Possibly moving to NYC

Dromaro

So... The job market has been shit for over a year out here at home (SoCal). On a lark, I found tons of jobs in the NYC area I am more than amply qualified for but many of them have pay that would work out here which means I'm not so sure it could work in NYC. Many have this weird restriction of requiring you to live in NYC or NY County. Odd.

What's a "living wage" for someone willing to live in the outskirts of NYC and commute if need be?

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

Depends on what you consider "living."

Cremlian

Depends on what you consider "living."

Dromaro

Roof over my head, preferably no roaches but I could deal with a few temporarily, and the ability to pay all the bills, buy food and the occasional board game? I'm not a hedonist.

Cremlian

The Roaches thing is a hard one for you ;-p

Apreche

It's New York City. Literally millions of people of every economic class from homeless to megarich work here and live within distance. You can live in a tiny not-modern apartment in an unpopular place for low rent. You can live in a mansion. You can live within walking distance of your job. You can telecommute. You can buy a monthly subway metrocard for over $100, you can buy a monthly metro north train ticket for almost $400. You can live in North Jersey and take the PATH train. You can even drive a car and pay for parking, though it is not recommended. Then again, your job might not be in Manhattan itself, so maybe driving will be good.

Look at rents online and then calculate the cost of the commute from that place to the jobs.

Walker

In my mind it ain't low rent until you're paying $400 a month. :P

Rym

Reasonable rent comes with sacrificing one of the three basic aspects of living in New York.

1. Proximity to a subway station
2. Modern building
3. Nice neighborhood

Low rent requires giving up two of them (and being willing to compromise on the third).

Apreche

Rent also gets lower as distance from Manhattan increases, but commuting costs increase.

Rym

True. But also, an apartment in far Brooklyn near a good subway still goes for way more than one that requires walking.

Greg

What exactly is a "modern building"? Having grown up in Boston and living in a 150 year old house, I'm not sure of NYC's scale for age.

Rym

Modern, to me, means:

1. Elevator
2. AC
3. No significant infestation problems
4. New(ish) fixtures
5. Modern insulated windows
6. Plenty of outlets and dedicated circuits
7. Some amenities

Schnevets

Reasonable rent comes with sacrificing one of the three basic aspects of living in New York.

1. Proximity to a subway station
2. Modern building
3. Nice neighborhood

Low rent requires giving up two of them (and being willing to compromise on the third).

I always went by the mantra "Price, Space, Location... choose two". Last year, I paid comparatively little for a place a stone's throw away from Penn Station that could barely fit a futon in the bedroom. This year I pay even less for a huge amount of space in the center of Brooklyn (Crown Heights, a neighborhood that's in a crazy rapid restructuring).

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

I paid around $600 a month for a cell in a two-bedroom apartment in a Washington Heights tenement over the summer, which gave me very good location (I was two blocks away from the 168th A stop), but the apartment was shit. I recommend going partway out into Brooklyn and finding a place within 5-10 blocks of a subway station (preferably one that has 2+ subway lines going to it). Then you can probably find something livable for a relatively affordable price (by New York standards).

If you have a car that means anything to you, on the other hand, you'll probably need to live in the suburbs and take the PATH or Metro North in.

Schnevets

Oh, almost forgot... the greatest apartment browse site ever

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

Oh, also your food costs will increase a bit living in New York compared to pretty much anywhere else, although as a college student I'm not sure what the numbers should exactly look like.

Belliger

Out of curiosity: a question for those of you who live in NY. How often do you cook your meals? My GF and I visited some friend who lived there in a really nice apartment but it's kitchen was smaller then the bathroom. When my GF and I asked how they cooked in it they told us they didn't cook (at all). And considering the apartment layout I assumed that was common. But I thought I should ask instead of just assuming it was common for people not to cook often living in the Manhattan borough.

Apreche

Out of curiosity: a question for those of you who live in NY. How often do you cook your meals? My GF and I visited some friend who lived there in a really nice apartment but it's kitchen was smaller then the bathroom. When my GF and I asked how they cooked in it they told us they didn't cook (at all). And considering the apartment layout I assumed that was common. But I thought I should ask instead of just assuming it was common for people not to cook often living in the Manhattan borough.

Some people cook all the time. Some not at all. I cook about half the time.

GroverBomb

I live in Manhattan and cook quite often. I'm thinking of the farmer's markets here - they have a pretty diverse selection of good quality produce in my view. There's a demand for it coming from somewhere.

Belliger

I live in Manhattan and cook quite often. I'm thinking of the farmer's markets here - they have a pretty diverse selection of good quality produce in my view. There's a demand for it coming from somewhere.

Some people cook all the time. Some not at all. I cook about half the time.

Ah excellent, thanks!
*assumptions updated*

Rym

Individual grocery items cost more here.

But, I both cook more than I did before, and waste less of what I buy, so groceries cost about the same on average as they did in Beacon. This is primarily due to having more free time from my proximity to things.

gomidog

Yeah, we cook a lot, sometimes we cook fancy things, sometimes simple things, sometimes we get lazy and go to any of the many restaurants in the area. I gotta say, when I come home tired, I like to be able to just grab my wallet and keys and head over a couple stops on the train for Japanese or French food.

In terms of living expenses, it is definitely cheaper if you are living with people. I have a group of friends in Crown Heights and they have a huge top floor in a walk-up and pay a few hundred a month each. I think "Price, Space, Location... choose two" holds pretty much true. Sure, NY is expensive, and often cramped, but really, I find it a very enjoyable place to live. It's almost like you are paying for the entertainment of living somewhere interesting.

Anthony Heman

I figure my natural inclination towards solitude and space is far beyond my means if I lived in New York.

YoshoKatana

It's almost like you are paying for the entertainment of living somewhere interesting.

This. A lot of recently renovated somewhat-cheap (aka no doorman) apartments have really shitty kitchens, but you can find a good one if you search a bit. I pay about $900 for a room in a 4-bedroom loft in Williamsburg, about 10-20 minutes away from the city. I'd say that's a little expensive, but the apartment is so big I could (and have) hosted art shows and concerts in it. (One time I came home to an awesome J-Rock band in my livingroom. It was pretty sweet.)

As for cooking, there's a bit of an incentive to eating out a lot, since it saves time and allows you to try a variety of cuisines (there were 400+ restaurants that delivered to my old office in Manhattan). That being said, I've recently forced myself to cook at home more often, and it definitely pays off. Groceries can be more expensive than in other places, but they're far cheaper than eating out all the time. (And really, it depends on the grocery store. Whole Foods is a bit pricey, but my local place isn't more expensive than Wegmans.)

MATATAT

Good things about New York: There's lots of stuff there

Bad things about New York: There's lots of stuff there.

Then again that's my issue with every city, you have access to so much, but you almost always have to travel a decent distance to get into some wilderness. Sometimes I hate that I'm surrounded by people in Seattle.

GroverBomb

I have to agree. I miss being able to fish, camp, shoot skeet, etc. without having to plan ahead so much. I also miss doing my own fireworks.

johndis

Individual grocery items cost more here.

But, I both cook more than I did before, and waste less of what I buy, so groceries cost about the same on average as they did in Beacon. This is primarily due to having more free time from my proximity to things.

I do Peapod/Stop and Shop delivery orders every now and then, and the stuff is actually all the same price as it was in Long Island stores. Not that Long Island is the paragon of affordability, but the Key Food chains (which I think are the most common supermarkets in the BK/Queens area?) and independent groceries are definitely a lot more expensive. Fresh Direct is also obviously much more $$$, but that's higher quality stuff typically.

Also the Red Hook Fairway is re-opening this weekend, hoo rah 8-)

GroverBomb

Yeah, Fairway is great. I'm glad to see the Red Hook one reopen. Trader Joe's is pretty affordable too - if you're willing to wait on their line and get involved what essentially amounts to elbow-wrestling with other shoppers. Also, we have Costco.

Apreche

Relevant again!

GroverBomb

Love these guys. My main bodega out in Queens used to have this Yuca and Sausage thing for like $3.50. That and a soda or coffee for a dollar. Pay with a five and you get two quarters put aside for the Laundromat every time. The best.

Matt

I've always wondered about the bodega thing. Even living an hour outside of NYC my entire life, I'd never heard anyone use the term until I started going to the city regularly and talking to people who actually live there. We just called them crappy convenience stores (sometimes in an endearing way, sometimes just plain crappy).

Do they have to be spanish-run stores to be bodegas? Our off-brand or no-brand convenience stores were always run by angry old white dudes or Indian people.