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Checking out Washington Heights / West Harlem now. I'm not looking to move in till mid may, so just getting an idea of prices / what's out there.
Still debating Riverdale, only because I have a car lease for another two years (life plans changed, wasn't intending to go to grad school originally) - SO I'm unfortunately stuck with this car till February 2018. Seems parking would be easier in Riverdale, if I got an apartment building that has garage parking.
Also Columbia owns an apartment building for students in Riverdale, and they have a shuttle several times every hour from the building to the hospital and back, so I wouldn't have to take the subway anyway. As long as I lived in that building or close.
Riverdale isn't a bad option, although it's a sizable walk to the 1 train, or you'll need to take a bus to the train. Neither is much fun.
I'd suggest somewhere uptown on the west side of Manhattan, anywhere from the UWS to Inwood. On your budget, if you want to live by yourself, you're looking at a studio somewhere north of like 135th Street, maybe a one bedroom, but I wouldn't count on it. If you're open to having a roommate, you could easily live on the UWS.
You might want to consider Hudson heights, ft washington ave from 181st to the clostiers. You can take the #4 bus down to 168st. Or take the A train to 168. Nice neighborhood, very quiet.
Also Columbia owns an apartment building for students in Riverdale, and they have a shuttle several times every hour from the building to the hospital and back, so I wouldn't have to take the subway anyway. As long as I lived in that building or close.
Pro-Riverdale: That shuttle sounds very helpful for your most frequent commute to school. Can you find out from students now if the shuttle is reliable? Will it run late enough for you? An advantage of bus over subway is you have internet access aboveground all the way, so you can work even harder
Pro-Washington Heights: the 168th St./Broadway station has great express subway access to Midtown Manhattan, using the Express A train. Also the C and 1 local trains, same station. On the A Train, you'd reach Times Square in 15 minutes flat. So, living in Washington Heights, when you have time off, you're in much better relationship to the city than from Riverdale when the work shuttle only gets you to 168th and no further.
With winter weather/traffic situations, and for someone in medicine (?), nothing beats being able to walk to work, IMO. Save time and stress by depending only on yourself to commute by foot. You'll show up on time in worst weather, and symapthize with everyone else who had to struggle just to get there.
Are you sure you can't buy your way out of that car contract? If not, cost out an open-air neighborhood parking lot by the month in Washington Heights. That offsets your savings in rent, but lets you race around to friends and family on weekends, saving you time that way.
Last edited by BrightRabbit; 02-20-2016 at 01:33 PM..
If you have a car, I would definitely budget a garage if you plan on living in Washington Heights. Parking is a nightmare here, especially the closer you are to the hospital. You can circle around for hours not finding anything. I find that a parking spot never sits empty for more than a minute.
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