Anybody have experience of living in and around New York?

[MilaMae]

Dp has seen a lot of jobs suitable for him in New York (paying double his salary). We could do with a change and an US agency has told him to apply.

Now we both think there must be a catch especially with the economic climate. Assuming he ever got a job(being foreign I'm dubious) but what is this area like for families? Is it hellish expensive(hence the salary). Do people commute or live in the city? What is it like for young children?

Sorry to sound so ignorant but I don't want dp to waste time applying etc if it's a bit of a no goer iykwim.

TIA

We lived in New York for a few years, but came back 6 years ago, so I am horribly out of date (things change quickly there).

Expensive? Yes, for some things. e.g. rent, food shopping, bars. But other things are more affordable than here: electrical goods, public transport, eating out (at least cheap places are better quality than here. There are Very expensive places too!)

Families: Tons to do, and a lot of them are free, so you'd have a ball. Great zoos, botanical gardens, parks, playparks, bookshops, libraries, outdoor swimming pools, concerts in the park. It's quite an outside sort of lifestyle, because people don't tend to hang around in their pokey apartments, and hardly anyone in the city has a garden.

Where to live: a lot of families live in the city, but Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, rather than Manhattan. People also live in New Jersey or Connecticut, which have lots of nice towns, although this involves a bit of a commute. If you want a house and garden though, this is where to go.

We lived in Brooklyn, in a very family friendly part. Finding a good apartment is the hardest thing, and you have to accept that you will not have a lot of room, but then the good thing about living somewhere temporarily is you don't tend to accumulate things. In fact, a lot of people move in and out of New York, so there are always stoop sales (like car boots but on people's stoops/steps) with people selling on things like crockery, hoovers, bits of furniture etc. You can kit out your apartment pretty cheaply.

There's a big cafe culture - you can hang out in them with young kids quite easily. And there are lots of small cinemas and libraries in each neighbourhood. Most people don't have cars (parking is a nightmare and expensive in Manhattan) so there tends to be lots of local activities that you can access by bus or subway.

Supermarkets are small and pretty awful to use (cramped), and don't have anything like the things we have, but eating out or ordering in is so easy and varied that you stop minding so much. Take out is the New york equivalent of ready meals.

Don't know what your DH does, but the only thing I can think that might be a problem would be the visa situation. If it is big companies that he's applying to, they'd probably sort all that out, but it can be a bit complicated and drawn out. You wouldn't get a work visa, only a spouse's residency visa, but I'm guessing this isn't an issue with young children.

I really enjoyed our time in NYC. It was quite exhausting though - the pace of life is fast, and employees work very hard with very little time off. Being a housewife is tough too if you don't have spare cash e.g. dragging your laundry to the launderette (you can get service washes including delivery, but it costs), and shopping in the awful supermarkets with young kids in tow and having to slog home on foot or the bus (all prams have to be collapsed on the bus!).

But the fun stuff made it all worth while - great for arts, music, cocktails, vibrancy, full of characters, people from all over the world, and all the usual iconic New York stuff like the museums and tourist attractions. Feel free to ask me anything, but there are probably lots of people who live there now or are from there who can give you better info than me.

hth

Thankyou that's been really helpful.

What are the schools like? Is it possible to go to a decent/ok state school or does everybody do the private thing? The salaries we've seen have been a lot more than what dp gets now but I doubt it would cover school fees X 3 .

Are the towns you commute from cheaper?

Do you think one would be missing out by living outside of the city?

What is the crime like?We've done city living before, I'm presuming crimewise it's not much different to our big cities???

We live in Connecticut in a coastal town. It is still very expensive (although def less expensive if you move more inland) and the commute is a bugger. However, everyone goes to the local (ie state) schools which are excellent, there is little to no crime, it is great for families, and the weather in the summer is fantastic. The beaches are great and there is a lot of free stuff locally for families to do. Winters are very cold!

Whether he has the qualifications/experience is to some extent irrelevant. You need to start off by looking into the visa situation.

It is very difficult to get into the States (if you take the view that basically they don't want you you're not that far off). I'd check out the wiki on British Expats britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=5c02701a637061f3282a9d0b73b9aac4&f=57 as a first step before you do anything else. I think there view is the only real routes open are to marry an American or get an intracompany transfer unless your skills are fairly exceptional/in high demand.

We lived in NYC a couple of years ago, and found it fairly similar to London in a lot of ways. You have to pick your area carefully, nice places are expensive and commuting is hard work. We lived in Queens and liked it a lot, found a good school for the children (except that it was very high pressure - think 2 hrs homework for an 8 year old, and ds sadly was bullied) and enjoyed the beaches in Long Island. We also liked New Jersey (Summit/Maplewood). Taxes are high and healthcare costs take a big chunk of salary too, so you need to factor that in. Job protection/workers rights are very very minimal (fire at will is normal for example, even for professionals)

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the weather. Very hot and humid in the summer (probably ok if you're near the beach, but pretty hard going in the city with all the pollution) and very cold in the winter (but a dry cold, rather than damp, and often sunny-cold, which can be quite stunning).

Also, nooka is right about the healthcare. Even with good insurance you will have to pay to see the doctor (a co-payment) and it can also be quite bureaucratic (both signing up for and using the health care system).

I had no experience of schools (DS was very little when we were there) but neighbours and friends all used the public schools (that's what state schools are called) and seemed pretty happy with them. I vounteered at one, and even though it was in a deprived area the kids and teachers were lovely and seemed keen to learn.

I felt safer in NYC than any big British city, and was always very impressed with the level of respect that teenagers showed. Don't get me wrong, people are loud and outspoken, but there is a big emphasis on being respectful.

Re the visa situation, my DH had an H1B visa, which is awarded to people who have sought after skills. They are quite hard to get (not quite sure how he managed it to be honest) but I did meet quite a few Brits over there who were there through company transfers, so it is possible. It depends on your DH's line of work.

Thanks all,dp is in computing software,wouldn't look for a permanent move,the jobs he has seen are temporary so I'm not sure about the Visa thing.

His sister worked in the US for a long time so we were aware of the Greencard thing but we wouldn't be interested in that ,it was just a temp thing for the experience to be honest.I'm guessing that's why the salaries are good as nobody wants to go through all that upheaval if it wasn't long term.

The language he does does seem to be in demand but I don't know Nooka could be right. Will check out that link.Do you have any other info re how it works Nooka?

Many thanks!

God looked on that link,couldn't make head nor tail of it

Just looked into it and it's the H1B visa which he'd be eligible for and his line of work is on the speciality list. Any of you had experience of using this visa?

TIA

That's the visa my DH had. It lasts for 3 years (from time of application, although usually takes 3 months to come through) then you can renew it again for up to 6 years in total. If your DH has specialist skills that are in demand and hard to source in the US, then he has a good shot at getting one. He will need to provide evidence of all his qualifications to the lawyer applying for the visa, as they will need to prove to the US that he has those skills he says he has. We used a company that specialises in making the visa application (can't remember the name, but if you google you'll probably find them easily enough).

HTH.

P.S. Am very excited for you. Hope you get to go (I would love to go back, even though I was ready to come home when we did. It was a fantastic experience, and really opened my eyes to so much. Good luck!

Thanks Iheart,sorry just a couple of other things.

We're presuming you get the job first then apply for the Visa as it has to be a job previously advertised that American people didn't fill.

Did you sort it all out or the company employing your dp?

Also what happens with tax, did you pay US,British or both?

We'd both love to do it but really have to think about the kids and research it all.Im a bit of a researcher(can you tell),like to make sure I suss everything out before a big jump.

Yes, get offered the job, then get the visa (the H1B visa is specific to the job, although it can be transferred to a new job once you're there - my DH did this after 2 years. Not sure what restrictions there are on this, and there may be different rules from when we did it.)

I think DH's employer hired the lawyers to get the visa (can't remember the details. It was 11 years ago!)

We paid US tax (which means filing a tax return, even if you pay on PAYE - there are tax accountants on every street corner who charge a few hundred to do this for you). We registered with the tax man here as non-resident, but still filled in a form because we had a UK income from renting out our house here. We didn't have to pay any tax, as we were still allowed our personal allowance and the rent was within that range, but we still had to fill it in just to prove we didn't owe anything. iirc the US and UK have a tax agreement so that you only pay income tax in one of the countries (usually the one you're resident in).

You are right to do your research (especially re the boring stuff like tax etc), then you can enjoy the adventurous side of things more (like discovering a new way of life).

Thanks