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It largely depends on your financial situation of course, but judging from the average rent vs average income, New York probably offers the least affordability for the majority of the population. If you make less than $5,000 per month after taxes, chances are you'll probably gonna:
a) Spend over 50% of your paycheck on housing costs (own apt, no roommates)
b) Live with roommates
c) Live in a high-crime area
d) Live at least 35-40 miles from Downtown Manhattan
cee4, do you actually not know how much cheaper rents are everywhere else in America except SF?
In many mid-sized cities, 1BR apartments can be had for $500. This has nothing to do with "transplants." NYC is expensive, for everyone, period.
^^ This...
Anybody who says that NYC "isn't that expensive" is smoking some good ****.
The average rent for a 1 bedroom in the boros is probably somewhere in the ballpark of $1200 a month. Jersey is slightly cheaper, but not as much as people here may claim (the best you can hope for is a 1bd in Newark/East Orange for $750-800). Now if the average New Yorker made $75,000 a year in take home pay...then it'd be different, but we all know that's far from the truth.
Anybody who says that NYC "isn't that expensive" is smoking some good ****.
The average rent for a 1 bedroom in the boros is probably somewhere in the ballpark of $1200 a month. Jersey is slightly cheaper, but not as much as people here may claim (the best you can hope for is a 1bd in Newark/East Orange for $750-800). Now if the average New Yorker made $75,000 a year in take home pay...then it'd be different, but we all know that's far from the truth.
You pay for convenience to networking and opportunities. if NYC was like every other area of the world then no one would want to live here.
Is it expensive in comparison to no name fly over cities? Yes.
Does the cost justify the opportunity? Yes for me. For some it may not be worth it but they don't have any business trying to live here anyways if they don't see the value NYC has to offer for your career/life.
Elmhurst, where I've been many times, is one of the most depressing and congested areas in Queens. It has few amenities or supermarkets that aren't all-Asian (I love Asian food and cook Chinese myself, so I do like Asian markets).
Where did I ever say I didn't like "hardworking immigrants" or that there weren't "worse neighborhoods in NYC"? I didn't. But Elmhurst is one of the harshest of NYC's immigrant neighborhoods. People are trying to get from point A to B (very hard in Elmhurst at any hour), and that may contribute to it. The express E/F subway to Manhattan is a big plus for young people wanting to get to Manhattan quickly. That's the only good thing about Elmhurst. One of the grimmest neighborhoods in Queens otherwise.
Jamaica, Ozone Park, parts of the Rockaways, Richmond Hill, are all FAR WORSE than Elmhurst. You really haven't been around Queens much if you say that. And I won't even talk about Brooklyn's bad parts.
@G-Dale. The Queens Mall is at the extreme edge of Elmhurst. It's a hike, and closer (in walking distance) to parts of Rego Park than to most points in Elmhurst. But the SE Elmhurst neighborhood around the mall is charmless, utilitarian and very congested at all times. Elmhurst proper -- around Broadway -- is near the E/F subway and fairly near the mall, true. But I'd rather live in just about any other neighborhood in Queens, even Woodside. Elmhurst is a downer.
Wanna move in the Housing Projects in the Rockaways, hurricane damaged as they are and full of crime as they are? How about Ozone Park (run down and busted up), Richmond Hill, or Jamaica? Or why not move to Queensbridge (massive housing projects there).
You pay for convenience to networking and opportunities. if NYC was like every other area of the world then no one would want to live here.
Is it expensive in comparison to no name fly over cities? Yes.
Does the cost justify the opportunity? Yes for me. For some it may not be worth it but they don't have any business trying to live here anyways if they don't see the value NYC has to offer for your career/life.
Yes, the networking and opportunities are important for fields like finance, real estate, film, television, news, advertising, software, architecture, certain engineering jobs, etc.
The reason it is to expensive is because people are willing to pay for the convenience of networking and business opportunities. No one is willing to pay that much for a no name fly over city because there is nothing about said city that makes it valuable.
@G-Dale and NYWriterDude: I know New York's 5 boroughs like few people do (I've lived in all of them except Staten Is., and took the ferry to SI to see a close friend who used to live there). Whether it's Riverdale, Norwood, West Brighton, Astoria, Sunnyside, LIC, Woodside, Corona, Bensonhurst and Dyker Hts, Jax Hts, Carroll Gardens, Rockaways, Ozone Pk, Richmond Hill, Prospect Park and Hts, Maspeth, etc. etc., I can give you a review.
Yes, some of these neighborhoods are more dangerous than Woodside and Elmhurst (although for apt. break-ins, Woodside and Elmhurst do well too). Woodside and Elmh. are dumpy, depressing neighborhoods. I don't even like to visit them. My advice to young people is that unless you've found the perfect apt. and love your landlady like your own mother, look elsewhere. No one is recommending Far Rockaway here, least of all me. But there's better than Woodside and Elmhurst, and 10 or 15 more minutes on the train won't matter in the end. "Location, location, location" -- Woodside and Elmhurst are not good locations.
@G-Dale and NYWriterDude: I know New York's 5 boroughs like few people do (I've lived in all of them except Staten Is., and took the ferry to SI to see a close friend who used to live there). Whether it's Riverdale, Norwood, West Brighton, Astoria, Sunnyside, LIC, Woodside, Corona, Bensonhurst and Dyker Hts, Jax Hts, Carroll Gardens, Rockaways, Ozone Pk, Richmond Hill, Prospect Park and Hts, Maspeth, etc. etc., I can give you a review.
Yes, some of these neighborhoods are more dangerous than Woodside and Elmhurst (although for apt. break-ins, Woodside and Elmhurst do well too). Woodside and Elmh. are dumpy, depressing neighborhoods. I don't even like to visit them. My advice to young people is that unless you've found the perfect apt. and love your landlady like your own mother, look elsewhere. No one is recommending Far Rockaway here, least of all me. But there's better than Woodside and Elmhurst, and 10 or 15 more minutes on the train won't matter in the end. "Location, location, location" -- Woodside and Elmhurst are not good locations.
So what's that outer boro location that is closer to the city, more affordable, and safer than Woodside/Elmhurst?
People move to Elmhurst from other countries to find a better life. What some call depressing others consider a dream. For me, I find modern day cookie cutter subdivisions in the middle of nowhere with a man made pond and a fountain depressing. No matter how pristine it appears.
I couldn't agree with you more. I really only spend my first night in our new apartment last night, so far so good (my wife has been down for 2.5 weeks already). I love that I can get the Asian experience if I head down to Broadway (I lived in Asia for over six years). I also love that I can experience Hispanic, South Asian and Middle Eastern Culture depending on where I am on Roosevelt. Sure, I wouldn't mind a Western grocery store in the neighborhood, but I can most of what I want at the Chinese one (except for cheese!).
The neighborhood was just what I wanted when we decided to move down here. The fact that my wife feels safe means that it's a good choice. Before we moved, we were living in Cambridge, MA, a fantastic city just outside Boston. However, if we had wanted the same thing when we moved down to NYC, we could have found a place in Hoboken. Hell, we might even move there one day in the future. Regardless, Elmhurst is not perfect, but I can see my wife and I living here for a long time.
Who knows? I might change my tune in six months, but as of now, we're very happy.
Back to the original topic: Elmhurst is somewhat affordable and relatively close to Manhattan.
Last edited by bolehboleh; 06-02-2013 at 07:40 PM..
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with Elmhurst - except maybe the hospital lol
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