Car-free, but middle class, NYC neighborhoods (New York, White Plains: insurance, Home Depot, to buy)

[jcoltrane]

Originally Posted by BinxBolling

If there's anywhere in America where a family doesn't need a car, it's NYC. So you are basically saying that two visually impaired people cannot raise a family anywhere in America. That is a pretty bold statement.

55% of NYC households do not have a car. No doubt some of those households include children. I doubt they're all miserable.

Are you a Transplant or a Native? If you are a Transplant, WHO are you to say how *naives* live??

Transplant fantasies have NO basis in reality!

Of that so oft quoted 55%, like ALL stats you need to dig deep, and stop regurgitating the fact as if it were a quote from the G_D!

In order to examine that stat in the real, you MUST first discount Manhattan residents. Doing so will lower the statistic greatly!

Second, you MUST apply INCOME limits! For example, what percentage of households earning $50K, $75K, $100K, $150K, own cars, in both Manhattan, and ESPECIALLY the outer boroughs!

In both Manhattan and the outer boroughs, the higher the income, the greater the propensity to own a vehicle!

Third, the stat needs to be broken down by NEIGHBORHOOD! Even the OP get that! For example, if one lives in a *hignly* urban very dense neighborhood, one is less likely to own a vehicle!

It s/also be noted that in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan, that it is the very urban, very dense areas which are the poorest!!! Many of these areas are where none too properous Transplants dwell!!! Consequently, between Manhattan and thses dense urban poor areas, Transplant have an utterly **warped** sense of NYC reality. Most have never been to middle class native neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens, or The Bronx, forget Staten Island altogether!

Also, it, ay not be pleasant for some, but must be pointed out. Poor NYers, *natives*, the majority living in highly dense urban areas, like Harlem, The South Bronx, Washington Heights, as well as several others, are poor. Most of the folk they live around are poor. Unfortunately, they live in a world, generally, w/o personal cars, new cars, and most other middle class accroutrements!

These folks, along with a great number of Transplants, live in a world and mental environment which does NOT honestly reflect the reality of NYC!! Transplants in particular come to NYC with some strange sort of embbeded notion that cars are some sort of endangered species, and that EVERYONE is on some sort of *subway* high! Nothing c/b further from the truth.

Every fool visiting NYC can see that cars are EVERYWHERE! In the outer boroughs, NATIVES have cars!! The more native the neighborhood the more the cars. The more properous the neighborhood, the more the cars! Even the Housing Projects parking lots are FILLED with vehicles!

Now, can you fantasize that NYC is a carless place, and live a carless life? You most certainly can! Though, unless you are a Transplant and/or a odd sort of native, it is lousy to be w/o a vehicle!

Transplants are so lousy with this "walkability" fantasy, that they apply it in the most ludicrous of ways. For example, Transplants *think* "Bodegas" are intended for weekly/biweekly GROCERY shoping! They buy their groceries there, then complain about the high cost of food in NYC!!

They wish to *walk* and buy and do everything in the neighborhoods they live, regardless of whether it is financially prudent. Then they complain about the high costs!

Their whole notion of life in NYC is so warped, that they have created their own reality which has NOTHING to do with what NYC is or was, historically, nor in reality!.

Transplants want to ride bikes in NYC!!! They wish to do so, even thought they do not have the slightest skill, nor knowledge of how to do so without killing themselves or an innocent motorist! They ride bikes so poorly, that the idiot Mayor has to make idiot proof bike lanes!

NYers don't need bike lanes! We've been riding our bikes in this city and traffic ALL OUR LIVES! So, to accommodate their incompetency,

To the OP, there are many threads here on Washington Heights in Inwood that will tell you where the best parts of those neighborhoods are and what they're like. I think they're good places to look and you can certainly get by without a car.

Oh yeah! Visually impaired couple with child moving to a drug infested ghetto, where they will be culturally SHOCKED, and their child will have access to likely the WORST schools in the city!! Right!

I have a Filipino Friend, whose family moved to Washington Heights upon coming to this country/city. They moved their for the obviouss reasons of cost. He spent half his life there, in the Dominican ghetto! He hates that place and his experience with the greatest passion you can imagine. I was schocked at the venom. He has nothing positive to say.

It is not a place for the OP, and to suggest such is non thinking and irresponsible.

*****

So, where does a visually impaired couple w/child and native Japanese wife/mother seeking high affordability AND *community* in a non car centric SAFE environment with at least "fair" schools???

How could a Transplant have the slightest idea?!

The answer, in truth, is nowhere in the five boroughs!

I HIGHLY suggest the OP investigate the possibility of Portland, Oregon and/or Vancover, Canada! I think the northwest will be your best chance at satisfaction and happiness, given the limitations of your circumstances.

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight Home | Where the car is not king

FOCUS - PORTLAND - SO LONG CARS, HELLO PEOPLE - NYTimes.com

Transportation in Portland, Oregon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Transportation in Vancouver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BinxBolling]

jcoltrane,

Washington Heights north of 181st and west of Broadway--the part that realtors have regrettably begun calling "Hudson Heights"--is far from a drug-infested ghetto. It is a safe middle-class area. Ditto for Inwood west of Broadway and above Isham Park.

If you are suggesting that Portland or Vancouver are easier places to live for people who can't drive, you are simply wrong, extremely so, and have obviously never spent time in those places.

As for the rest of your post, I am well aware that most families outside core Manhattan who can afford a car have one. However, that is not at all relevant to the original poster, who can't drive.

I continue to be puzzled by your apparent belief that "transplants" are a recent introduction to New York City or that they are somehow incidental to its character. I wonder how you think it is that cities become large and important in the first place.

[Schermerhorn]

Originally Posted by BinxBolling

Washington Heights north of 181st and west of Broadway--the part that realtors have regrettably begun calling "Hudson Heights"--is far from a drug-infested ghetto. It is a safe middle-class area. Ditto for Inwood west of Broadway and above Isham Park.

Let me second this; I was amazed at how pleasant it was when I was up there about three months ago. Cabrini Boulevard -- don't let the name put you off -- was full of nice buildings, and the surrounding streets were quiet as well. This was actually the neighborhood that got me to thinking that we could probably move back to NY and make a go of it despite not being "Manhattan-level" rich. You can find apartments over 600 square feet in the $200k range, which is about what our budget will be.

[Astorian31]

Some of the posts from these so called "natives "are ridiculous. I've lived in NYC for over 30 years (born and raised,) 20 of which, I've spent without a car. I'm not going to lie, owning a car makes some things a heck of a lot easier for me, but I got on just fine without a car. And contrary to what jcoltrane mentioned, not owning a car does not mean you have to shop at bodega's for food. I have 3 supermarkets within a 5 minute walk radius from my home to choose from, and I never use my car to buy groceries except for the occasional trip to costco. Depending on where in NYC you live, you may or may not NEED a car. I only use my car when I go out with the family out of state, or when I travel anywhere in NYC that is not Manhattan. My family and I walk everywhere else, and by no means would I consider my lifestyle "lousy" simply because I don't drive everywhere.

NYC is a huge and vastly diverse city. In some places owning a car is a necessity, in other neighborhoods it's a comfort you can easily live without if you want you. Anyone who tells you different are bitter liars who bemoan the audacity of transplants moving into their city.

OP, depending on your budget, you should consider looking into Astoria. Granted, the schools aren't the best (especially the closer you get to LIC,) but a good student can succeed in any school. Everything you need to live a comfortable family lifestyle is within walking distance in this neighborhood.

[babo111]

Originally Posted by Schermerhorn

Let me second this; I was amazed at how pleasant it was when I was up there about three months ago. Cabrini Boulevard -- don't let the name put you off -- was full of nice buildings, and the surrounding streets were quiet as well. This was actually the neighborhood that got me to thinking that we could probably move back to NY and make a go of it despite not being "Manhattan-level" rich. You can find apartments over 600 square feet in the $200k range, which is about what our budget will be.

NYC is quite safe. But then your wife is from Japan so it may seem bit scary and especially since NYC is pretty gritty and dirty...

That said to buy an apartment for 200k that's about 600 sq ft will be very hard to do and won't be in good area in city. Def doable in places like Queens or Bronx... But you get what you pay for.

Also if you have say family of four and you are trying to buy 1 bedroom, and if its something lke coop. You may not even get approved. Same goes for renting. For example place I'm renting from is 1bedroom but I have a clause stating only 2 occupant allowed maximum including children.

If you left in 80s, NYC has changed a ton since then. Especially rental and purchase prices. RE inventory in NYC is super low right now so it's sellers market and bidding wars have started. Rent is also at all time high. Parts of Brooklyn are more expensive than city now.

If you want to get a feel for what it's like, you can surf on streeteasy.com and nytimes real estate section to see what the prices are for purchase. For rental, as crazy as it may sound...surf craigslist NYC apt and you can get sort of feel for what the prices are in general at very high level.

Personally, if good public school isn't high on your list. Then Hoboken would be good. Its mostly low rises, lot of shops you can walk by, Path to city, rent is slightly cheaper than NYC, you save on NYC income tax. Easy to find a cab or limo service for days you have to use a car.

Edit: While housing will be your biggest drain on your monthly income. NYC takes toll on other areas you may not be thinking about and it adds up. For example, sales tax is like 9? percent (NYC + NYS), NYC income tax (2-3% of your annual income), etc.

[bmwguydc]

Sunnyside in Queens is another area where you may find it easier to live without a vehicle. The main issue with Upper Manhattan is not the areas west of Broadway that represent more stable areas, but the level of services is not up to par with other areas, i.e., you would have a trek to do grocery shopping. Now, you could easily go from Inwood to Marble Hill and Kingsbridge in The Bronx, up Broadway, via bus or subway, to Target, Stop & Shop, an independent grocer called Garden Gourmet, a decent Foodtown, etc. A Trader Joe's and BJ's Wholesale Club are supposed to open on this stretch of Broadway as well. You could also go to the UWS for many more conveniences, but the immediate shopping in Inwood is not on par with the caliber of the buildings west of Broadway, so while you would be in a stable, middle-class area, you would have to deal with services that are not to that standard if you wanted local conveniences.

[BinxBolling]

^This is true, amenities are lacking. There is an Associated on Fort Washington and an unconscionably overpriced gourmet market on 187th, but when I lived up there I usually did my grocery shopping downtown after work or trekked to Fairway in Harlem.

[NyWriterdude]

Originally Posted by jcoltrane

Transplants are so lousy with this "walkability" fantasy, that they apply it in the most ludicrous of ways. For example, Transplants *think* "Bodegas" are intended for weekly/biweekly GROCERY shoping! They buy their groceries there, then complain about the high cost of food in NYC!!

They wish to *walk* and buy and do everything in the neighborhoods they live, regardless of whether it is financially prudent. Then they complain about the high costs!

Their whole notion of life in NYC is so warped, that they have created their own reality which has NOTHING to do with what NYC is or was, historically, nor in reality!.

Transplants want to ride bikes in NYC!!! They wish to do so, even thought they do not have the slightest skill, nor knowledge of how to do so without killing themselves or an innocent motorist! They ride bikes so poorly, that the idiot Mayor has to make idiot proof bike lanes!

To be fair, a lot of out of towners who stay here long term also end up getting cars, for reasons you just went over on why "natives" have cars. That also depends on how much money the person is making, but if an out of towner makes enough money, of course they will end up wanting cars as well.

Depending on where you live, where you work, and what you want to do, its not always convenient to take subway transportation.

With that said, if you live in places like Chelsea, if your job is in Midtown, you could WALK to work and not even have to take a train. It does depend on where you live and where you work, and what things you do.

[skyway31]

This is a topic where everybody should state whether they have a car or not and what part of NYC they live in. I managed to make it two years of my life without a car after 16 of being dependent on one. There are A LOT of things you take for granted when you have a car that you simply do not understand what not having a car would be like. That store around the corner you drive to every day is really a 15 minute walk each way. That adds up in ways you don't realize when you drive it. And if weather is bad or you're carrying heavy bags, it sucks even more.

Since the OP can not drive no matter what, they should only listen to advice from people who have no car whatsoever. Having zero access to a car whatsoever is entirely different then simply taking a train into work every and driving when you please.

I lived very briefly in NYC with no car access. I'd say outside of Manhattan and the parts of Brooklyn closest to Manhattan, you're going to find it a bit cumbersome living without a car. Although I don't know how that would compare to where you're at in Japan. There are very few places in the USA where living with zero access to a car is particularly easy. You're lifestyle and where you live in relation to work has a lot to do with it.

[nei]

Originally Posted by skyway31

This is a topic where everybody should state whether they have a car or not and what part of NYC they live in. I managed to make it two years of my life without a car after 16 of being dependent on one. There are A LOT of things you take for granted when you have a car that you simply do not understand what not having a car would be like. T

It goes both ways, those who have a car and drive everywhere may assume everything is extremely difficult without one because they have little clue on what do otherwise. Either way, it depends on your personal habits, and amount of inconvenience you are willing to deal with it.