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Since all of the threads on this subject tend to degenerate into something different, I guess I have to start a thread by myself. The topic of the thread is what to do if you are not a welfare-poor or minimum wage worker or otherwise eligible for subsidies, but also are not rich enough to buy a home in trendy areas of NYC - but at the same time, you need or want to live in NYC.
Suppose a scenario: you are a junior scientist, maybe in a postdoctoral program, maybe you are, say, an immigrant from India, maybe recently married, with one small child. I assume your main interest is safety and affordability of the area. Where does a person of this or similar description live in NYC?
The described situation is not my own situation, but my situation is a bit unusual, probably far more unusual than the above described (it involves retiring in NYC), but I would like to live in the same area where a person of the above or similar description would live. With this goal in mind, I purchased a condo in Parchester, the Bronx, a few years ago (which is now rented because I still have other things to do elsewhere and cannot move there yet), but I have had some second thoughts even at the time of purchase, only related to safety, not anything else (Parkchester Condominium North and South are otherwise phenomenally good places to live, look them up on the internet if you aren't familiar with them).
Any thoughts? Is Parkchester indeed what I am looking for, or should I trade it for some other part of the city?
Since all of the threads on this subject tend to degenerate into something different, I guess I have to start a thread by myself. The topic of the thread is what to do if you are not a welfare-poor or minimum wage worker or otherwise eligible for subsidies, but also are not rich enough to buy a home in trendy areas of NYC - but at the same time, you need or want to live in NYC.
Suppose a scenario: you are a junior scientist, maybe in a postdoctoral program, maybe you are, say, an immigrant from India, maybe recently married, with one small child. I assume your main interest is safety and affordability of the area. Where does a person of this or similar description live in NYC?
The described situation is not my own situation, but my situation is a bit unusual, probably far more unusual than the above described (it involves retiring in NYC), but I would like to live in the same area where a person of the above or similar description would live. With this goal in mind, I purchased a condo in Parchester, the Bronx, a few years ago (which is now rented because I still have other things to do elsewhere and cannot move there yet), but I have had some second thoughts even at the time of purchase, only related to safety, not anything else (Parkchester Condominium North and South are otherwise phenomenally good places to live, look them up on the internet if you aren't familiar with them).
Any thoughts? Is Parkchester indeed what I am looking for, or should I trade it for some other part of the city?
How can any of us answer that? The way you've been slobbering over Parkchester, you'd think it was the greatest neighborhood since sliced bread. Personally I'm not that wild about it. I find the restaurants to be quite mediocre like most of the Bronx, but the commute isn't terrible and will be even better once Metro-North comes to the area. I'm still a bit perplexed as to why you bought there in the first place but can't live there to see how the neighborhood is on a daily basis. Are you even staying in NYC now and when will you be retiring?
Since all of the threads on this subject tend to degenerate into something different, I guess I have to start a thread by myself. The topic of the thread is what to do if you are not a welfare-poor or minimum wage worker or otherwise eligible for subsidies, but also are not rich enough to buy a home in trendy areas of NYC - but at the same time, you need or want to live in NYC.
Suppose a scenario: you are a junior scientist, maybe in a postdoctoral program, maybe you are, say, an immigrant from India, maybe recently married, with one small child. I assume your main interest is safety and affordability of the area. Where does a person of this or similar description live in NYC?
The described situation is not my own situation, but my situation is a bit unusual, probably far more unusual than the above described (it involves retiring in NYC), but I would like to live in the same area where a person of the above or similar description would live. With this goal in mind, I purchased a condo in Parchester, the Bronx, a few years ago (which is now rented because I still have other things to do elsewhere and cannot move there yet), but I have had some second thoughts even at the time of purchase, only related to safety, not anything else (Parkchester Condominium North and South are otherwise phenomenally good places to live, look them up on the internet if you aren't familiar with them).
Any thoughts? Is Parkchester indeed what I am looking for, or should I trade it for some other part of the city?
Isn't Parkchester full of projects and low income housing? At least that's the impression I had back from the 90's.
Parkchester (the complex) is co-ops, condos and rentals. It was developed as affordable housing for working to middle class people. There are some projects outside of the complex though (The Bronx River houses). Apparently that is considered Soundview. I thought that was also part of Parkchester.
Eh, for your specific hypothetical person, Parkchester works particularly well because along with cost and relative accessibility, access to South Asian goods, groceries, and restaurants are particularly abundant relative to most other parts of the city. There’s Jackson Heights, but that’s pricier and then there’s Journal Square in Jersey City.
Yonkers??? The better parts of Yonkers are further north or east and they will likely be more expensive than Parkchester. Riverdale is the same... Expensive compared to Parkchester. The only way that Riverdale could work is if she finds something cheap enough to deal with the high maintenance. The maintenance for most buildings is up there with Manhattan.
How can any of us answer that? The way you've been slobbering over Parkchester, you'd think it was the greatest neighborhood since sliced bread. Personally I'm not that wild about it. I find the restaurants to be quite mediocre like most of the Bronx, but the commute isn't terrible and will be even better once Metro-North comes to the area. I'm still a bit perplexed as to why you bought there in the first place but can't live there to see how the neighborhood is on a daily basis. Are you even staying in NYC now and when will you be retiring?
Different people look for different things. I don't care for restaurants, but am very attached to a certain type of historic architecture exemplified by Parkchester. I am not staying in NYC, but plan to retire there in 2030 at the latest (or 2026 at the earliest).
To reply to a different poster, about 3/4 of Parkchester is comprised of the Parkchester South and North Condominium (two different condo associations), and the rest are co-ops and I think maybe also some smaller houses. To my knowledge, there are no projects (and never have been) in Parkchester. The formerly very deteriorated condo/apartment complex was bought by a new management company around 2000, and they have been continuously rehabilitating it). Again, I like that type of architecture, and I actively like "outdated" infrastructure, so that is not a problem for me but a plus. I am, AGAIN and again, not asking for opinions about quality of Parkchester (I already made my own opinion about it, and that opinion is high, no further input needed, thanks), but only safety.
Also, I started this thread in the hope to put Parkchester on the map of other budget- minded solid people looking to live in NYC, since I have everything I want in Parkchester except maybe the neighbors I want.
Different people look for different things. I don't care for restaurants, but am very attached to a certain type of historic architecture exemplified by Parkchester. I am not staying in NYC, but plan to retire there in 2030 at the latest (or 2026 at the earliest).
I also started this thread hoping to interest some people other than the "usual suspects"
To reply to a different poster, about 3/4 of Parkchester is comprised of the Parkchester South and North Condominium (two different condo associations), and the rest are co-ops and I think maybe also some smaller houses. To my knowledge, there are no projects (and never have been) in Parkchester. The formerly very deteriorated condo complex was bought by a management company around 2000, and they have been continuously rehabilitating it). Again, I like that type of architecture, and I actively like "outdated" infrastructure, so that is not a problem for me but a plus. I am, AGAIN and again, not asking for opinions about quality of Parkchester (I already made my own opinion about it, and that opinion is high, no further input needed, thanks), but only safety.
Well Parkchester is a planned community so it is very unique. I can't think of too many other places that are going to be like that because most of them will be more expensive. The question would be what would your budget be? Then we could talk about other neighborhoods.
Since all of the threads on this subject tend to degenerate into something different, I guess I have to start a thread by myself. The topic of the thread is what to do if you are not a welfare-poor or minimum wage worker or otherwise eligible for subsidies, but also are not rich enough to buy a home in trendy areas of NYC - but at the same time, you need or want to live in NYC.
Suppose a scenario: you are a junior scientist, maybe in a postdoctoral program, maybe you are, say, an immigrant from India, maybe recently married, with one small child. I assume your main interest is safety and affordability of the area. Where does a person of this or similar description live in NYC?
The described situation is not my own situation, but my situation is a bit unusual, probably far more unusual than the above described (it involves retiring in NYC), but I would like to live in the same area where a person of the above or similar description would live. With this goal in mind, I purchased a condo in Parchester, the Bronx, a few years ago (which is now rented because I still have other things to do elsewhere and cannot move there yet), but I have had some second thoughts even at the time of purchase, only related to safety, not anything else (Parkchester Condominium North and South are otherwise phenomenally good places to live, look them up on the internet if you aren't familiar with them).
Any thoughts? Is Parkchester indeed what I am looking for, or should I trade it for some other part of the city?
No discussion about where to live is complete without knowing what the person's budget is. This should be very easy to answer since the person in question is hypothetical. So just make up the budget. For example, are they looking for a 2 bedroom for $400K?
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