Another relocating to NYC from UK but would really appreciate advice.

[Pandorasbob]

Hello,
It is possible that DH will take a job in NYC . We currently live in London. It would be approx 2 -3 years. DS is teenaged and will be going to university next September (fingers crossed ) so we do not have to worry about schools. DH would have to go to an office in mid-Manhatten (I think Chelsea - anyhow it is just south of the Empire State building.) Otherwise he would be working at home. He would need good access to an airport.
We were thinking New Jersey. We would be renting not buying.
I have read some previous threads but lots of them talk about schools etc (i.e. people have younger children. )
I see that Hoboken , South Orange , Jersey City amongst others , people like.

Although we currently live in London , I don't need a big city , but would like somewhere with cafes , restaurants , shops and preferably some where you don't always have to drive to get somewhere. Somewhere safe and nice and reasonably priced (so not much !)

Can anyone give me any suggestions ? I would be really grateful. Feel free to ask if I haven't given enough information.

PB

Correction - I obviously meant ManhattAn - just too quick typing

I live in South Orange and love it - also really love Maplewood (town right next to SO). Walkable, diverse, liberal, easy commute to mid-town (half an hour train ride into mid-town penn station), 20 min from Newark airport. Can rent either a house or apartment.

Jersey City and Hoboken are more big city/apartment living. Perks being super close to NYC but also easy access to newark airport. But I've not lived there.

If schools are not an issue then I'd be tempted to rent in the city tbh. Chance of a lifetime and all that!

What about Queens, especially since you don't need to worry about schools? You're close to La Guardia and JFK, have the subway for easy access to manhattan plus buses and the long island railroad.

Sunnyside Gardens has some lovely small houses with shared gardens. Woodside is nice in parts and Jackson Heights also has some nice apartments around shared courtyards. Further out there are the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Rego Park, Flushing, Little Neck, Bayside, Douglaston.

Flip
This is really good advice - the thing is, we've done pretty much central London , I'd like to try something different so your advice is really interesting.
I will google but what are SO and Maplewood like - i.e. in terms of architecture and size and feel . Walkable , diverse and liberal sound good to me , but are they attractive and safe also ?

Really appreciate you taking the time to answer - thank you Flip.

PB

Shaks

Fantastic. So we will be a couple with teenage DS coming to stay during college holidays - (i.e. we need 2 beds min ) I will not have a working visa so will be at home - of those areas you have said - which might you think was appropriate. Obviously I will investigate for myself but am bowled over by how people are helping me . Thank you

PB

(Oh and also what website could I look at to get an idea of rental prices - Our budget will not be unlimited )

Hi Pandorasbob, you can get a pretty good idea of the rental market from craigslist - there are many many apartment listings on it. newyork.craigslist.org/i/apartments

Try www.streeteasy.com, zillow.com and trulia.com

Queens is a bit overlooked but its got some great neighborhoods and you can get very good deals.

Gosh

Thanks Tech

I honestly was just asking for advice but thanks

I just wanted more of a feel for what areas are like but will check that out

Thank you
PB

Perhaps you should expand your search to Connecticut. Greenwich is still commutable and a lovely place.
I don't know all that much about it but a lot of my DH's colleagues work there.

Hoboken is really great without the car and the commute is brilliant.

I'm a bit biased but don't write off Manhattan. I LOVE it

If you aren't that interested in living in manhattan... What about Long Island? Great access to the beaches etc

Shak
That is very helpful - I will look.

Do you mind me asking where you live and do you like it ? OK of you you would rather not say.

In any case thank you for your help.

PB

I think if you're at home you'll want good access to Manhattan. Theres also the LIRR. I think Forest Hills or Kew Gardens might be great for you. 15 minutes on the LIRR to Penn for your dh and you have the E,F,M and R lines as well so you can get around easily without a car.

Also, Long Island is worth a look, Port Washington perhaps.
And what about Brooklyn?

Cross post with humble bumble

Pm me if you want more details but we have young kids so our situation is different.

by which 'of you you ' I mean 'if you'

Sorry
PB

Hang on - you chaps have been so helpful like I cannot believe - let me just run a few places past DH

Seriously - really grateful for how helpful you all have been . And Honestly - would Connecticut and Long Island be an option ? All suggestions welcome

PB x

Humble and RedApple etc

Long Island sounds great but does it give good access to airport and is it vvvv expensive

Sorry to ask but these things count

PB x ;)

Think about things like driving. I hate driving and love that we just made the move to Hoboken. I am now without a car and LOVE it. I swear I have lost 10lbs in the past two weeks from all the walking in the humidity.

South Orange/Maplewood is great but you do need a car and while it is walkable, certain parts are not that walkable. The train service is also lacking if you work outside of of 9-5. Sometimes I didn't get home until 9pm if I finished work at 7pm. That wasn't acceptable to me.

W2BSM

That is exactly what I am thinking of - I currently live in London and I do not have to drive . My nightmare thing would be to have to get in the car to get a pint of milk or a cup of coffee. I can drive , I just prefer not to.

Thanks Supermum

PB

If you don't want to drive at all then staying in the city is better (or Hoboken/queens/Brooklyn).

We are a single car household and I can go for days not driving - we live less than 10 mins from train/downtown/restaurants etc but drive for things like groceries. Also for day trips and weekend trips (we have a lake house in the pocono mtns about an hour and a half away and also spend time at the shore). We have young kids, so have different priorities. I work flexibly from home but my dh gets into/out of Wall Street easily (leaves v early, usually home by 6.30). Having our kids be able to walk to parks/pool/school/stores was important in choosing a place to live but a car is still necessary (eg in sub zero temps in winter it's nice to drive!). We're also about an hour & a half from in-laws (another big factor in our choice).

The housing stock is lovely - wooden houses, old by American standards (late Victorians through to the 30s - some houses built in the 50s). As it was built pre-car it's more walkable than the newer suburbs. I also find it friendly - I've met quite a number of friends and acquaintances through volunteering etc. Being America, people will often recommend joining a church (or synagogue) to make friends. At some point we'll probably start attending a Quaker meeting (more to expose the kids to this side of their heritage) but I'll not be joining a church to make friends!

Driving wise, America is much easier to drive in than London. I learned to drive in my 30s in London, and over here the open highway driving combined with automatic cars is a breeze (even with Jersey drivers!). Living in the city, you can have zip car as an option while being car free (we did this in London). But living outside the city would pretty much definitely mean owning a car. Ask yourself if you could imagine moving somewhere like Esher or another sort of greater London towns. They're very different, but we would have moved out from inner London for space/garden etc. Our priorities were similar when deciding to move to NYC or a commuter town (we wanted space after living in a tiny London flat!).

Connecticut is probably too far from good airport access. Queens/Brooklyn/Long island/Manhattan would all be good for JFK or la Guardia.

Another aspect of renting a house is yard maintenance - endless leaf collection in autumn, snow shovelling (or blowing) in winter (don't rent a corner house - all that sidewalk to clear of snow!) and lawn mowing in summer. People often outsource it to snow&blow landscaping companies (we haven't). Just another factor in the house/apartment decision.

Check out walkscore when trying to see if a neighbourhood is walkable (not a perfect site but a useful tool to use alongside zillow or whatever).

Sorry for the ramble! Trying to be helpful but, while I do love living here, it is not the big city...if we were making a similar move I'd be tempted by NYC proper (eg upper west side). Your DS would probably love it too for visits!

So I know probably how long is a piece of string type question , and I will research , but what would roughly be the difference between renting say a 2/3 bed apartment in Upper West Side as opposed to a commuter town. I know I know the answer is of course 'it depends " but e.g. I know that in London to buy , price per square foot can be 2 x nice commutable areas just outside London.
Off to google some of your suggestions - thanks once again .

PB

BTW flip thanks for tips re driving. I have driven in US (Michigan) and yes compared to driving in London a breeze . I think I just don't want that living in a lovely house/ apartment but miles from the nearest shop / cafe feeling. (Can you tell I'm a Londoner . )

I have no idea about Manhattan rents but check out either zillow or realtor.com or gsmls for NJ rents. It depends on things like single family or multi family home (eg we rented a duplex, had our own front door and four floors to our selves but it counted as a multi family home as the other half of the house was also a rental unit).

I'm a Brit living in Long Island and we love it! We can be in Manhattan in about 35 minutes, at JFK in 20 minutes (very important for visitors) and on the beautiful beaches in 15 minutes!

Send me a PM if you have any questions. Good luck!!

I'm on the UpperWestside. As someone above said, if you don't want to drive,manhattan, Brooklyn, Hoboken will suit you. We had a really good realtor who I had a long chat with before we moved. She had a good idea of what we were looking for and found our apartment for us on our first day. If you decide on the UWS I'll PM you her details.