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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?
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.
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.
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.
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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)
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.
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!
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...
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