy airport over an hour to get to Wall St. through very NASTY subway sections of Brooklyn....Austoria was not too far away from where she lived. The bus lines were pretty nasty and inconvenient, too but maybe they've changed now. I wouldn't consider Astoria exactly SAFE nowadays, but that's just me. You have to be street-smart. Jackson Heights is a funky area but good on the subway lines; straight, short and sweet. And ps; I lived in midtown in 1993; shared a sub-leased apartment with 3 other gals who were never there; (I was the only native NY'r!) we had one cat and some mice and roaches but it cost me more to park my car in a lot two blocks down ($135 a month) than it did for rent! OK of course you will NEVER find that kind of deal on 59th st. again; but you can check out many renters-on-line places and ads in the NY Times for city rental locations. I found mine after two or three apartment ads. OK so I was lucky.

Some real advice: don't take an apartment lower than the 5th floor on a corner building no matter where it is, unless you are hard of hearing. It's noisey and maybe dangerous if there's bullets flying around. Been there, done that! Also, don't rent in a building that has allot of empty buildings near it; lots of homeless and druggies, etc. people hang out there.
Hope this helps, too.

Please stick to current advice. This is advice from sixteen years ago. things have changed dramatically. When was the last time you were even in Jackson Heights or Astoria?

[missbonfig]

Originally Posted by graveldriveway

Regarding Astoria; you would need to also CHECK OUT THE SUBWAY LINES; some are worse than others; Queens is weird. It took my Aunt near Kennedy airport over an hour to get to Wall St. through very NASTY subway sections of Brooklyn....Austoria was not too far away from where she lived. The bus lines were pretty nasty and inconvenient, too but maybe they've changed now. I wouldn't consider Astoria exactly SAFE nowadays, but that's just me. You have to be street-smart. Jackson Heights is a funky area but good on the subway lines; straight, short and sweet. And ps; I lived in midtown in 1993; shared a sub-leased apartment with 3 other gals who were never there; (I was the only native NY'r!) we had one cat and some mice and roaches but it cost me more to park my car in a lot two blocks down ($135 a month) than it did for rent! OK of course you will NEVER find that kind of deal on 59th st. again; but you can check out many renters-on-line places and ads in the NY Times for city rental locations. I found mine after two or three apartment ads. OK so I was lucky.

Some real advice: don't take an apartment lower than the 5th floor on a corner building no matter where it is, unless you are hard of hearing. It's noisey and maybe dangerous if there's bullets flying around. Been there, done that! Also, don't rent in a building that has allot of empty buildings near it; lots of homeless and druggies, etc. people hang out there.
Hope this helps, too.

Hey thanks for this advice, even though it worries me considerably. But I guess it's best to know things before you get into an unfavorable situation. What's the general consensus on this thinking? (Thanks for the tip on the floor, etc.)
Now in terms of safety, are there any websites that you can recommend re: crime facts based on neighborhoods... (Just for the record, I do consider myself fairly street smart. In both, London and Puerto Rico, I have lived in what are considered not the greatest of neighborhoods. I know I CAN do it, I just think I'm kind of past that stage and don't necessarily want to go back to "have to doing it."

[Henna]

Originally Posted by missbonfig

Hey thanks for this advice, even though it worries me considerably. But I guess it's best to know things before you get into an unfavorable situation. What's the general consensus on this thinking? (Thanks for the tip on the floor, etc.)
Now in terms of safety, are there any websites that you can recommend re: crime facts based on neighborhoods... (Just for the record, I do consider myself fairly street smart. In both, London and Puerto Rico, I have lived in what are considered not the greatest of neighborhoods. I know I CAN do it, I just think I'm kind of past that stage and don't necessarily want to go back to "have to doing it."

None of the neighborhoods you are considering (Bay Ridge, Astoria, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights) have bullets flying around. However, there are still neighborhoods in Brooklyn such as Bushwick, Brownsville, East New York etc. where there are still bullets flying.

This person is relying on information she gathered from living in NYC 16 years ago. The city has changed considerably and what were once bad neighborhoods are no longer bad neighborhoods.

You might want to read this Crime in New York City - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"As of 2005, New York City has the lowest crime rate among the ten largest cities in the United States.[16] Since 1991, the city has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime. Neighborhoods that were once considered dangerous are now much safer. Violent crime in the city has dropped by 75% in the last twelve years and the murder rate in 2005 was at its lowest level since 1963: there were 539 murders that year, for a murder rate of 6.58 per 100,000 people, compared to 2262 murders in 1990. Among the 182 U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000, New York City ranked 136th in overall crime (with about the same crime rate as Boise, Idaho)."

[missbonfig]

Originally Posted by Henna

1.Astoria
2. Jackson Heights
3. Sunnyside
However, there's no decent gym in Jackson Heights so if you want to live nearby your gym, don't move to JH. Sunnyside has a new NYSC and there are several gyms in Astoria.

Astoria is younger and hipper and has the most amenities. Jackson Heights is popular with people buying apartments (rather than renters), is less hip and more diverse. It has plenty of amenities but they tend more towards more cheap and moderately priced places - in other words, there is tons of very good cheap ethnic food but not a good French bistro or even really a great bar for that matter. Sunnyside is a sleepier neighborhood than the other two but is becoming popular with young people priced out of Brooklyn. Certain blocks are quite charming (esp. near Sunnyside Gardens) but I find it's missing the energy of the other two neighborhoods. However, I would certainly not be unhappy if I had to live there.

I'm in Jackson Heights because I couldn't afford to buy in Astoria (or nearly anywhere in Brooklyn for that matter), but actually now that I've been here two years I wouldn't trade.

In previous messages you also mentioned Elmhurst and Woodside. How do they fit into your ranking?
Overall, Astoria and Jackson Heights sound doable for me. I'm used to living in racially diverse neighborhoods and am actually attracted to them. Ever sinde I have been traveling the World, I have predominantly lived in black and Latino neighborhoods. But having been in London, I am also comfortable around Caribbean, Asian and European.
Jackson Heights almost sounds better for me, financially and commuter-wise. (I guess if I want a nice French bistro I could do that close to the office or on exploratory weekend trip.)
Astoria also sounds very tempting... however the hip aspect (even though appealing) worries me in terms of peace and quiet after hours. Can this be found? How dangerous is Astoria? How good or bad is public transportation?

As for the gym, I would love to live close to a dance/yoga studio. (I don't really like machines; I prefer all types of classes such as yoga, Pilates, dance, classis Aerobics, etc.) anybody know of anything good in the area? Otherwise I can do that in the city?

[missbonfig]

Originally Posted by Henna

None of the neighborhoods you are considering (Bay Ridge, Astoria, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights) have bullets flying around. However, there are still neighborhoods in Brooklyn such as Bushwick, Brownsville, East New York etc. where there are still bullets flying.

This person is relying on information she gathered from living in NYC 16 years ago. The city has changed considerably and what were once bad neighborhoods are no longer bad neighborhoods.

You might want to read this Crime in New York City - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"As of 2005, New York City has the lowest crime rate among the ten largest cities in the United States.[16] Since 1991, the city has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime. Neighborhoods that were once considered dangerous are now much safer. Violent crime in the city has dropped by 75% in the last twelve years and the murder rate in 2005 was at its lowest level since 1963: there were 539 murders that year, for a murder rate of 6.58 per 100,000 people, compared to 2262 murders in 1990. Among the 182 U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000, New York City ranked 136th in overall crime (with about the same crime rate as Boise, Idaho)."

Phew! What a relief. I know it's silly, but for some reason I feel "safer"/more comfortable in London, which is ridiculous. It all always depends on the neighborhood and street smarts...