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OK, so I wanna relocate to New York, but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. I'm kinda skeptical about looking for a roommate online, and no one will move there with me . So I'm stuck trying to figure out how to make this move. I was thinking about just staying in a hostel (sense it's much cheaper) until I find an apt. (thing is I don't know how long that will take). I'm not trying to move to any of the expensive cities. I would like to move to some, nearby, smaller city that is not so expensive. I know there's GOT to be some (nearby) cities that's not so expensive-- right? Lol. Just about every apt I've seen listed on craigslist is like $800 for a match box, 1bd room apt (or maybe I'm not looking good enough).
A little about me:
21 yr old, single female (no kids). I live in TX.
I don't own a car; but I hear you don't really need a car in NY. Is that true?
Ummm... that's about all the important details I can think of right now.
I'm just looking for any HELPFUL advice. And btw, saying, "don't move here! You'll regret it!" is NOT helpful!
What do you consider cheap, and what do you consider "nearby"? To me- $800 for 1 BR is VERY cheap. You're not going to get much cheaper than that unless you go 2 hours ++ out of the city.
Yes, u don't "need a car " to get to a lot of areas or if your life is gonna revolve around Manhatten. But it can be helpful later if you plan on visiting friends in other parts of the city, especially at night.
Regarding cheap cities,lol The tri-state area in general is not cheap compared to Texas standards. Basically the closer you are to NYC the more expensive it gets. If you saw a one bedroom for 800 pr/month, n all likelihood thats probably a bad area. You may have to seriously rethink that roommate situation if your not willing to spend at least a grand a month on rent.
I just read in another post of yours that the MAX you want to spend is $600/mo. That is absolutely not happening anywhere at all near the city unless you get into a roommate situation or live in a REALLY REALLY bad area. I live outside the city in a modest house and my property taxes are more than that a month.
The problem with living far out is commuting costs. You could live in Allentown, which is very cheap, but you'll spend hours a day commuting and spend a several hundred dollars a month on bus tickets.
I imagine the absolute cheapest would be the sketchier parts of Jersey City, although I've never tried to look for an apartment there.
Get a roommate. There are tons of early 20s females looking for a roommate. That's how recent grads live in New York. Everyone (without a trust) fund does it that way.
I live in Bridgeport. Parts of the city are not unsafe at all and actually very, very nice. Visit St. Mary's by the Sea sometime! However, in no part of the city can you find a place for $600.00 a month without splitting costs with a roommate.
Houston, despite its legendarily cheap housing costs, has the highest percentage of its population without health insurance among major cities. My point in bringing that up is that things tend to equivocate and if anywhere on Earth was really the promised land, everybody would move there and mess it up (although, for some reason, everywhere I live is the promised land to me and no matter what, I can't seem to land in a place that sucks. Funny how that works...). New York is really cool, but it does have its problems. It just depends on how its strengths and weaknesses relate to what is important to you.
You might, might, might just find something in Peekskill under $800/month, but not all of Peekskill is very nice, but it's generally nicer than Newark. The problem is that transportation costs to/from Manhattan would bring you back to the $800 level, so you'd be better off looking for a place that's subway accessible for that price point. Plus, in Peekskill, you would need a car, so that adds to the expenses. Danbury, CT would be another consideration, but, like Peekskill, you would need a car, and transportation costs to/from Manhattan are not inexpensive.
Now, if you're looking for a place nearby to live/work, that's one thing, but transportation costs getting to/from Manhattan (or any of the other boroughs) from Bridgeport, Peekskill, Poughkeepsie, etc. are going to outweigh the rental savings. At least Newark has the PATH to get you to Manhattan, though one really has to know that city before making a move there.
For your own apartment, $700-$800 is really the starting range anywhere that's in a reasonably commutable distance to Manhattan. You might find a basement apartment in that range in Queens in a nice neighborhood, or you can check with a roommate matching service to split an apartment in that range.
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. So I'm stuck trying to figure out how to make this move. I was thinking about just staying in a hostel (sense it's much cheaper) until I find an apt. (thing is I don't know how long that will take). I'm not trying to move to any of the expensive cities. I would like to move to some, nearby, smaller city that is not so expensive. I know there's GOT to be some (nearby) cities that's not so expensive-- right? Lol. Just about every apt I've seen listed on craigslist is like $800 for a match box, 1bd room apt (or maybe I'm not looking good enough). 
