Which borough is the best: Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, The Bronx or Brooklyn to bring up a young family today? (Ridge: how much, house)

[ProudCapMarine]

Which borough is the best: Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, The Bronx or Brooklyn to bring up a young family today?

[ProudCapMarine]

I'm from Queens and my wife is proud of her "The Bronx."

[Henna]

I guess it depends on lots of things like how much money you have, where you want to send your kids to school (or where you can afford to), where you work and how long your commute will be from each of those places, and where your family (support network) is.

[Viralmd]

Originally Posted by Henna

I guess it depends on lots of things like how much money you have, where you want to send your kids to school (or where you can afford to), where you work and how long your commute will be from each of those places, and where your family (support network) is.

Agree completely. This is too subjective to be very informative.

[Moderate Guy]

Originally Posted by ProudCapMarine

Which borough is the best: Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, The Bronx or Brooklyn to bring up a young family today?

As others have said, it's really a highly subjective issue. And money is not ALWAYS the deciding factor, though indeed it can be for some.

For example, I've lived in Manhattan on the UWS for decades but now prefer Queens not just for myself but for a hypothetical family. Then even WITHIN a borough, people have NEIGHBORHOOD preferences, Again, the only part of Manhattn I personally like living in is the UWS not Fifth Avenue or Soho. The only part of Queens I'd prefer are Forest Hills or Kew Gardens.

Hence you can see that one's income, personal agenda, one's likes/dislikes for neighborhood, type of housing, how close one wishes to be to school, job, whether one wishes a yard, a car, walkability of neighborhood including to shopping, even one's chronological age - these can all determine where in our magnificent city of five boroughs one wishes to live.

Don't let others' preferences - including mine - determine for you. NYC is a great place to be and save for really sketchy areas, one can enjoy life immensely in any borough. For starters you might want to visit another thread which discusses Manhattan vs outer boroughs. Don't know how one provides a link to it here but you can do a search on the index page.

[SuperMario]

I dont know why so many people picked the Bronx when two of its neighborhoods were among the "worst neighborhoods to raise kids" article:

Mott Haven was the worst.

University Heights has the largest kid to park ratio. In other words, seriously lacking in parks for kids to play in.



Bayside was the best.

[Andysocks]

The boroughs have different #s of types of neighborhoods, but it's impossible to answer the question because they all share the same types anyway... well... Manhattan and staten don't share anything, but other than that haha.

Queens may be better on average than the Bronx, but most people would probably prefer to raise their kid in Throgs Neck over East Elmhurst if they had to make that choice.

[Fred314X]

And there are several neighborhoods in Brooklyn that would be great for bringing up a family. (I live in Midwood--which anyone could be pardoned for thinking they'd taken a wrong turn and wound up in the suburbs, because that's what it looks like!) Offhand, Bay Ridge and Bath Beach come to mind, as well. Oh, and did I leave out Victorian Flatbush...or if you've got the money, Brooklyn Heights.

[Rachael84]

My parents decided to move from Queens when I was 3 and my sister was 8. My parents grew up in the city and both agreed that the suburbs were better to raise children, so off we went to Long Island. I'm glad we did. There's a lot more things to do for kids in the suburbs. Of course you can't ride your bike to as many places, but it doesn't matter. I was really involved in sports and other things.

I plan on moving to LI with my fiance to raise our future kids. But if I had to choose a borough, it would be Queens.

[Moderate Guy]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

My parents decided to move from Queens when I was 3 and my sister was 8. My parents grew up in the city and both agreed that the suburbs were better to raise children, so off we went to Long Island. I'm glad we did. There's a lot more things to do for kids in the suburbs. Of course you can't ride your bike to as many places, but it doesn't matter. I was really involved in sports and other things.

I plan on moving to LI with my fiance to raise our future kids. But if I had to choose a borough, it would be Queens.

Rachel, I understand your perspective and wish you and your fiance a nice life when you move and start your family in L.I.

I too choose Queens - but over both Manhattan and Long Island. Long Island has its pluses and minuses for me as does Manhattan. What I like about Queens is that in a vague kind of way, one can get a little of both - a little of the L.I. as well as the Manhattan ambience. You're in NYC yet in some parts of Queens, you can have a house with a little yard and a driveway. So my vote would be Queens - even though I recognize the tremendous pluses for both Manhattan and L.I.