Eve, everybody has a shorter commute than Ike does.
originally posted by Ukulele Ike
Smiley when yew say that, padner.
(Yeah, I know, I know - know anyone looking to sell a one-bedroom in Fort Greene or Billyburgh?)
(I was going to say that I’m doing my bit for gentrification, but who the hell am I kidding?)
I would absolutely love to live in the city, but even if I could afford it, being so close to Biggirl would shoot my beer expenditures through the roof.
Oh, and Oxy, do you still have the same Oxypad? That place was very nice, if I can say. I know you had to find another job since January, so I was just curious if you were still in that same awsome apartment.
Yeup Oxy, you’re way to late for those two neighborhoods.
I’ve never had a problem finding a job, but then I work for low pay at thankless and boring jobs.
Everyone who lives in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx lives in New York City. The people who live in Jersey live very close to the city.
As Alto said, there are a ton of steps, but I find that generally, the curbcuts are better & crossing the streets is a less dangerous prospect than it is on Long Island. That’s not to say that NYC drivers are better; I just figure that the extreme pedestrian volume causes them to slow up & pay attention. Either way, it works out well when I’m trying to cross the street.
Heh, I have lived in NY since 96, well I lived in the part of NY that doesn’t belong here for about a year, but in 97 I moved to NY permanently. I tried to move back home to New Mexico last summer, but ended up coming back in October to a shitty ass economy. Heh, I’d appreciate the help of a good temp agency if you’ve got on dalovindj. I can type fast and know all those boring proggies.
It was great here during boom times, I was getting overpaid because computer people were in short supply. Now I’m having a little more trouble finding work.
Rent is fucking expensive in Manhattan. You’re looking at 4 grand for a 2 bed in a trendy neighborhood, 1200-2000 in a gentrifying neighborhood and about 7-1000 for a 1 bed in the ghetto. Unless, like Biggirl said you commute, which is a very viable solution. Some areas of Jersey are quicker to midtown than being way up in Harlem. Also study up the train lines. Living on a train line that has an irregular schedule just fucking sucks. I ended up paying about 400 a month in cabs when I lived in Boro Park Brooklyn cuz the B train just fucking sucked at night. Could have just gotten a little place in Manhattan instead and never taken a cab. Right now queens and the Bronx are where to look if you don’t mind living in a slummier neighborhood. You can live in the Bronx and get downtown in 20 minutes or less for really cheap.
www.craigslist.org is an invaluable site for seeking apartments.
Erek
Yeah, most of the buildings have bars on the windows. 
There was a column I used to read on the web that was basically a girl’s diary, full of stories about living, working, and dating in Manhattan. It was great, but I can’t remember the URL. Anybody have any idea what I’m talking about?
It was called “<girl’s name>'s tales of the city” or something like that.
If anybody knows what I’m talking about, please let me know.
Nevermind, I found it on google. Laura’s NYC Tales, if anybody is interested. It’s pretty entertaining reading.
Y’know, I actually considered putting a smiley on that, as it looked a little stark all by itself.
Only my repugnance with smileys, my desire for a “deadpan” turn, and the hope that “There goes the neighborhood” is such a cliche that everyone whould know I was cracking wise, kept me from doing the evil deed.
I came here from Colorado to stay for about 6 months, take music classes, check it out, then go back to Colorado. That was in 1989.
My sister is in a wheelchair and she did the NY Marathon a few times back in the 80’s. At one of the social functions that accompany these sorts of things, she met a guy whose family company owns a number of NYC apartment buildings known for their practical, solid, construction, and generous amount of closet space (very important!). She got on a ‘list’ and soon she had an apartment with this company. I eventually scored a rent stabilized apartment with this company in '91 or '92 and have been here since. That’s my “behind the apartment” story.
A couple people at work have moved recently. One was able to haggle successfully with the broker to get the fee reduced to 5% of the annual rent. She’s also paying less rent than was being asked for. These are good signs, but it’s probably like she’s paying $3100 a month instead of $3250 or something like that. Another guy I know lives on the top floor of a walk-up (5 or 6 floors, can’t remember) and pays less rent because of that. These are all Manhattan apts I’m talking about.
Work-wise I had a wee bit of computer skills and got some temp work at a cancer research hospital. That led to a full-time position, which ultimately led (after a couple years of commuting to Jersey) to my current position at a pharmaceutical in midtown. I can walk to work, ride my bike, take a bus or train.
At the aforementioned cancer research hospital I met my wife.
You can say I’ve been incredibly fortunate in NY.
When I first came here, I drove a beater pickup with Virginia plates. It got broken into twice. Once I got NY plates it was left alone. Coincidence? perhaps.
Unless you really need it, ditch the car and rent one the couple of times a month you might need one. It’s cheaper than car payments plus insurance, you get to drive a brand new car, and you just drop it off and forget about it when you’re done. Otherwise you’re going to pay through the nose for parking or you’re going to have your life run by the street cleaning rules.
During the couple of years I was working in NJ I reverse-commuted, so the traffic wasn’t bad. I was out by the time the street cleaning rules kicked in, when I came home parking was a piece of cake, and that made car ownership in the city not half-bad.
Everything’s more expensive than the 'burbs but there are so many different meat, fish, veggie, whole food markets not to mention the grocery stores, that you never get bored food-wise. And then there’s ordering in.
On the old & grumpy side, it’s a pedestrian city, so you can go out your door and just start walking and be constantly entertained. If you get tired of walking, a taxi, bus, or train are right there (usually) to haul you back home. If it’s crappy out, just stay home. You can have anything delivered. If you’re confined to a wheelchair, all the city buses have lifts.
And besides all that, there are the people. You just meet all kinds of people here. Sometimes it’ll occur to you that you haven’t been off this little island in months.
Thanks to everyone for their ideas and experiences. To be honest, despite the facietiousness of my OP, this is a move which is still a few years away. I’d like to at least get MaryBeth all the way through school first (she’s in 8th grade now), save up a ton of money and then think about what I want to do.
Still … I visited Manhattan for the first time a few weeks ago and completely fell in love with the place. So, it’s definitely an option once I get some things cleared away around here.