living in NYC

Are you shooting for "Thread of the Month" or something?

Where to start...regarding question 2, the thing is that there are multiple "prime" areas, bunches of "up-and-coming" areas, tons of "character" areas, etc. It's really hard to get your arms around it, but once this thread gets into it's 10th page or so, I think you'll start to get a broad idea...

 

Nothing like living in NYC. I would rather live here and visit other places then than the other way around. The city offers more opportunities then ANY other place in the world for everything from income, education, career challenges, culture, cuisine, etc.....I moved from Ft Lauderdale to here in 1997 and I will never forget my 1st subway ride. There were two young girls sitting next to me...maybe 10-12 years old and they were discussing differences between Italian and German opera......sealed the deal

 

I always find it funny when people speak about this. I was born and raised in NYC and my family spent their whole lives trying to move out. It seems that no matter where you come from the grass is always greener. I now make my home in the burbs on LI and spend quite a bit of time in FLL and hate going into the city. Most of my friends that grew up in NYC feel the same. I certainly can appreciate all the city has to offer, but the traffic, noise make me enjoy the beach even more lol...

 

Having lived here for 2 years, after being in several other cities and states, it seems like it offers a different experience for everyone. Given all that the city offers, you can probably find something that suits you. So I think the people that do live here, or stay for a while, have found something that isn't available elsewhere.

While I doubt I will stay here long term, and have adjusted my lifestyle to living in the city, I really enjoy it here.

One thing I really like is how you can do so much in so little time, which I think is possible because of the density. So one reason why I haven't wanted to move out of the city yet, is because it saves time.

I'm not totally sure about nice neighborhoods, but being near Central Park is worthwhile. Also areas around Tribeca and the East or West Village can be good. Some offer nice neighborhoods, others have more space.

 

2br for 1mm on the east side? Maybe the lower east side, if not, please let me know. City is a lifestyle choice. If you work in the city, the commute can be a nightmare, min of two hrs a day round trip, given youre up roughly 16 hrs, that's one out of every eight minutes of your day. When i did that calc, my decision was made, especially given I don't like getting out of the house by 630am every day. Flip side is private school is a nightmare as well from a financial point of view if you have kids. With three kids, thats a low mileage 430 every single year, cash. No backyard but central park can be a block away, biggest backyard in the world. Best restaurants in the world and everything you need is a couple of blocks walk. The trick is you need a second home to get away, especially in the summer when the city turns into a simmering cesspool with 100 degree heat. Bottom line after living in the city for 15 years is its not for everyone but that said I don't expect to leave as long as I can afford it.

 

With the potential income one can make by living and working in NYC this allows one homes elsewhere for weekend getaways or the ability to afford significant vacations

 

I just came from spending a few days in NYC with a few friends. We had a really great time, and we had a pretty lively discussion over potentially living in the city on the train back to Boston (we are Australian but my friends are living there for the summer).

Our conclusions were that whilst we had a great time and could appreciate the city for all of its positives (diversity, never get bored, etc) we didn't like the fact that there was seemingly no escape. There is always someone asking for money, bumping into you, trying to sell you something - it really got to us. I will definitely visit many more times in the future though, its an amazing place and theres nowhere like it on earth.

 

I'd love to live in NYC, if I had plenty (and I mean plenty) of disposable income. A friend is living on Wall St for the summer during an internship and is living in a small studio and paying $2300 a month, I was expecting to be high but good lord that's a lot of money.

 

And you didn't pUt ThE SHouT Out tO mEEt Up wIth aLl Ur EC buddies?
Jeez, what a missed opportunity!

Sounds like you had a good time.
If you work in the city and can afford it, you want to live there.
Commuting sukz. Lost Time, expense, taxes, and the main thing...aggravation.

 

1) time. time is money especially in nyc. I lived there for 8 years or so and just moved back to tx in october. I worked in downtown nyc most of that time and lived in park slope for a little bit. Even with direct train service I couldn't stand taking the train the 20-30 min each way daily then with working late having to take cabs home. The money I saved in travel expenses came out to be about the same as just moving downtown to a studio 1 block from my datacenter and offices. Personally i hate the public transportation and have no desire to ride the trains when i lived there. I had a motorcycle for warm weather and took cabs the rest of the time.

2) downtown/financial district is the best place to live its the nicest, cleanest, quietest part IMO. granted I'm biased as thats where i spent most of my time. only downside was its insanely expensive down there. the changes over the past 4-5 years downtown are just amazing. so many new buildings, restaurants, shops etc. which you definitely pay for if you live there.

You can't get any sort of decent condo in the city below central park for less than 1M. If you want a 1-2 bed you need to be more in the 1.5-2.5M range realistically and will likely have some sort of absurd maint fees every month not to mention "mansion tax" and all the other fees, taxes, and surcharges.

I think NYC is a great place to go for work, school, or just general education and growth. I would *never* raise a family in the city though.

Im happy to help book the private room at Per Se for that long as your paying Talk about ROI for my rossa membership!

Thats pretty low actually specially now. Rental rates have been sky high the past year or so.

 

Actually looks like 1200 sq feet. At ~500$/ft on the upper east side in a doorman blg it isn't a bad deal. 3-4br family apts generally range $1000-2000/foot plus. Park/5th ave can be double that. Unfortunately between space and private school we have seen many many friends move to the suburbs. It's disappointing when people can't live comfortably on what most of America would find to be a justification for income redistribution.

 

Looks sort of like:
http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/wilzig.htm
Was on the mkt a couple of yrs ago, cost to build was like 10 bucks. They thow a mean party..

 

Point taken, but the question was about living in NYC proper..

 

The trick is to live and work in the Boroughs, have an excape home at the Shore and a Manhattan Apartment, with a Garage, for Winter Weekends. We accomplished that, but it took 30 years of hard work.
No place in the World like it!

Joe

 

I love NYC and always dreamed about living and working there, even if it were a two year gig only. I was born in Staten Island and grew up in Fort Lee so the City has had a great influence on my life. With family in north Jersey and CT I try to get a "refresh" whenever I'm in the area.

Right now I'm in central FL and I f_____ hate it.

 

The best thing about NY for me is that it's so International. Even though I live outside and commute in I spend a lot of time in the City. There are a lot of very interesting different area's of the city to live in. Jesse lives on the tip in Battery Park City. His views are amazing and that's a large part of NY the visual attraction and interesting people.

My commute is only 1 hour door to door which isn't bad.

 

I have lived in nyc for a long time and have never really enjoyed it. Especially if you like cars. I went to an event in upstate CT last Friday and got caught in traffic trying to come back to the city in a vintage car. There was traffic in every direction - even when i tried to double-back to CT. The car started over-heating and i had to drive with the heat on (in 90 degree weather) to cool the engine. Yes, i could've had the car flat-bedded back but what's the point/fun of that?

There is plenty to enjoy in NYC but your cash burn rate is incredibly high. It irks me when people say - oh, just own a place outside of the city, take lots of trips to get away, etc. Traveling with small kids is a pain. Yes, i get it - we'll all just fly privately out of Teterboro. The point about three kids in private school costing the same as a F430 every year is 100% accurate. And you pay >50% of your income in taxes. And even if you ignore all costs, you need to coordinate a helicopter or a sea plane to get to the Hamptons during rush hour because the traffic is so bad.

So yes, NYC is an incredible place. I'd say better to visit than to live. In the suburbs, you can have a backyard that you can put your kids in without having to vigilantly watch them, teach your kids how to ride a bike without thousands of bicyclists whizzing by in CP, etc. And you can have a garage where you can sit and admire your cars at night.

But i don't fault anyone that loves living in the city. To each his own. Its just not for me. Someone described me as a salmon swimming upstream - you can't fight it. The problem is if i lived in the suburbs i would never see my family.

 

That's why you go to the Nj shore! I never understood driving back and forth to the hamptons for the wk end. Take ~3 hrs each way with kids losing it by hr two depending on how far out you live (unless you buy a book of heli tix and with three kids you may as well just charter the copter which then begs the question why don't you just ly down to st Barth's), 99pct actually live in the woods despite it being a "beach house" and have to drive to the beach (really fun to have to shower at the beach before you get in the car and really really fun to deal with beach parking) and I truly loved having to make dinner reservations a moth in advance. Not for me. Beach house an hr without traffic and a nice escape a couple of times a winter makes life complete. I think my perception of living in the city would be different if i didnt have an escape..