Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 03-14-2013, 01:56 PM
 
4 posts, read 6,120 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

Hi all. I moved from Virginia to Long Island about a year ago for work and ended up in Sayville on LI, which is a decent little place but boring as hell, to be honest. I'm 29, single, female and want to move somewhere with more energy and diversity and much more of a nightlife and things to do. I've been poring over the boards here, trying to find places in Brooklyn or Queens that might suit me. I'm leaning toward Queens, mostly because it seems like the commute would be easier to my office (in Melville), which is not accessible by public transportation, so I'd have to keep my car. I work nights (get off at midnight) and realize that doing a reverse commute when most people are leaving city jobs for LI might suck, but I can't stand the boredom out here and need to be able to have a life (which is also made harder by working nights, but there's no getting around that with my job). So here are my questions:

I know parking anywhere in the city is going to be a challenge, but is it impossible? (This board seems to be extremely divided on this, so I thought I'd ask again.)

Does anyone know if there's a big jump in car insurance from LI to Queens/Brooklyn? I'm guessing there is.

I don't know anything about city taxes. Will there be a huge bite compared with LI?

I'm looking for a 1 bedroom where I can have my dog (10 pounds of Min Pin awesomeness) and won't feel unsafe taking him out when I get home at night. I make 80K a year and know about the 40x rule, but I don't really want to spend 2K a month on rent. From reading a zillion posts on here, I'm thinking Astoria or Forest Hills might be my best bets, so would $1400-1600 a month be reasonable for those areas? Are there any neighborhoods in Brooklyn I should be looking at? Or even places on LI that have a fun social scene (do they make those??!)?

Finally, what's the best way to find apartments? Brokers? Websites? Driving around?

Any help would be very much appreciated!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-14-2013, 05:25 PM
 
43,360 posts, read 44,068,367 times
Reputation: 20425
I think that Forest Hills is better for your commute but Astoria is probably better for a young person socially. In either one of them you should be able to find a one bedroom for that price. But parking in the street is quite difficult and one has to move the car for street cleaning twice a week even if one isn't using the car at those times. Car insurance is definitely more expensive in Queens than in Long Island. (I don't know about Brooklyn.) One way of finding an apt. is going to the a particular bldg. and asking the bldg. super if there are any available apts.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-14-2013, 05:29 PM
 
2,228 posts, read 3,677,019 times
Reputation: 1160
Come to bayside. Bell Blvd is good and 20 mins into the city.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-14-2013, 09:33 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC & New York
10,915 posts, read 31,286,169 times
Reputation: 7137
Brooklyn car insurance is higher than Queens, which is more expensive than Long Island. Areas like Bayside, Douglaston, etc. that are on the LIRR offer a quick trip to Manhattan, yet proximity for the LI commute. Forest Hills, Kew Gardens Hills, and Astoria might not have as much parking, but there are many people who do own vehicles in the area.

In Forest Hills, I would definitely factor a garage, but they are not at Manhattan prices, either, so it's affordable. And, not every street in Queens has alternate-side regulations, so there are places where you can park your car and not have to move it for street cleaning, which is a plus because only certain streets in Manhattan are cleaned during the overnight hours when your car would be at work. Parking is not impossible, but you do need to plan for the vehicle, and not just expect to happen upon great parking in a popular neighborhood.

You will pay a couple of hundred dollars a month in city resident income tax on $80k. Here's a table from which you can calculate the exact amount. The $50-$500k bracket for a single equates to $1706 plus 3.648% of the amount over $50k, so about $2800 annually in city taxes using that formula.

http://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_fo...e_schedule.pdf

You can save on car insurance by taking advantage of discounts, garaging the vehicle, getting a theft recovery system in place, etc. Talk to you agent and see what the difference would be between LI and areas you are considering in the city. Street parking can be very hard on a car, so if it is newer, or you want to keep it looking as nice as possible, minimize the time it spends on the street.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare
(As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)

City-Data Terms of Service
City-Data FAQs
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-14-2013, 10:41 PM
 
43,360 posts, read 44,068,367 times
Reputation: 20425
In the Forest Hills/Rego area/s, it is definitely hard to find street parking and there is street-cleaning twice a week on most streets in those areas. So I agree that one needs to factor in a garage if you are planning to live in the Forest Hills/Rego Park area/s.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2013, 11:07 AM
 
4 posts, read 6,120 times
Reputation: 11
Thanks for the great info! I feel pretty overwhelmed, but I'm sure most people who aren't from here do, too. Anyone have info on safety in Kew Gardens and/or Rego Park? I wouldn't be so worried if I worked a 9 to 5 job, but I need to be able to come home around midnight and not fear for my life letting the dog out. Thanks again!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2013, 12:02 PM
 
Location: Ridgewood, NY
3,025 posts, read 6,789,467 times
Reputation: 1601
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoCaps70 View Post
Thanks for the great info! I feel pretty overwhelmed, but I'm sure most people who aren't from here do, too. Anyone have info on safety in Kew Gardens and/or Rego Park? I wouldn't be so worried if I worked a 9 to 5 job, but I need to be able to come home around midnight and not fear for my life letting the dog out. Thanks again!
Very safe areas. Nowhere in the city is going to be absolutely crime free but other than having basic common sense you really shouldn't have a problem coming home at any hour in these two areas...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top