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Old 06-30-2009, 12:36 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
608 posts, read 1,702,430 times
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I'm in the midst of a job search and I haven't been ruling out relocation to a few different areas. Due to my areas of expertise, there are many possibilities for me in New York City. Since nothing is definite at the moment, I was more interested in gauging the cost-of-living and possible options on where to live in the event that I did get one of these jobs.

Currently, I live in the Washington, D.C. metro area, which I believe is somewhat comparable with NYC in terms of cost-of-living, with Manhattan being more expensive than DC-proper, but it seems like prices drop off considerably in some of the other boroughs in NYC.

So here are my questions:

(1) Could anyone tell me how prices in Brooklyn, Queens, and other surrounding areas compare to similar places in DC (e.g. Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Fairfax)?

(2) Would it be realistic to find a single bedroom apartment within reasonable distance of Manhattan for less than $1200/month? How 'bout under $1000/month? Would I be able to find a non-craphole for that amount?

(3) What options should I consider for my scenario? I assume Brooklyn and Queens are options, but what other places? Jersey? Westchester County? I'm going to say that a 30 - 45 minute commute would be what I'd ideally like to keep to if at all possible. I'd also prefer to use public transit, as well.


That should be enough info to hopefully give me some idea as to what I could be getting into in the event that I get a job offer.

Thanks in advance.
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Old 06-30-2009, 12:59 PM
 
Location: Upper East Side, NYC
403 posts, read 1,389,314 times
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NYC is going to be completly different than DC. It is much bigger and commute times will be easily an hour or more to suburban locations with one beds in your price range. You would prefer public transit? This is new york man. No one drives. Queens is goingto be your best bet, or jersey perhaps. One beds in the city right now start around 1800. Just be prepared for a different experience. I moved here from Boston and thought i would receive some sort of "city experience transfer credit" Boy did I underestimate New York City. that being said, its the greatest city in the world, and all of it is totally worth it.
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Old 06-30-2009, 01:59 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
608 posts, read 1,702,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adambos View Post
NYC is going to be completly different than DC. It is much bigger and commute times will be easily an hour or more to suburban locations with one beds in your price range. You would prefer public transit? This is new york man. No one drives. Queens is goingto be your best bet, or jersey perhaps. One beds in the city right now start around 1800. Just be prepared for a different experience. I moved here from Boston and thought i would receive some sort of "city experience transfer credit" Boy did I underestimate New York City. that being said, its the greatest city in the world, and all of it is totally worth it.
Well ... DC isn't all that cheap, either.

A halfway decent one BR in Arlington, VA is about $1300/month. For a reasonably nice one BR, you're probably looking at $1600/month or more. Prices fall off the further away you get from DC, but it's never really cheap. Even out in the deeper parts of Fairfax, you're probably paying over $1000/month.

I was seeing some apartments on Craig's List in Brooklyn that looked to bit a bit less expensive than that, but it's always difficult to tell if some of those are armpits. Plus, "Brooklyn" seems to encompass a fairly large area (not to mention the fact that some posters sneak in search terms to get more views). Then there's this whole "fee" versus "no fee" thing that I've never encountered before. But some of the apartments didn't look all that bad, especially compared to what you'd get here for the same prices. DC is expensive.


When you say one beds "in the city", do you mean, Manhattan or all of New York City? All I really want is to get some grasp of the price ranges in the area. I might have to room up with someone --- as I have had to here in DC. But I'd prefer not to if I can avoid it. All the same, if I get an excellent job offer, I'm not going to let minor things like that get in the way. Good rooming situations can be found
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:14 PM
 
Location: Upper East Side, NYC
403 posts, read 1,389,314 times
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Brooklyn is going to vary greatly in everything depending on where you are. genreally Park slope and williamsburg are the exceptions, however more and more neighborhoods are crossing over. there are some TERRIBLE areas in brooklyn though, be careful, and CHECK out any apartment and it's neighborhood first. Keep in mind in new york that neighborhoods really can differ depending on the time of day. What might seem edgy and cool at 3pm, could actually be above am underground club at 3am. ;-)

and yes, here in new york when we say "the city" we mean manhattan.
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Old 06-30-2009, 02:38 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC & New York
10,915 posts, read 31,243,414 times
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DC is actually more expensive than NYC in terms of housing cost, overall.

Generally, Brooklyn and Queens are more built up closer to the city, and are not the same as an Arlington or Fairfax or Bethesda because of the density. Further out, they are more suburban, but suburban in the vein of North Arlington (below Country Club Hills), not suburban in terms of Fairfax, McLean, or Great Falls which are more akin to Westchester towns than those areas in the city itself.

I would say that in far reaches of Queens, close to LI, you might find a 1BR in the sub $1500 rent range that's nice, though that's going to be 45 minutes to an hour to Midtown, unless you take the LIRR which gets to Penn Station much faster. In Brooklyn, you would be in the same commute range for an apartment in that price bracket, which would likely be an express bus or a longer subway ride. It all depends upon where in Manhattan you will work as to which method will be faster, and to which area you should direct a search, since some trains are faster to Lower Manhattan, some to Midtown, and LIRR and MetroNorth serve Penn and Grand Central, respectively. It's not impossible on those numbers, though sub $1000 is going to be very far out in New Jersey or even Pennsylvania to begin to come into range.

ETA: I drive in NYC, so I am a minority, but be aware that costs for keeping a vehicle in the city are higher for insurance and parking. If you can find a place with parking included, that's a real bonus, but for most, you will have to pay for a separate garage, which is significantly less expensive in the outer boroughs. In Westchester, parking is generally not a problem, unless it's an older co-op/rental building in a built-up area, or certain villages, such as Bronxville proper, where you have to have a permit to park in a town lot as overnight street parking is prohibited.
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Old 07-01-2009, 01:21 AM
 
1,014 posts, read 2,879,500 times
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A friend of mine just got a place in Jersey City that is a four block walk from the Grove St. Path station. I know you aren't interested in a share, but he pays $500 for his own bedroom in a 4BR single family brownstone. His total commute to his office in lower manhattan is like 15-20 minutes.

In general, I feel like people over-exaggerate how expensive rent is here. That same friend paid $1,000/month to share a bedroom in a 1BR apartment in DC. Of course, in DC he lived in the middle of a highly desirable area (by Gtown).

1BR's are readily available at $1200-1300, but they might not be the nicest places. Where you should live will depend on where your job is.
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Old 07-01-2009, 06:01 AM
 
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No, there are few, if ANY one bedroom apartments available for $1200.
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Old 07-01-2009, 06:13 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
608 posts, read 1,702,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gradstudent77 View Post
A friend of mine just got a place in Jersey City that is a four block walk from the Grove St. Path station. I know you aren't interested in a share, but he pays $500 for his own bedroom in a 4BR single family brownstone. His total commute to his office in lower manhattan is like 15-20 minutes.

In general, I feel like people over-exaggerate how expensive rent is here. That same friend paid $1,000/month to share a bedroom in a 1BR apartment in DC. Of course, in DC he lived in the middle of a highly desirable area (by Gtown).

1BR's are readily available at $1200-1300, but they might not be the nicest places. Where you should live will depend on where your job is.
Gradstudent77,

How do people typically commute from the Jersey side to Manhattan? Do you have to transfer from the rail system in Jersey to the New York City subway system? How expensive does that tend to be compared to riding the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan? (I only ask because I've oftentimes found that riding multiple systems can be a headache, both logistically and cost-wise.)

Is parking likewise terrible on the Jersey side or is there more street parking available? (Just from a quick glance on Google Maps' Street View in Jersey City, it appears that a lot of the housing has driveways, back alley parking, or street parking)
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Old 07-01-2009, 06:16 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
608 posts, read 1,702,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwguydc View Post
ETA: I drive in NYC, so I am a minority, but be aware that costs for keeping a vehicle in the city are higher for insurance and parking. If you can find a place with parking included, that's a real bonus, but for most, you will have to pay for a separate garage, which is significantly less expensive in the outer boroughs. In Westchester, parking is generally not a problem, unless it's an older co-op/rental building in a built-up area, or certain villages, such as Bronxville proper, where you have to have a permit to park in a town lot as overnight street parking is prohibited.
How much might parking typically run in Brooklyn or Queens? Are there any areas where street parking is reasonable, or does it tend to be too unpredictable and/or costly?
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Old 07-01-2009, 06:48 AM
 
7,079 posts, read 37,841,161 times
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Frankly, a car is a luxury in NYC. There is no need for a car. Parking is a real pain (and often costly) and the insurance costs are astronomical.
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