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I usually advise people to only move here or back to NYC if they make six figures or more. However, in your case you're young and single so a 70K salary while not great in NYC will be ok. You won't starve but you won't enjoy your 70K salary either because it will equal to about $40K and your quality of life will be nowhere near what it is now. You'll have either five roommates in a two bedroom apartment or your own tiny apartment with no storage space, one electrical outlet per room, and unlike apartments in the rest of the country even rural areas, in NYC there will be no modern amenities unless it's a so-called "luxury apt building" and they'll add $2,000 more to your rent for that title. It won't bother you though until the excitement wears off of living in NEW YORK CITY. Having said all of that, I'll repeat what another poster said -- you only live once! You're young, you can always recoup and move elsewhere in a few years if you feel stagnant or stuck. If you meet a wealthy successful young man here via corporate America (and not the mafia) nine times out of ten he will be a transplant from Ohio, Pennsylvania, or someplace like that. When you guys decide to start a family you'll be leaving NYC anyway to move near family in your hometown or his so your kids can have clean sidewalks, a yard, and zero close encounters with the mentally-ill homeless population other than on TV. I've seen this pattern time and time again over the years among young financially successful couples who aren't native to NYC.
Some recommendations: washington heights / inwood, forest hills area queens, neighborhoods of brooklyn, pelham parkway
Don't believe all of the hyperbole here. Do some research to see if it will really be financially feasible with your budget. Unlike other places, NYC has a wealth of information on its various neighborhoods and rental market, this forum included. Online apartment ads are often misleading, but they can give you a feel for the market in a particular area.
For someone young and single, brooklyn is probably the place to be. You can do a lot of partying and fun within brooklyn
itself. Also consider exactly where your office will be located and figure out commute time. In general, brooklyn is better for downtown, queens for midtown, UES, and upper manhattan (wash heights / inwood) has great subway access to the west side of manhattan.
Staying with friends first is the right way to do it. Research these neighborhoods and then visit them a few times to really feel what will work the best. The real estate game in nyc is tough as hell. Learn how to do it well.
I would personally go for the offer not for the current salary but because it has more long term potential. This office is new and if you are good you can carve out your share of the new business, and with that higher compensation and prestige. Also 70k is somewhat low for nyc. I suspect if you are great at what you do and can land a top role in your field, there is also a chance of being hired by another firm who will pay much more later on.
I believe in taking career risks if you ever want to improve your station. You're young and free anyway, if it fails you will learn a ton (including valuable first hand experience on how *not* to run a business) and just move on with little consequence. Once you have kids and everything, taking risks is much harder so do it while its easier to maximize your success and experience.
Let's see. Do you want to live in a international cultural mecca that grew organically or an artificial city built in the desert to lure in gamblers and hedonistic revelers? I feel like the choice is quite obvious. Life isn't about amenities.
I can't help but wonder if the original poster is working for Nordstroms. They're supposedly going to open a store in midtown.
My advice - come to NY! Even if it's for a few years. I'd imagine it's great to have it on your resume, especially if you're in the fashion/retail industry. You can make it on $70k. I agree with fmatthew5876 with regards to the neighborhoods they mentioned. You can do well there. Also, as you're open to it, find a roommate in your age/income bracket. You'll end up meeting so many other people that you'll have an active social life in spite of not having a huge budget for it. There are a lot of free (but still cool!) events to go to in NYC, especially in the summer. I think you'll have a blast. Good luck with your decision and come back for more info if you decide to take the plunge. And remember, if you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere.
First of all - thanks to all of you who have responded with advice. You have confirmed a lot of what I have been thinking.
Just to clarify a couple things...
Wanting to live in NYC for me is ALL about culture and opportunities. That's why I'm leaning against Vegas. I know nice real estate can be found there for very little money, but if that was my priority I'd just stay in AZ in my $950 1br in a luxury complex. Same goes for weather and convenience of driving. All those things are nice but in my mind they don't compensate for the lack of diversity, culture, and opportunities. I know New York is cutthroat professionally and I do not expect anything to get handed to me just for living there, but the difference is that the opportunities exist for those who fight hard enough to get them. I'm not wanting to move there to "meet somebody" - my career is my priority right now and New York is the prime location for my industry in the US.
Good to know about the rental scams. What are more accurate prices for studios in the areas I mentioned (East Village, LES, Murray Hill, Hell's Kitchen)? It sounds like I will most likely need a roommate to love in Manhattan. Any thoughts on living in those neighborhoods, or others to suggest with me working in midtown? Thanks again!
The yr of 70k was 2011, we paid $1200 in 2011 and now we are paying $1300 so no its not rent controlled. We live off of the Myrtle Wycoff stop but im born and raised in bushwick projects on flushing ave in the 80's before going to prospect park west and now we are here. Places to eat can range from $1-$110 depending on what the occasion/mood/day of the week/time/area,etc. Gave ourselves a budget $4000 a month for bills/food/entertainment and we are still within that budget. Money left over is for savings/travel.
Learn how to live within your means and stick to a budget. If you cant live in NYC with 70k then the problem is you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Klassyhk
Silverbullet,
How was that possible? Was your bldg. rent-controlled? Did grandma pass away and you and your wife inherited her apartment at the rent she was paying? What year was that and what part of Brooklyn did you live for $1200? Would that be in the midst of the hood waiting for gentrification to take place? This is a young lady who is single and a non-native NYer. I wouldn't advise her to move outside of her comfort zone just for affordable rent in Brooklyn or the Bronx, for that matter. I've read many threads in this forum over the years from such people who later felt miserable and imprisoned living in "affordable" neighborhood (one woman lived in Harlem) where they were very uncomfortable and stood out like a sore thumb. You and your wife went out to eat 2-3x weekly (what type of restaurants), traveled, and saved money on 70k salary in NYC?? I can't say it didn't happen or is impossible but you apparently had another source of funds as backup to live off of in addition to the 70K or perhaps you'd made much more the previous year and saved it so the following year you had a cushion to help absorb the blow of $70k for two people in NYC. One of you worked off the books in addition to the salary you received on paper? You did say it was "one" year as opposed to OP who may be near that wage level for a couple of years if not more. What gives?
Good to know about the rental scams. What are more accurate prices for studios in the areas I mentioned (East Village, LES, Murray Hill, Hell's Kitchen)? It sounds like I will most likely need a roommate to love in Manhattan. Any thoughts on living in those neighborhoods, or others to suggest with me working in midtown? Thanks again!
For the areas you are wanting you might need a roommate BUT as i mentioned you dont have to live there as you can be in those areas in mins by transportation. Im a real estate agent and most first timers are obsessed with being close to work, school, or what they think the action is. One yr later they no longer want to live there cause they realized its sometimes cheaper and better to live in a different place than they thought but learned as they walked around more and experienced the city and its transportation.
A good example is i put someone in the 24hr doorman caroline building on 23st/6ave cause of work (a hotel nearby) the following yr i put him in walk in the ues cause of cheaper rent. Last week he sign a lease for a place in bushwick i found. He can be at work in 25-30mins and have a crap load of space and still enjoy the entire city has to offer.
You can definitely live on 70k in NYC. You won't be anywhere near the top of the ladder and you may have some difficulties finding a place in the trendy Manhattan neighborhoods that were specified in the OP, but it can certainly be done. The idea that only people who make six figures live in NYC is absurd, particularly if you're including the outer boroughs. Maybe if you're limiting yourself to Manhattan but certainly you can find many acceptable places in Queens and Brooklyn that would fit a 70k salary.
I can't help but wonder if the original poster is working for Nordstroms. They're supposedly going to open a store in midtown.
She said their corporate offices are in New York. Nordstrom is out of Seattle. (They are opening a store here though.)
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