Advice Needed before We Move! Working in NYC & Living in NJ. Looking for a Safe Place to Live! (New York: rental market)

[Maipenrai]

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend (29) and I (34) have decided to move. We are currently living in the Midwest.

Questions:

*Where do you recommend we look for a 1 or 2 bedroom apt that allows dogs (2; both under 25lbs) within 40min of New York City?

Jersey City? Sea Bright? Elizabeth? Roselle Park? Little Ferry? Any others????

These are just possibilities I’ve found in a few different threads here. We do not know anything about them.

Budget: $800 - $1,200/mo; preferably on the lower end.

* Are part-time jobs as an entry level web designer, personal trainer, and/or an ESL teacher readily available?

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Here is a little background info on us:

I own a small business.

Extra Info: Currently studying Web Design. Experienced & Certified ESL teacher. Personal Trainer (Certification not up to date). I do not have a 4 year degree.

My girlfriend is a Veterinarian. She is well educated and has been working in the field for the past 3 years.

We make a decent middle class living in the Midwest (Own a nice house, cars, etc).


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We have decided to move because we miss living in a big city. We chose NYC because we also like what it offers us career-wise: the ability to be surrounded by so many skilled people and learn a lot.

The downside is that we would need to give up the stability we have.

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In order to make this happen, I will need to hire staff to run things in my absence. I will also need to fly back to the Midwest 3 or 4x a year for 1 week each time to make sure things are running smoothly. For this reason, we will need to be on a pretty tight budget and I will only be able to commit to working part-time.

We plan to live in New Jersey and commute to the city every day.

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Any thoughts and suggestion on how to go about this and make it work (without losing everything else in the process lol) greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Maipenrai

P.S. We do not have any children.

[Kefir King]

I think your budget might be on the low side to house two people and 2 dogs.

[high iron]

Originally Posted by Kefir King

I think your budget might be on the low side to house two people and 2 dogs.

Yeah, he'll be needing a time machine with capability of taking one veternarian, one web site designer and two small dogs back to 1989.

[Henna]

There is a NJ forum. You could try posting there. It would be very hard for me to believe that you could get anything at all livable for $800 a month that is remotely near NYC. Even $1200 sounds way too low. NYC is one of the most expensive rental markets in the country. Maybe you could do a search on craigslist or another rental site to see what rents are going for in the areas you listed.

Also, I thought veterinarians earned good incomes. Won't she have a salary?

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by Henna

There is a NJ forum. You could try posting there. It would be very hard for me to believe that you could get anything at all livable for $800 a month that is remotely near NYC. Even $1200 sounds way too low. NYC is one of the most expensive rental markets in the country. Maybe you could do a search on craigslist or another rental site to see what rents are going for in the areas you listed.

Also, I thought veterinarians earned good incomes. Won't she have a salary?

I agree that you should post this on the NJ forum as many NYers don't know NJ well enough to answer your questions on where to live there on your budget.

[nybbler]

Only one place in NJ which could possibly meet all those criteria for that price. East Orange. You won't like it. I don't think you'll find better in NY either.

[Maipenrai]

Thanks for the advice. Sorry for replying so late.

We did some extensive research on the areas and noticed the same thing. It will just not fit our ideal budget so, we've decided to move elsewhere.

Thanks,

Maipenrai