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Other than Hoboken or downtown Jersey City ... or their parents' house. I say that as someone who is 28 and weighing whether to rent an apartment now, or suck it up with my family for a few more years until I can get a non-sketchy mortgage.
Ideally, I'd like to be in a building with many other young people, and with very few families, if at all. Think Melrose Place; drama and scandal optional.
Other than Hoboken or downtown Jersey City ... or their parents' house. I say that as someone who is 28 and weighing whether to rent an apartment now, or suck it up with my family for a few more years until I can get a non-sketchy mortgage.
Ideally, I'd like to be in a building with many other young people, and with very few families, if at all. Think Melrose Place; drama and scandal optional.
Does that sort of thing even exist here?
Not much. Wrong part of the world for that. NY/NJ has its super rich subset and they have several different playgrounds in different places. Other than that some of the new complexes close to the city(the more $$ ones) have the 20 somethings but w/o the melrose vibe. Not too easy to meet people and more of a drunken lost weekend type of vibe. After college people meet at work or through some kind of common interest they may have. I was on my own very young and in retrospect it was a difficult place to spend my youth in. The more dough you have of course the more options but rent really does eat your money. I never had the option of living home but I'm sure it must be tempting.
Hoboken and JC are the main places for what you are looking for. The only other place I would check into is Morristown. There is a building called Chancery Square that might be a good fit and I'm sure there are others. Check out move.com or rent.com, they have some decent info on apartments.
I thinks Morristown is a great place for someone young to live, if you're job is close enough of course.
I spent my whole last year of college dining and dancing and drinking in Morristown and LOVED it. It's like the suburban Hoboken. I still go visit all the time, I am actually going there tonight to celebrate my birthday.
You should also check out Red Bank. Its down the shore, and I've noticed a lot more younger, trendy crowd there . I'm not so sure about Long Branch though
Hoboken, Jersey City, Red Bank are very trendy filled with 20 something yuppies & hipsters. This means that rents & sale prices cost major $$$$$. Unless you make well in the six figures as a single person, you choice of places in north & central jersey is pretty limited.
A one bedroom in Hoboken or Jersey City starts at around $1,600 a month near Journal Square and is closer to $3,000 a month near the waterfront & in the Newport Towers. Don't forget about the 15% standard realtor or broker fee that you need to pay in order to rent an apartment in most of the NYC metro area region. Apparantely the rental market in NJ, NYC & Long Island is so tight with vacancies so low that realtors can charge 15% & rent a vacant apartment within days if not sooner.
Hoboken, Jersey City, Red Bank are very trendy filled with 20 something yuppies & hipsters. This means that rents & sale prices cost major $$$$$. Unless you make well in the six figures as a single person, you choice of places in north & central jersey is pretty limited.
A one bedroom in Hoboken or Jersey City starts at around $1,600 a month near Journal Square and is closer to $3,000 a month near the waterfront & in the Newport Towers. Don't forget about the 15% standard realtor or broker fee that you need to pay in order to rent an apartment in most of the NYC metro area region. Apparantely the rental market in NJ, NYC & Long Island is so tight with vacancies so low that realtors can charge 15% & rent a vacant apartment within days if not sooner.
A bit of an exaggeration.
Most standard 1-BR apartments in downtown Jersey City are running about $1300-$1500. Hoboken may be a bit more, but not much. Journal Square is cheaper still, with many 1-BRs available for under $1200. Now if you want to live in the lap of luxury with whirlpool tubs, skylights, panoramic Manhattan views, etc etc etc. then Nick's estimates would be about right.
Broker's fees in NJ are also MUCH cheaper than Manhattan's standard 15% annual rent. If the apartment you find requires one it's usually not more than one month's rent.
You can afford a simple 1-BR pretty much anywhere in NJ for MUCH less than 6 figures. I've been living here for years earning between $48k and $58k and have not had a problem finding apartments in my price range.
The towns mentioned already (Red Bank, Montlcair, and Morristown) are all good choices where you'll find lots of young people, bars, restaurants, etc. I live in Montclair and although many of the people you meet seem like they belong in the Stepford Wives, there are lots of young people, artists, etc. as well. Most buildings in Montclair Center (downtown) are full of younger professionals, especially south of Bloomfield Av.
Some other choices that are less known for their young populations but still have good restaurant scenes and nice downtowns are Ridgewood and Englewood in Bergen County, or South Orange and Millburn in Essex County. I've visited those towns a few times and they seem like nice active places. Also, a lot of young people live in Highland Park in Middlesex County. Most of the young people are grad students, not necessarily professionals, but it's a nice young town with lots of families and elderly people as well, and students can walk right over to New Brunswick for bars/nightlife.
Most standard 1-BR apartments in downtown Jersey City are running about $1300-$1500. Hoboken may be a bit more, but not much. Journal Square is cheaper still, with many 1-BRs available for under $1200. Now if you want to live in the lap of luxury with whirlpool tubs, skylights, panoramic Manhattan views, etc etc etc. then Nick's estimates would be about right.
Broker's fees in NJ are also MUCH cheaper than Manhattan's standard 15% annual rent. If the apartment you find requires one it's usually not more than one month's rent.
You can afford a simple 1-BR pretty much anywhere in NJ for MUCH less than 6 figures. I've been living here for years earning between $48k and $58k and have not had a problem finding apartments in my price range.
The towns mentioned already (Red Bank, Montlcair, and Morristown) are all good choices where you'll find lots of young people, bars, restaurants, etc. I live in Montclair and although many of the people you meet seem like they belong in the Stepford Wives, there are lots of young people, artists, etc. as well. Most buildings in Montclair Center (downtown) are full of younger professionals, especially south of Bloomfield Av.
Some other choices that are less known for their young populations but still have good restaurant scenes and nice downtowns are Ridgewood and Englewood in Bergen County, or South Orange and Millburn in Essex County. I've visited those towns a few times and they seem like nice active places. Also, a lot of young people live in Highland Park in Middlesex County. Most of the young people are grad students, not necessarily professionals, but it's a nice young town with lots of families and elderly people as well, and students can walk right over to New Brunswick for bars/nightlife.
You are kidding aren't you.. BTW, $1,300 may get you a studio in the Journal Square area but it is usually at least $1,800 a month for a one bedroom. And that 15% brokers fee generally applies to most rentals anywhere in the NYC metro area and there really isn't much room for negotiating when rents are rising by double digit percentages every year and vacancy rates are under 5%.
Red Bank, Montclair & Morristown are great if you like living a Stepford Wives or Sex in the City Fantasy (and have a bank account to support it).
And Hoboken & Downtown JC are almost as expensive as Manhattan.
It is great to live in any of these trendy twentysomething areas mentioned AS LONG as you have ALOT of money and don't mind spending all of your money on rent and overhyped bars & restaurants.
You really haven't done much research, Nick. If you look at the ads you'll see that you are exaggerating. While there are many apartments going for the prices you state in those locations, it's really very easy to find decent places for much cheaper! And 15% annual doesn't happen in Jersey. Almost all are one month's rent, though I've seen a few as high as 1.5 month's rent. I don't know what crazy sources you're using for information, but I recommend that you browse craigslist, Jersey Journal, Star-Ledger, etc. and see for yourself!
Why do you try so hard to discourage people in the NJ and NYC forums?
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I say that as someone who is 28 and weighing whether to rent an apartment now, or suck it up with my family for a few more years until I can get a non-sketchy mortgage.
. I'm not so sure about Long Branch though
