Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-19-2012, 02:28 AM
 
1 posts, read 3,059 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

How is woodside?It's locality,culture,population,schools,transport.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-09-2013, 09:50 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,201 times
Reputation: 18
The MOST important thing to remember is that the quality home/apartment you live in is ilmore important than the neighborhood. If you live in a dirty or run down apartment with problems with heat, noise, poor management, then it doesn't matter if you live on Central Park South, you will not care what neighborhood you live in.

Everything else is relative to your priorities.

Astoria. Lived their for 15 years. Can't beat the location unless you are in Long Island City and proximity to Manhattan is the most important. Long Island City is mostly luxury apartment buildings but is up and coming and has been for the last 10 years. Worth a look but I won't go into depth. Again Astoria location great from manhattan but that being said, you can live in Elmhurst, Jackson Heights or even Flushing and get express trains that aren't that much longer. Astoria has good markets vegetable/meat, but most of the fish stores have gone out of business but depending where in Astoria, you are walking distance to Costco. I personally had to get on the subway to go to Chinese markets in Elmhurst to buy my fish instead of Costco's farmed and heavily salted seafood.

The big downside to Astoria, I mean big, is they are all old apartment buildings, mostly walk-ups, and they are UGLY from the outside and often not much better in the inside. Yes, there have been more luxury expensive buildings going up, probably not a lot of inventory, but the management/landlord that owns most of the apartments in Astoria IS Pistilli Management. Do not rent anything from Pistilli. Search out the reviews and then go to Astoria LLC who help people everyday. They are slumlords, and in court probably more than any landlord. Ask the storeowners, ask the post office delivery people. Ask a broker and take them for a drink because if they are trying to get you to rent, they obviously won't tell you.

There are is a fairly good selection of restuarants but in general nothing special. Yes, there are still some very good Greek Restaurants but if you don't cook, you will not be going to nice Greek Restuarants everynight and paying 20-30 for a steak. The Greek REstuarants have become more expensive and lesser quality than when I moved there. The famous Uncle Georges went out of business because of greedy landlords and escalating rent. Other good taverna's have followed the same trajectory. Tons of cheap Chinese food, and generally poor Mexican food compared to other area's in the city. Plenty of places to get your morning breakfast and food, corner coffee shops and diners etc...

Astoria is getting way over priced with more Manhattan transplants looking for a deal. Better deals to be found. Again, if you are lucky and find a good building, ok. If not, keep looking. Every area has it's plus's and minus's. A good review discusses both and doesn't sing it's praises because a person lives there and says' it's all bad because of their bad experiences. Reviews are supposed to be objective as possible.

Forest Hills/Rego Park.... Forest HIlls is touted because of Austin Street and it's shops. Listen, you do not go to Gap, Banana Republic everyday. Queens has no dirth of malls that you can get to by bus and subway. So living on top of a shopping area such as that is not necessary. Astoria, Coronna, Jackson/Heights and many parts of queens, have shopping streets such as Steinway or Junction of Boulevard. For convience, you need Hardware stores, 99 cent stores, and good super markets. Forest Hills does not have great supermarkets. A couple of good ones, one natural market on Austin and another on Queens Boulevard. If you happen to find an apartment close, excellent. Almost impossible to find a seat in the two small diners for breakfast because it is a congested area. Restaurants are mediocre in Forest Hills at best. Forest hills is overrated probably because of some of the upscale stores and Forest Hills Gardens. If you got money, then you don't need to read this. Some of the bigger properties such as the Parker Towers provide abysmal conditions. People move out. Noisey, no eat, broken elevators. Again, the same rule. #1 Consideration is your apartment. Luxury buildings are mostly condo's and exhorbitant rents if you find somebody renting.

Forest Hills has many more nicer apartments then Astoria! Yellowstone boulevard, have a good pair of legs and lungs because it is a long up hill walk to the Boulevard. You'll say to yourself, no I really don't want to go out int he cold. Unless you are near the center of Forest Hills, and near subway, it can be inconvienent. Subway is quick if you get E or F express.

Rego Park is just mall central. Costco is the major supermarket now and one street has a nice small Chinese market with fresh produce. But Forest Hills and Rego Park is Key Food Haven. Kind of expensive and not always super good quality. You make eggs and toast, you are ok. Not tons of eating options like Astoria.

Flushing is simply mucho congested. That being said, unbelievable grocery shopping. Better than any other area of queens because Chinese grocer's are good business men. They have their own farms, their own transportation networks and undercut all the competitors. There are enough stores like Macy's, Target, BJ's etc.... Not a lot of Italian, or Greek but tons of Chinese and Korean from inexpensive to great dining! Not your average Chinese and you can eat anything from north Chinese to southern, authentic Sichuan stews etc.... New luxury buildings go up fast and quick if you got the money, and 7 train runs express to Manhattan or you can splurge on Long Island Railroad. Two lovely parks, Kissena Park, the nicest park in Queens in my opinion and queens botanical gardens, and a subway or long walk to Flushing Meadow park. Diverse buildings from luxury to your average pre war buildings, almost all nicer than anything you find in Astoria. But again, CONGESTED. The further you go away from main street, the better. Plus it's easier to get out of queens for a day in Long Island at beaches, vineyards, than it is in Western Queens.

Jackson Heights/Elmhurst It's a mix. 37th Avenue good shopping, nice buildings, good food, Indian, Latin America mix, great transportation, parts nice, parts dirty. Indian markets, Chinese markets and down toward Coronna outstanding latin American markets. ALL ethnic markets in the city beat the Key foods and other American markets with prices, and freshness.

My reviews are based on the following priorities

1. Quality of apartment dwellings
2. Transportation
3. Grocery shopping

I can't rate schools as I don't have kids but that could change everything. If those aren't your priorities, then there are other good parts of queens. These area's, especially Astoria, have become more and more a place where people save their money and then move to the burps. Astoria especially, they come in and move out. So, not a community feeling. Ethnic communities tend to have stronger bonds with church, school and associations. 30 something are often in interested in the bars, so if that's you, Astoria. When you're 40, your priorities change.

And yes Brooklyn has nice area's, but % wise I think queens has more nice area's than Brooklyn per square mile. Brooklyn Heights good if you can afford it. Park Slope, nice middle class neighborhood, Williamsburg definitely, young, hip, lots of nice dining and artist/music scene. Brighton Beach not what it used to be all the Russians moved out to Queens. no more restuants. Coney island fun for a day, but I wouldn't live there. Brooklyn is nice neighborhoods always a mile or two to a bad neighborhood. Make sure when you read a review that people give you their priorities and write from an objective point of view. Brooklyn is not better or worse than queens. It depends on where you live and the quality of your dwelling. Generalizations are useless reviews
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-10-2013, 05:40 AM
 
912 posts, read 2,089,586 times
Reputation: 440
Quote:
Originally Posted by riaisonline View Post
How is woodside?It's locality,culture,population,schools,transport.
Woodside is huge. Depends what part
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-29-2013, 05:04 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,058 times
Reputation: 10
I am purchasing a home in Cambia heights Queens, do any one know if i can use the bus or train to get to Maspeth queens?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-29-2013, 07:11 PM
 
Location: Between the Bays
10,786 posts, read 11,246,410 times
Reputation: 5272
^ Depending where in maspeth. You'll have to get to Jamaica center. If going to the brooklyn side of maspeth, take the j/z to flushing ave (will have to transfer for the M at b'way-myrtle during rush hour) then take bus up flushing ave. If going to the Elmhurst side take the E to 71st-continental, transfer to the local and take to grand ave where you can catch the bus to maspeth.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-30-2013, 01:34 PM
 
43,303 posts, read 43,983,660 times
Reputation: 20388
A friend of mine who used to live in Maspeth would take the subway train (M or R) to the Grand Avenue/Newtown stop and from there transfer to a local bus.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-30-2013, 02:04 PM
 
Location: Seoul
11,561 posts, read 9,265,606 times
Reputation: 4655
That sounds like a terrible commute. Maspeth has by far the worst transportation options on the western side of Queens
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-31-2013, 03:00 AM
 
1,927 posts, read 1,884,009 times
Reputation: 4760
Perhaps the nicest area of Queens is Forest Hills Gardens (an area within the larger Forest Hills), but it's also expensive. Perhaps more expensive than many parts of Manhattan.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-31-2013, 08:42 AM
 
2,228 posts, read 3,673,462 times
Reputation: 1160
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinema Cat View Post
Perhaps the nicest area of Queens is Forest Hills Gardens (an area within the larger Forest Hills), but it's also expensive. Perhaps more expensive than many parts of Manhattan.
Not even close. I agree it's nice but more expensive then homes on 5th ave or Park Ave? Actually Malba might have the most expensive homes in Queens.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-31-2013, 09:01 AM
 
821 posts, read 1,096,207 times
Reputation: 1292
Quote:
Originally Posted by theanswer View Post
Yes we all know that Italians and Greeks are the supior aryan race that keeps neigborhoods nice. What a bunch of racist rant. Is this what you would call blatant or latant racism
Greek and Italian are not races. They are nationalities and languages.

Anyway, I understand your post, because when most Whites speak of a "neighborhood changing" it is usually codespeak for "it's becoming less White".

Real example from two years ago.

Me: "Hey, I just moved to Glen Oaks; it's a good place, and I like it there."

Other person: "Yeah, it's nice, but it's changing."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top