Moving to NYC, commute to Newark... (Hope: apartments, rent, high crime)

[bjratchf]

Hello all,

I've been trying to find an apartment to share with a friend in the city area. We both want to take advantage of the city on a daily basis (both are artist musicians), but he is of less means than myself so it has limited our options to 1700 a month rents. Sadly, this doesn't get you much and we've found apartments, but in some areas our parents wouldn't visit us in LOL!

I'm working out of Newark airport and can afford up to 1100 or 1200 a month. We found some places in Brooklyn, but my commute to the airport would be horrendous.

Idea 1) Harlem areas and upper west side- this would give me access to the GW, and then via route 1-9 to the airport in Jersey. We could both take advantage of the city from here

Idea 2) Find a place in Jersey City. Awesome commute for me, but for him w/o a car or drivers license, we'd have to find a place close to a PATH station. He would also have to play double for the monthly PATH and metrocards.

Idea 3) craigslist to join with an already-established roomate in Manhattan. This is similar to how I lived when I was studying in Germany, a shared space. It was fun, affordable, and you get to meet new people. This would eliminate broker fees, and bring the costs down a bit. Downside: I would have to sell most of my furniture! But then again, it might make it easier to move later. This option also would also make the city available for after-work activities.

We both want to live in Manhattan, and with a bus direct to Newark for $7 from Grand Central, I would be able to get rid of the car.

Any opinions on my above-listed ideas?

[bjratchf]

thanks for moving it! New to the forum, so a big hello as well!

[Henna]

Originally Posted by bjratchf

Hello all,

I've been trying to find an apartment to share with a friend in the city area. We both want to take advantage of the city on a daily basis (both are artist musicians), but he is of less means than myself so it has limited our options to 1700 a month rents. Sadly, this doesn't get you much and we've found apartments, but in some areas our parents wouldn't visit us in LOL!

I'm working out of Newark airport and can afford up to 1100 or 1200 a month. We found some places in Brooklyn, but my commute to the airport would be horrendous.

Idea 1) Harlem areas and upper west side- this would give me access to the GW, and then via route 1-9 to the airport in Jersey. We could both take advantage of the city from here

Idea 2) Find a place in Jersey City. Awesome commute for me, but for him w/o a car or drivers license, we'd have to find a place close to a PATH station. He would also have to play double for the monthly PATH and metrocards.

Idea 3) craigslist to join with an already-established roomate in Manhattan. This is similar to how I lived when I was studying in Germany, a shared space. It was fun, affordable, and you get to meet new people. This would eliminate broker fees, and bring the costs down a bit. Downside: I would have to sell most of my furniture! But then again, it might make it easier to move later. This option also would also make the city available for after-work activities.

We both want to live in Manhattan, and with a bus direct to Newark for $7 from Grand Central, I would be able to get rid of the car.

Any opinions on my above-listed ideas?

I vote for Jersey City. You will save alot of money not paying for the toll over the GW bridge all the time, so maybe you could offer to cover the extra $54 per month your roommate will incur for the PATH tickets.

Your commute will be easy (can't you take the PATH train to Newark as well?) and both of you can still get in and out of Manhattan very easily.

Also Jersey City gives you easy access to downtown Manhattan, which is probably the part you're going to be more interested in as opposed to Upper West Side.

Why deal with a third roommate and someone else's rules and getting rid your furniture if you don't have to?

(Caveat: I don't know the rents in Jersey City so I don't know if you will find something for $1700 in a place that is walkable to the PATH.)

[Moderate Guy]

Originally Posted by bjratchf

thanks for moving it! New to the forum, so a big hello as well!

Welcome aboard!

Originally Posted by Henna

I vote for Jersey City. You will save alot of money not paying for the toll over the GW bridge all the time, so maybe you could offer to cover the extra $54 per month your roommate will incur for the PATH tickets.

Your commute will be easy (can't you take the PATH train to Newark as well?) and both of you can still get in and out of Manhattan very easily.

Also Jersey City gives you easy access to downtown Manhattan, which is probably the part you're going to be more interested in as opposed to Upper West Side.

Why deal with a third roommate and someone else's rules and getting rid your furniture if you don't have to?

(Caveat: I don't know the rents in Jersey City so I don't know if you will find something for $1700 in a place that is walkable to the PATH.)

Agreed.

[bjratchf]

Originally Posted by Henna

I vote for Jersey City. You will save alot of money not paying for the toll over the GW bridge all the time, so maybe you could offer to cover the extra $54 per month your roommate will incur for the PATH tickets.

Your commute will be easy (can't you take the PATH train to Newark as well?) and both of you can still get in and out of Manhattan very easily.

Also Jersey City gives you easy access to downtown Manhattan, which is probably the part you're going to be more interested in as opposed to Upper West Side.

Why deal with a third roommate and someone else's rules and getting rid your furniture if you don't have to?

(Caveat: I don't know the rents in Jersey City so I don't know if you will find something for $1700 in a place that is walkable to the PATH.)

I've tried to the path from the airport, but I have a parking pass for the south employee lot. The travel time between the airport and JC is about 15 minutes.

[lamexican]

Originally Posted by bjratchf

Hello all,

I've been trying to find an apartment to share with a friend in the city area. We both want to take advantage of the city on a daily basis (both are artist musicians), but he is of less means than myself so it has limited our options to 1700 a month rents. Sadly, this doesn't get you much and we've found apartments, but in some areas our parents wouldn't visit us in LOL!

I'm working out of Newark airport and can afford up to 1100 or 1200 a month. We found some places in Brooklyn, but my commute to the airport would be horrendous.

Idea 1) Harlem areas and upper west side- this would give me access to the GW, and then via route 1-9 to the airport in Jersey. We could both take advantage of the city from here

Idea 2) Find a place in Jersey City. Awesome commute for me, but for him w/o a car or drivers license, we'd have to find a place close to a PATH station. He would also have to play double for the monthly PATH and metrocards.

Idea 3) craigslist to join with an already-established roomate in Manhattan. This is similar to how I lived when I was studying in Germany, a shared space. It was fun, affordable, and you get to meet new people. This would eliminate broker fees, and bring the costs down a bit. Downside: I would have to sell most of my furniture! But then again, it might make it easier to move later. This option also would also make the city available for after-work activities.

We both want to live in Manhattan, and with a bus direct to Newark for $7 from Grand Central, I would be able to get rid of the car.

Any opinions on my above-listed ideas?

I would stay in Jersey either JC or Hoboken. Very easy commute to Newark and Manhattan. Metro cards are also valid on path as long as they are not unlimited metrocards. Its still would be cheaper to get the path link card(not sure that is the correct name). Good luck

[ctrres]

Jersey City makes the most sense.

[bjratchf]

Thanks for the help. My roomate is a bit peeved we won't be taking the Brooklyn 21st ST and 4th place we found, but honestly, I've done a couple of dry runs commuting to the airport, and it can take me between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the traffic, plus the cost of the tolls to cross the river multiple times.

Hopefully we can find a place in Jersey City that won't get us shot and will allow the roomate to commute every day on foot/subway. It seems like to live in the area on our budget (both college grads with advanced degrees) its necessary to live in some high crime areas. Depressing thought!

[Henna]

Originally Posted by bjratchf

Thanks for the help. My roomate is a bit peeved we won't be taking the Brooklyn 21st ST and 4th place we found, but honestly, I've done a couple of dry runs commuting to the airport, and it can take me between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the traffic, plus the cost of the tolls to cross the river multiple times.

Hopefully we can find a place in Jersey City that won't get us shot and will allow the roomate to commute every day on foot/subway. It seems like to live in the area on our budget (both college grads with advanced degrees) its necessary to live in some high crime areas. Depressing thought!

Well, I think your roommate should feel grateful to you that you are the one bringing your total rent amount up so much. You said together you could afford $1700 and alone you could afford $1200. So this means his rent budget is $500-$600 a month? He should be doing whatever you want to do. His budget gets him next to nothing alone while you could easily get a very nice share in Manhattan if you were sharing with someone else also paying $1200 a month.

And I am surprised that $1700 in JC does not get you something on a relatively safe block with decent transportation to the city.

[Moderate Guy]

Originally Posted by bjratchf

It seems like to live in the area on our budget (both college grads with advanced degrees) its necessary to live in some high crime areas. Depressing thought!

While not necessarily applicable to your situation that is one of the harsh realities of housing in NYC.