Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am moving to New York CIty for work next year with my wife and two children. Both children will be in elementary school by the time we move. We are trying to find the best combination of easy commute and family friendly that we can because there is no way we want to live in the city at this point. I know this is a common topic in these forums, but I have yet to find one catered to our specific situation:
Annual salary: 160,000
Job location: Times Square (my wife does not work so do not need to factor her in to this)
Home preference: something with 3-4 bedrooms and a yard of some kind; needs to be near great schools
Preferred rent: 2500-3000 (we do not have any idea what is "normal" in the area, but we are paying down substantial student loan debt from law school)
Commute time: hopefully under an hour, as job will include incredibly long hours quite frequently.
If you're going to be an associate in a large law firm (as I infer from the salary), please don't do this to yourself. Do you really want to commute more than an hour (there is no suburb commute under an hour) when you're coming home in the middle of the night? (even if the firm gives you a black car - traffic can be tough even at 2 am over the bridges and tunnels to the suburbs). As a junior associate you have nearly no control over your schedule and distance from the office basically means you sacrifice even the snippets of time you have with family.
If I was in this position, I would rent an apartment in Brooklyn or Queens, which you can do for that budget, until you get a little more senior and thus have a little more control.
If you want suburbs, though, I recommend posting on the Long Island, NJ and Westchester boards.
EDIT: Nice areas of Queens are an easy commute from Times Square via the 7 and the N/R. You might even be able to find some outdoor space.
You didn't say if you require good public schools. If you do, Bronxville is about 40 minutes to Grand Central.
If you can consider private schools, you could settle for Riverdale or Bayside. Riverdale has an MNR stop while Bayside has an LIRR stop. Both would be around 30 minutes to GC/PS.
If you really require a house with a yard, you might find something in Bayside for $3K max. Anywhere else would be achallenge with that budget.
If you're going to be an associate in a large law firm (as I infer from the salary), please don't do this to yourself. Do you really want to commute more than an hour (there is no suburb commute under an hour) when you're coming home in the middle of the night? (even if the firm gives you a black car - traffic can be tough even at 2 am over the bridges and tunnels to the suburbs). As a junior associate you have nearly no control over your schedule and distance from the office basically means you sacrifice even the snippets of time you have with family.
If I was in this position, I would rent an apartment in Brooklyn or Queens, which you can do for that budget, until you get a little more senior and thus have a little more control.
If you want suburbs, though, I recommend posting on the Long Island, NJ and Westchester boards.
EDIT: Nice areas of Queens are an easy commute from Times Square via the 7 and the N/R. You might even be able to find some outdoor space.
Well thats interesting. I must be commuting through a rip in the space time continuum because I do it every morning. On the way home I take a bit longer, becuase I dilly dally around in stores and stuff and get on the train much too early. Admittedly, my office is a very short walk from Grand Central. The 5.59 takes 30 mins to get to Larchmont (Westchester), the 7.11 takes 29 mins. Of course if you live 20 mins from the railroad station (which is pretty far) , that will scupper you.
But as to the main point of what you are saying - if you are going into biglaw as an associate you do not have 2 hours a day to spend commuting - so the 7 would be a great idea. That train is like a conveyer belt its so frequent.
Well thats interesting. I must be commuting through a rip in the space time continuum because I do it every morning. On the way home I take a bit longer, becuase I dilly dally around in stores and stuff and get on the train much too early. Admittedly, my office is a very short walk from Grand Central. The 5.59 takes 30 mins to get to Larchmont (Westchester), the 7.11 takes 29 mins. Of course if you live 20 mins from the railroad station (which is pretty far) , that will scupper you.
But as to the main point of what you are saying - if you are going into biglaw as an associate you do not have 2 hours a day to spend commuting - so the 7 would be a great idea. That train is like a conveyer belt its so frequent.
Well, fine, but you're describing a commute OP can't have. The OP needs to get from Times Square to GC or Penn Station, connect to an appropriate train, get to the suburb and then get home from train. That will take an hour or more or close enought that it makes no difference. Of course, he will also never be taking either the 5:59 or the 7:11 trains.
Anyway, sounds like we're saying the same thing despite disagreement about above.
Well, fine, but you're describing a commute OP can't have. The OP needs to get from Times Square to GC or Penn Station, connect to an appropriate train, get to the suburb and then get home from train. That will take an hour or more or close enought that it makes no difference. Of course, he will also never be taking either the 5:59 or the 7:11 trains.
Anyway, sounds like we're saying the same thing despite disagreement about above.
Three bedrooms, under $3000 month, good schools, backyard, commute of 60 minutes or less.
Check out Ft. Lee NJ, on the other side of the George Washington Bridge. Meets all your criteria. Plus you don't have to worry about transit there as the A always runs to the bus station at the Manhattan end of the bridge and there are always buses that go across at all hours. Rentals can be townhouses, freestanding houses, condos or apartments. Many of the larger condo buildings have outdoor space or indoor playrooms for kids.
Forgot to say...if you really want to rent a house with a yard, look at Laurelton. It has nice homes renting up to $2.5K and is within 30 minutes to Penn. It is, however, a mainly black neighborhood but a pleasant one nonetheless with well-kept homes snd clean streets. Chancellor Dennis Walcott lives there. You can get a good home w/ yard that's well within your budget instead of having to settle for a townhouse or apartment. The disadvantage is that it has limited proximity to private schools. I think the nearest one is Lawrence Woodmere in Woodmere.
There are a lot of nice suburbs that you can commute to in an hour or less. However, in that time limit you should cross off Fairfield County CT, Northern Westchester and Suffolk County, LI. Stick to lower Westchester, Nassau County and Northern Jersey. Larchmont, Bronxville and Pelham in Westchester are all very nice and will get you to Times Sq in under an hour. You should post on other boards to ask locals for more town suggestions and specifics on the schools.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
