Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am an aspiring actress looking to move to NY from MD. I have been looking at the Kew Gardens area in queens. Not really sure about safe close places in Brooklyn. I would like to have some recommendations please! I would like to live in a safe neighborhood and if possible I would like to be able to keep my rent around the 900's. Would that be possible? I have also given Jersey around the journal square area some consideration. Would ne one recommend that area?
Kew Gardens is a nice neighborhood, and depending on where you're looking you may be close to the E/F trains at Queens Blvd (the Union Turnpike station is at the northwestern edge of the neighborhood). You can probably find a studio apartment in the area for under $1,000, but anything bigger than that is probably impossible.
Hi there. Kew Gardens and Forest Hills are among the nicest neighborhoods in Queens and, in my opinion, in all of NYC; and I've lived on the UWS for 30 years but am now looking to move to the same areas.
There's a lovely park, Forest Park, in the area. Kew Gardens has access to both E/F trains and the LIRR. Also there are several buses - local and express to Manhattan - that traverse the area. While owning a car might be great, if you live within walking of the subway and work in Manhattan, you could get by without one.
As an actress, you no doubt will be working/traveling into Manhattan a lot. Please be forewarned that while Kew Gardens is a beautiful area and Queens in general is diverse in ethnicity and housing options, has two intternational airports, a major baseball stadium, excellent dining options in various areas, you will be stigmatized by associates who think of the outer boroughs as not being hip or chic.
Depending on whether superficiality is important to you and on your personal demographics, personality, etc., this may be a factor. I do believe if you look around, you might be able to get a studio in your range in a family house - another feature of the area is the variation in housing - detached houses, apartment buildings, etc.
And unlike Manhattan, when you look up, you can actually see the sky. And I hear that you even can meet some who traverse the skies for a living and keep a pad in Kew Gardens.
I have also given Jersey around the journal square area some consideration. Would ne one recommend that area?
Help Please!
Journal Square is closer to Manhattan than Kew Gardens. You'd be taking the PATH train in to the City, which drops you at Christopher Street in the West Village in about 15 minutes from JSQ. The E/F take you from Kew Gardens into the East Side of Midtown in about a half an hour ride. I'm not sure about how long the express buses take.
Kew Gardens is also a bit more suburban. Miles is right that you can "see the sky." Very different from Jersey City, which is dense and urban and rough around the edges. Kew Gardens is probably safer, and I think definitely quieter at night.
I think both areas are ethnically diverse. Just north of Journal Square is a mostly Indian neighborhood and to the south is majority African American. I'm less familiar with the mix in Kew Gardens (maybe Miles can give more perspective) but I get the impression that it's a big mix of people with a lot of Asians.
Oh, and of course New Jersey is probably "stigmatized" by Manhattan jet-setter crowd even more than Queens is-- and your friends will think you live really far away despite the fact that their commute from the far Upper West Side or Brooklyn is longer than your's.
Richmond Hill is just south of Kew Gardens. It's not as nice as KG, but it's not that bad. The north/northwestern part tends to be better.
Transportation to the city is not as convenient, though - how much less depends on where you are in Richmond Hill. The J/Z and A run through the neighborhood, and they take a lot longer to get to Manhattan than the E/F - although there is a bus (I think it's the Q10?) that goes to Union Turnpike, where you can catch those.
I think you would probably be happier in Kew Gardens than Richmond Hill. Nicer and more convenient.
There are some really nice old houses in RH, though.
I think Minus accurately distinguisehed between Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens. He obviously knows the areas well.
I feel for you because I realize what's happening. You're probably doing online research and with the budget you stated previously, you realize that even in Kew Gardens it's tight. So you explored other nearby options a little less expensive and came up with Richmond Hill.
It's pathetic and demoralizing what greed can do. NYC is a prime example of real estate greed gone so amok that artists and others - even college grads with solid academic credentials - are unable to find affordable housing in the five boroughs of NYC.
Hopefully, you will find something suitable and not have to compromise safety and security in order to pursue your dreams. If forced into a roommate situation , I hope that you will not have to settle for less than ideal. Keep the flame burning, reach for the stars. Others before you have trodden the same path.
If you will permit me to offer personal experience, while you aspire with your acting career, always have other options available.
And if someday you become a great actress, always remember that there's a whole exciting, interesting world beyond the confines of Manhattan and that we all make the city the exciting place that it is.
Thank You Miles for your message it was very inspirational!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
!
!
