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I am moving at the end of the month and i am torn between two apartments. I am an 18 yr old female college student who is living in New York for the very first time. I will be attending LIU near downtown brooklyn and would prefer to live in the residential areas as opposed to downtown.
I have been looking at the close by areas such as Williamsburg, Fort Greene Brooklyn Heights, Bushwick, Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Boerum Hill, Prospect Park etc.
Which neighborhood do you think ill be best for me? I willl be visiting next week for 3 days. I am excited being from a small town Louisiana and had always wanted to visit NY. I am currently in contact wiith a few people who are looking for roomates in the crown heights and flatbush area both have been very niceand I love to meet new folks. I have to get a shared apartment because tere is no way I can afford an apartment by myself.
Anybody here go to Long Island Uni in Brooklyn? How is it there and is the surrounding area filled with great nightlife and good restaurants? As you can tell I cant wait until I move from here.
What is your price range?, being 18 and going to school unless you have your parents helping you out will not get you much options.
Williamsburg aka hipsterville is out of the way not really that easy to get to from downtown Brooklyn (LIU), as hard to believe even though it's all in Brooklyn. It will be one of the hipper areas for you but it is one of the most expensive.
If you are looking into Crown Heights and Flatbush with roommates I’m guessing this is with in your price range, just to mention both these nabes are not the best areas and can be considered to most as straight out hood or the ghetto, which also includes most parts of Bedstuy and Bushwick. But these nabes are further out and I would consider the below instead.
Brooklyn Heights & Park Slope can be as expensive as Manhattan but if you can afford it go for it, and they are all in the vicinity of LIU, and have good restaurants/bars etc. Boerum Hill/Carroll Gardens very expensive as well and have all of the above amenities trendiness which equals expensive.
Fort Greene will be your best bet but since it is almost fully transitioned it may still be to expensive though but I know some that are finding reasonable prices with room mates in apts in not so great condition or apts across the street from the Projects, these may seem stupid but you see it all the time. The actual area around LIU you have the commercial strip Fulton street of clothing stores and such but nothing is there after business hrs, only the FT Greene side of Fulton has had an uptick of bars/restaurants opening for after hrs and also closer to Clinton Hill (you can also consider this area but there are some undesirable patches closer to Bedstuy) but than again you will also see transplants walking right in front of LG projects at 3am . And you will be around the Pratt Inst crowd.
You can also try the surrounding nabes as well like Prospect Heights/Prospect Lefferts/South of Park Slope which transplants are now calling South-Slope and or even Sunset Park. Sunset Park may seem out of the way on the map but once you get on an express train from 36st you can be at Atlantic Ave downtown like in no time. These are of course not known to be as trendy, there maybe some undesirable patches as well so you have to see for yourself. To me area by Prospect Heights close to Park Slope is almost fully transitioned but area close to Crown Heights not so much. Really depends on what you are willing to trade off, price vs convenience/safety/trendiness and so forth.
My parents send me $2,000 to pay for living expenses. Including food, rent, gas (if applicable), clothing,cell phone, and for emergencies. I am still debating whether to bring my vehicle or not. I have a Dakota truck which is pretty big and a Cadillac cts which is smaller. Insurance is paid by my parents but I have to pay for gas. They have already paid half of my tuition but want me to take care of the rest, to prove to them that I can be somewhat independent.
The apartment in flatbush is shared among 3 people and we all would pay $500 for rent. One in Crown Heights is $650. There are a few in Williamsburg that I am getting into contact with now, I am not going to pay over 900 for rent with roomates as I need the money for other expenses. I always thought that Sunset park would be too far away, but i will look there as well
NY is pretty safe so I was not worried about crime or "ghetto" areas. I talked with the people in the apartments and said that this area was pretty safe and decent. We do not have much crime in my town except a few robberies in the past and NY is safer than any major city in Louisiana.
You're getting $2K per month, paid tuition, got a ridiculous truck and a Caddilac, plus your insurance is paid for you. Sooo, to prove your independence you want to go cheap on the RENT!?
First, Flatbush and Crown Heights, is the ghetto for YOU! Not a good idea. Fort Greene is the place, or Brooklyn Heights, you could walk to school. Frankly, on campus housing w/b best until you become acclimated to the environment.
Two choices, simply tell mommy and daddy to cough up the dough, give them some horror story. Something to do with kidnapping and white sex slavery should do it.
Or, you want to demonstrate independence, then GET A JOB!!!!
I'd imagine that was your parents intent.
Not simply finding a place within a princess budget. Got it?
Don't do Crown Heights. I would also skip Flatbush - and if I was 18 and the 'rents were footing the bill, I'd head for Williamsburg. Whatever you do, do NOT bring the car. You will grow to hate it everytime you need to move it for alternate side of the street parking. You will also blow your budget on parking tickets. You have no need for a car once you get here. If you can, sell it at home and use the additional funds to put toward the place in Williamsburg, Boerum Hills, Prospect Park/Park Slope. Wishing you the best of luck!
I love how people say NY is safe when they haven't stepped foot in NYC there whole lives and just go by what people tell them... @ love serenity this is gonna sound harsh but hopefully it will serve as a wake up call... you sound completely clueless as to the reality of living in NYC... There are about 15-25 neighborhoods in Brooklyn alone that people throughout the country no matter where there from will consider hood...
And 31/2 of those neighborhoods are right on your list... (Bushwick, Crown Heights, bed-stuy, Williamsburg South... the other neighborhoods have gentrified enough to the point where they are considered pretty safe but prices more than likely will not fit your budget...
Best thing to do would be to look in areas in Queens or in the Bronx that commute to Downtown Brooklyn... you can still find bargains in these boroughs and still live in a pretty okay neighborhood whereas in Brooklyn and Manhattan you can be paying 1500 for an apartment in the hood simply because it's trendy...
I love how people say NY is safe when they haven't stepped foot in NYC there whole lives and just go by what people tell them... @ love serenity this is gonna sound harsh but hopefully it will serve as a wake up call... you sound completely clueless as to the reality of living in NYC... There are about 15-25 neighborhoods in Brooklyn alone that people throughout the country no matter where there from will consider hood...
And 31/2 of those neighborhoods are right on your list... (Bushwick, Crown Heights, bed-stuy, Williamsburg South... the other neighborhoods have gentrified enough to the point where they are considered pretty safe but prices more than likely will not fit your budget...
Best thing to do would be to look in areas in Queens or in the Bronx that commute to Downtown Brooklyn... you can still find bargains in these boroughs and still live in a pretty okay neighborhood whereas in Brooklyn and Manhattan you can be paying 1500 for an apartment in the hood simply because it's trendy...
Telling someone who is going to school in Brooklyn to live in Queens or the Bronx? Ridiculous. There are still neighborhoods that are safe, residential, and neither trendy nor hood and IN BROOKLYN that OP could and should consider before moving to another borough. Two examples are Bay Ridge and Ditmas Park.
Anon1, I know you don't like people of privilige or perceived privilege moving into your neighborhood, but don't try to scare newcomers off from the entire borough of Brooklyn. It's not fair and not realistic and your scare tactics really aren't welcome or appreciated by those who know that's what they are--scare tactics. You are also losing serious credibility if you are trying to assert that none of Brooklyn is appropriate for a newcomer who is looking for relative affordability.
@ Henna I don't know why you like to pick fights with people on this site but really if you read my comments they weren't meant at all to sound like scare tactics... how can you support the claim of someone who is obviously coming from money (nothing wrong with that btw), to say that NYC is completely safe when she hasn't even visited???
Let her feel that way walking into Grove st. in Bushwick or Malcolm X. in Bed-stuy... Or South 1st and South 2nd by Roebling in south williamsburg... Believe me I know that we are worlds better than what we used to be and I am very thankful for that... But to make a complete blanket statement about NYC being safe doesn't do her any favors which is why I said what I said...
Granted, there are some affordable places in Brooklyn and you may find some hidden gems... but let's be real now... after this word gentrification took off in Brooklyn you can't tell me that a good number of Brooklyn neighborhoods didn't have an increase in average rents...
Also note that I was only answering her specific question... look at the neighborhoods that she posted... do you honestly believe that she can find cheap apartments within one of the areas that are no longer considered dangerous like Fort Greene and Northside of Williamsburg among others... that is all I was saying...
Last edited by availableusername; 06-03-2011 at 11:43 PM..
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. And you will be around the Pratt Inst crowd.
