Hell of a commute, though, if their jobs are in New York.
What Jenaroph said … and besides, they’re more concerned with culture than cost of living.
Is it still impossible to get an apartment there without paying an agent? I’d forgotten all about that.
What Jenaroph said … and besides, they’re more concerned with culture than cost of living.
Is it still impossible to get an apartment there without paying an agent? I’d forgotten all about that.
Rental prices for one-bedroom apartments in NYC, 2003:
Manhattan
Chelsea: $1,300-$2,600
East Village: $1,200-$2,500
Gramercy Park: $1,800-$3,000
Greenwich Village: $1,500-$4,000
Lower Manhattan: $1,500-$3,600
Upper West Side: $1,800-$3,800
West Village: $1,500-$4,000
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Heights: $1,000-$2,700
Carroll Gardens: $1,200-$1,800
Park Slope: $900-$2,200
Prospect Heights: $800-$1,900
Williamsburg: $1,000-$1,600
Great stuff Walloon, thanks.
Just out of curiosity, is it possible to buy a place in Manhattan, or is renting the only option? Are there such things as 99-year leases, or can you pretty much get kicked out whenever the landlord feels like it?
You can buy a place but they’re pretty expensive. I don’t know about 99 year leases but most leases generally run one or several years and are renewable year to year. The landlord can only kick you out if you violate the lease.
You can buy a place in NY, but the real estate is insanely expensive, especially in Manhattan. Things are somewhat more livable in the other boroughs, parts of Long Island, and New Jersey. As you can imagine, few people can afford freestanding houses, and the co-op form of ownership is more popular in NY (for apartment-style places) than other forms of ownership, such as the condominium (which is far more popular here in the Midwest than it is in NY; most people here have never heard of a co-op).
The way I understand it, when you buy a co-op, technically you are buying a given number of shares in the corporation that owns the building. My dad lives in Queens and is the President of the co-op board of the modest vintage building they live in. Co-op boards can be very political, as they have veto rights over who can buy into the building. I believe this is because technically if a co-op owner defaults on the mortgage, the other co-op members would have to cover his/her share to cover the loan on the building.
A good friend of mine owns a co-op on the Upper West Side, but then he is a filthy rich investment banker. Actually, he said he had a difficult time finding a co-op board that would accept him, because he’s not a U.S. citizen (at the time he may not even have received his green card yet), so the theory was that he could bolt and default on the mortgage whenever he felt like it. So even in NY money can’t buy you everything.
As for lease renewability, some New Yorker here will have to explain the beauties of rent-controlled apartments and how that incredibly Byzantine system works.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, in New York County (= Manhattan), 20.1% of the housing units were owner-occupied, and 79.9% were renter-occupied.
Of owner-occupied units with a motgage, the median monthly owner cost was $3,615; without a mortgage, the median monthly owner cost was $955.
Of the owner-occupied units, 48.2% were 1-person households, 27.2% were 2-person households, 10.3% were 3-person households, 7.1% were 4-person households.
0.3% of the households in Manhattan were single unit, detached. 0.8% were single unit, attached or detached. 90.1% of all households were in buildings of 10 or more units.
Of vacant housing units in 2000, 34.6% were for rent, 6.9% were for sale only, 8.5% were rented or sold but not occupied, 32.7% were for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use*, 17.1% “otherwise vacant”.
42.5% of vacant housing units were built in 1939 or earlier, 10.4% in 1940-1949, 10.8% in 1950-1959, 14.4% in 1960-1969, 6.5% in 1970-1979 (when the city was suffering an economic recession), 9.3% in 1980-1989.
- “These are vacant units used or intended for use only in certain seasons, for weekends, or other occasional use throughout the year. Seasonal units include those used for summer or winter sports or recreation, such as beach cottages and hunting cabins. Seasonal units also may include quarters for such workers as herders and loggers. Interval ownership units, sometimes called shared-ownership or time-sharing condominiums, also are included in this category.”
Another vote for Park Slope here, but stay on the southern end - closer to the Long Island Rail Road. I lived there for four years, never felt anything but safe, and had a steal of a 2-bedroom for $1400. Any kind of food you could want within walking or delivery, plenty of little cafes and bookshops nearby, and near ANY subway you could need.
I miss it. Can you tell?
Ava
I’m not that familiar with LIRR. The only stops I know of (Flatbush Ave Near BAM) are well north and west of Park Slope. I don’t know what you call that neighborhood around BAM, but IMHO nothing that is not actually on the westerly slope off Prospect Park can call itself Park Slope. In other words, nothing north of Flatbush… and west of 5th Ave is stretching it.
(My family moved to the Slope in 1981, when there were not one but two crackhouses on my block – and a biker bar for good measure. It’s come up a little since then).
(PS - did I just get worked up over that or what!?)
Sorry, I got my directions mixed up - I was just south of Flatbush and just East of 5th Ave on Dean Street- I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve been back there, but the neighborhood has REALLY come along since then. 5th Ave has a ton of new little restaurants and coffeehouses near Flatbush. Where we lived was within walking distance to just about anything. And yes, I meant the LIRR at the BAM stop. We lived at the very edge of Park Slope so it’s been a little longer catching up with the rest of the neighborhood, but it’s become quite diverse and lovely.
And my landlord told us when we moved in in 1999 that our street used to be crack alley five years prior. That’s one piece of info I didn’t relay to my parents when informing them of our new home.
Ava
And HelloAgain, I apologize - I think I somehow just mixed you up with the OP and thought you didn’t live in the area, when in fact, it looks like you do. So I’m probably preachin’ to the choir, eh?
And you’re right, I wouldn’t go north of Flatbush either. Just south of Flatbush isn’t so bad, though.
I loved my neighborhood. I would go back in a heartbeat if I could, and I highly recommend it to anyone.
Ava
Hehe. My parents still live there, I’m home a couple times a year so I’ve kept up with developments. 5th Ave has come a long way since I went to JHS 51. LOL! Used to be you were taking your life in your hands, now it’s Coolsville Central.
Williamsburg up and coming? Maybe 6 or 7 years ago. Now it’s an overaturated and overpriced haven of annoying hipsters.
For Carroll Gardens, take an F to Jay then catch an A or C to Broadway Nassau, should take about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the city.
That seems to be the case for a lot of NYC.
Take Alphabet City. Ten years ago Avenue A was okay, but only just; B was just barely acceptable above St Marks Place but so bad below it that I once got a lecture from a cab driver when I asked to be taken there (to see the then-boyfriend who lived there, in an apartment with about 8 locks on the door); C was completely off limits and D? I’d have sooner walked down the Shankill Road in Belfast waving a tricolour and singing “I love the Pope” than wander onto Avenue D. Now, of course - well, you guys live there, you know.
Last time I was there we stayed around Columbia. You know that scene in “Brother From Another Planet” where the guy on the subway does the magic trick to make all the white people disappear? According to our host, that joke wouldn’t play anymore.
So what parts of Manhattan are still considered “bad”?
Just remember that where there is a lot of interesting night life going on, things can be noisy into the wee hours.
The East or West village and Chelsea are good suggestions (basically keep it below 23rd), as is going uptown on the west side if need be.
If I was in my 30’s and had money I’d lean more towards the West Village or Chelsea. I’m a little dubious about Battery Park City because it’s kind of way over there, although being close to the Hudson and all the river side park space would be a plus.