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I love nyc but can't afford living there. Is there a city within an hour or two of commuting to NYC that is affordable to live (to buy a 3-4 bedroom house around 300k) that is not too dangerous to live in? Like a safe town with a safe neighborhood, low crime,etc.
I love nyc but can't afford living there. Is there a city within an hour or two of commuting to NYC that is affordable to live (to buy a 3-4 bedroom house around 300k) that is not too dangerous to live in? Like a safe town with a safe neighborhood, low crime,etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronan P.
White Plains, NY
My grasp of White Plains, NY and other nearby Westchester County cities such as Yonkers, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle (for the most part) is that they are EXPENSIVE in their own right, from what I have seen of them . . . unless I am not as familiar with the whole of each of them them as I think I am. And them being adjoining or or nearly adjoining to New York City (on the very inner ring of New York City) would likely make them not too much less expensive than NYC. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'd love to be wrong about this!).
My ideas of cities or other urban-like locales to check out (which each have a mixture of income levels in them so therefore there "might" be some houses to be found in your price range in an acceptable-enough area . . . even if the ENTIRE city with surrounding areas may not be entirely upper-income and well-maintained through and through):
(1) New Brunswick, NJ metro area
(2) Paterson, NJ metro area
(3) Somewhere in one of "The Oranges" of New Jersey (a group of four municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey-- near Newark, NJ --all of which have the word Orange in their name. The four municipalities are the City of Orange Township, City of East Orange, Township of South Orange Village and Township of West Orange).
(4) Bridgeport, CT
(5) Danbury, CT
(6) Freeport, NY (in Nassau County: has a varied city-like and suburban-like settings and feel, and a rather varied diverse population of many races, ethnicities and income levels)
Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers, while they have some nice parts (like Fleetwood), aren't the safest suburbs to live in. White Plains is one of the more expensive suburbs of New York so I'm not sure you'd find what you're seeking within that price range...
That said, there are some nice middle class communities in metro NYC where the price range of homes aren't too expensive in Westchester. Though needing a 3-4 bedroom single family detached house for $300,000 might push you further out to western and southern New Jersey, up the Hudson and up towards New Haven in CT which are good areas to live in but if you work in NYC that would be quite a long commute. The nearby counties that offer safety, good school districts and reasonable commute times like Westchester, Bergen and Essex county, NJ and Fairfield CT have home prices that start on the more on the expensive side and you need to figure out what you're willing to look for 2-3 bedroom homes to afford those prices.
UsAll has a good list of places. You might want also check out Maplewood and West Orange, NJ. Cranford and Montclair are also nice. Search around Nassau County in Long Island, the North Shore towns are more expensive but the south shore has more reasonable home prices. Malverne is a pleasant middle/ upper middle class burb. Nyack in Orange County NY and Beacon across the Hudson is nice also.
Ask around the suburban forums since they have some helpful locals over there.
I love nyc but can't afford living there. Is there a city within an hour or two of commuting to NYC that is affordable to live (to buy a 3-4 bedroom house around 300k) that is not too dangerous to live in? Like a safe town with a safe neighborhood, low crime,etc.
When in the city, the better strategy for middle income earners is to rent, not buy. Then use your savings to invest in other assets like stocks and bonds.
You can buy a house in the suburbs mentioned above but watch out for the real estate tax bill creeping up, infrastructure maintenance being postboned/mortgaged or school programs being cut.
My grasp of White Plains, NY and other nearby Westchester County cities such as Yonkers, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle (for the most part) is that they are EXPENSIVE in their own right, from what I have seen of them . . . unless I am not as familiar with the whole of each of them them as I think I am. And them being adjoining or or nearly adjoining to New York City (on the very inner ring of New York City) would likely make them not too much less expensive than NYC. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'd love to be wrong about this!).
My ideas of cities or other urban-like locales to check out (which each have a mixture of income levels in them so therefore there "might" be some houses to be found in your price range in an acceptable-enough area . . . even if the ENTIRE city with surrounding areas may not be entirely upper-income and well-maintained through and through):
(1) New Brunswick, NJ metro area
(2) Paterson, NJ metro area
(3) Somewhere in one of "The Oranges" of New Jersey (a group of four municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey-- near Newark, NJ --all of which have the word Orange in their name. The four municipalities are the City of Orange Township, City of East Orange, Township of South Orange Village and Township of West Orange).
(4) Bridgeport, CT
(5) Danbury, CT
(6) Freeport, NY (in Nassau County: has a varied city-like and suburban-like settings and feel, and a rather varied diverse population of many races, ethnicities and income levels)
I personally would not recommend Paterson, NJ and East Orange, NJ. However, the towns next these are good. Clifton City is better than Paterson. Montclair, Nutley, Bloomfield are all good towns in Essex County. Bergen County NJ is alwasy recommended. And All of these places on average are about 30 mintues from NYC and you can buy a good home for $300k.
Why not just move to somewhere in Queens like Astoria {That's where I live - it's really cheap and close to the city} or somewhere in Brooklyn like over by Prospect Park? There's a lot of affordable apartments over there in middle class neighborhoods. Or you could even look for an apartment in the Bronx or in Staten Island. All of those areas have very cheap apartments.
I love nyc but can't afford living there. Is there a city within an hour or two of commuting to NYC that is affordable to live (to buy a 3-4 bedroom house around 300k) that is not too dangerous to live in? Like a safe town with a safe neighborhood, low crime,etc.
What is it that you love about NYC so much?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Native-New-Yorker
Why not just move to somewhere in Queens like Astoria {That's where I live - it's really cheap and close to the city} or somewhere in Brooklyn like over by Prospect Park? There's a lot of affordable apartments over there in middle class neighborhoods. Or you could even look for an apartment in the Bronx or in Staten Island. All of those areas have very cheap apartments.
Yeah, Astoria is as cheap as it gets. $300k easily gets you a 4 bedroom house with a garage and a huge yard.
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