Places to live in Brooklyn?

[Acrossthesea]

I've got a thread here from last year saying that my DH was offered a transfer to the NYC office with his work. It took a while but we are almost done negotiating the contract & package. It's not as generous as it used to be, they won't now pay for brokers fees but we are overall happy with it.

We've decided against living in Manhattan, our friends think I'll hate it. I've never been to NY so have no idea. We don't have time for a before trip. We've started looking at Brooklyn, maybe Williamsburg, but any other areas we should look at, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights? DH will work in Bryant Park. We are looking for a Clapham feel to an area, no DCs but we are planning for it in the next years.

The 126 bus is $107 a month. I have a citibike membership paid for in full by work but I take the subway as work on the east side.

Welcome to NY. You tell us your very healthy budget and get a collective, “Oh my! That’s not going to get you much!” back

I wouldn’t exclude Manhattan altogether. You could get a 2bed 2bath in Battery Park City at the very top of your budget, at least in one of the older buildings. Close to SoHo, Greenwich etc, a downtown vibe and lots of new amenities. Plus easy to get on the West Side Highway to walk/cycle uptown.

One thing to consider (and this may sound random) is if cooking and / or doing grocery shopping is something you want to do without taking out a mortgage, check the area you're looking at for supermarket provision.

There are bodegas and small speciality grocery stores in most places but they are generally VERY expensive. There isn't anything like a tesco express here.

I know in Brooklyn the supermarket in Cobble hill was sold for flats, and there were rumors of the same for the one in park slope when we lived there. There's a trader joes smack bang between cobble hill, brooklyn heights, carroll gardens which is the cheapest food you'll find. There's a fairway (big supermarket chain) down in red hook, but transport down there is a black hole of a not very frequent bus route

Failing that there's online delivery - there's more choice now from amazon etc but don't know how they stack up for fresh food (only ever used them for dry goods)

I use fresh direct now for my fruit and vegetables. The quality is excellent and it's about 10% more than the cost of the supermarket which is manky at best.

Thank you for all your insight! Seeing your messages about how expensive it all is me laugh! DH spends his free evenings on easystreet looking at places. He seems to like Dumbo, is that an alright area? We definitely need a 2 bed.

I said "healthy" budget because when I mentioned among friends that we were budgeting up to 5k for rent someone was shocked and said we were bragging about all the money we would be earning in NYC! We certainly weren't bragging, more like trying to prepare for the change! Plus we'll be down to one income for a while.

We do cook in London and we'll want some sort of actual kitchen not just a microwave and sink type thing.

You won't be bragging about the amount of money you have to spend ! I reckon our food budget has doubled since moving to the US and that is using Costco to bulk buy and freeze meat, it would be even more without that. All the utilities, the cable, mobile and insurances are much more expensive. I think clothes are about the same and petrol is cheaper. The cost of medicine is so much higher, the equivalent of lemsip was $15 dollars for five doses in our local supermarket. My DH had a prescription which was hundreds of dollars to be filled and we have good insurance as well.
The reason kitchens are tiny is because eating out or ordering is often the same price or cheaper than trying to buy the stuff and cook yourself, we now eat it at least twice a week as it makes much more sense.

@frozenlake we were accused of bragging. We weren't bragging we commented about budgets because we were in shock at the prices of things, food included.

Sorry I know you weren't bragging, just tell them how much stuff costs to shut them up!

Dumbo is nice, its a bit like Shad Thames in London. Be warned tho if you live in Dumbo proper in the old warehouses or around there, its bloody noisy as it between two bridges with traffic and subway lines (lots of newer buildings have triple glazing tho)

Also cautionary tale down there of flooding - it took ages after hurricane sandy to clean the area and buildings up and restore power. My advice would be don't look at any units on the bottom 3 floors of a building as a result. And get renters insurance when you move here - its invaluable in cases like that and is relatively cheap.

Yes dumbo is major flooding spot. It's awful that people live there without knowing just how badly it floods. It was warehouses for a reason.

Honestly, I wouldn’t live in Dumbo if you paid me. The cost to my mental and physical health of the 24hr noise and pollution from the two bridges and the BQE (like the North Circular), the icy bitter cold in the winter, and the tourists, would be huge. I have to go there once a week, and I can’t wait to get in and out as quickly as possible. Also, the transport connections are poor.

On paper it looks great, but in reality, two weeks of living there and you’ll be wanting to move.

If your DH is liking the look of Dumbo, I’d go back into Manhattan and look again. Rents in Dumbo are similar to some really decent parts of manhattan, and some are way cleaner, quieter, better connected, and all round nicer. Have a look at the top half of Battery Park, especially around Stuyvesant High School. I think someone mentioned it earlier.

Have you thought about going over to New Jersey? You'll get a lot more for your money (also lower taxes overall), quicker and more reliable transport links. We lived in Hoboken for a few years before moving to the Jersey 'burbs. From Hoboken there's the path (underground) to world trade and 33rd plus the water taxi and buses so you'll never be stuck over there. I have a lot of friends over in Williamsburg/bushwick/Dumbo/Bed-stuy and as PP said it's what Shoreditch copied with it being try hard hipster, overrated but still really dodgy.

Brooklyn is for people who can't afford mid-Manhattan but are too snobby for NJ. I absolutely NJ as it has a community feel and everything people move to Brooklyn for. Feel free to send me a PM if you want anymore info

estavino

Not sure that’s a wholly accurate representation of the 2.5m people who live in BK. I wouldn’t want to live in Manhattan, period. I have no snobbery about NJ, some of its housing stock is lovely, and the further up the Hudson you go, away from JC, the more leafy and pretty it gets. It just has no good schools within reasonable commuting distance of Manhattan, certainly not compared to Manhattan and Brooklyn. Very practical reason. In parts, Brooklyn is also - funnily enough - quite a lovely place to be.

estavino everyone said the same to me when I moved over, but I figure why would I move to NYC and then out to Jersey / what felt like the burbs when I had no kids or wasnt sure where I was going to settle.

Parts of Manhattan and brooklyn prices are on a par these days (insanity all round basically) we traded it off for Brooklyn due to being lazy oiks and sticking to the areas we knew well

across you might have noticed we're all very territorial about our 'hoods I will caution tho, AVOID staten island at all costs, there be dragons (and an enclave of right wing trump supporters...)

Personally I think Brooklyn is overpriced and overrated. We are often in Brooklyn Heights. Yes it's nice and well connected but it's a very similar neighborhood to Hoboken but double the price. Hoboken is also very well connected with options of ferry, bus and train into Manhattan. You also have the most fabulous view. Jersey City downtown is excellent too and they have much better restaurants than Hoboken. Commute to midtown from Jersey City would be by train or by ferry.

Also, we have lots of people living in Hoboken who were priced out of Brooklyn. They are insufferable. If I hear one more time how Brooklyn has better coffee/hair dressers/ restaurants I am going to scream. We have some excellent coffee places here but because they aren't 'cool' they are dismissed. The restaurants are terrible here in Hoboken but it's a short hop to Jersey City or into Manhattan for some fabulous eateries.

@Acrossthesea I second @misssmilla1 stay away from Staten Island! Other than that, just shop around and find somewhere that feels right for you.

Maybe see if you can get a few month sublet to begin with, and look around from there?

It just has no good schools within reasonable commuting distance of Manhattan

Really? What about places like Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Allendale...all commuter towns with excellent schooling.

Ridgewood, Allendale etc aren’t 25mins door to door from midtown or equivalent. For the cost of a 3 bed apt in Brooklyn that far away from work, you’d get a huge house with garage parking and lots of garden. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? But then we wouldn’t see our small children (who wake at 7.30am and go to bed at 7pm) between Sunday night and Friday evening. Stark choice, really.

Ridgewood, Allendale etc aren’t 25mins door to door from midtown or equivalent

So your definition of "reasonable commuting distance" is 25 mins? That's going to narrow things down for sure. For many people, 60-75 mins is perfectly acceptable because the benefits of living the suburban family lifestyle are worth the sacrifice of 1 parent doing longer hours and not seeing the kids much during the week. But isn't that the case for most families nowadays wherever in the world they live and work? I get that it's not for everyone, moving to the suburbs is one families dream and another's nightmare. But that doesn't change the fact that there are good schools within what that vast majority of people would consider a reasonable commuting distance of the city, albeit not by your standards.

Anyway, it's all irrelevant, I don't think the OP has any interest in the Jersey suburbs.

Incidentally, OP, how long are coming for? Is it a 2/3 year transfer or are you making it permanent? Because, if it's only 2 years or so, I would definitely say stick with Manhattan so you can really "do" the NYC thing for the time you're here.

Another area I thought of was the 90s of the Upper West Side. My friends live there and love it. Easy to walk to both Central and Riverside Parks, not touristy, easy commute into Midtown and lots of restaurants, etc. And you could get a 2 bed at the very top of your budget.

Would the company give you a relocator? Ours was invaluable in helping us find the right place to live.

Staten Island is looked down on by everyone. No one I know who lives there openly admits it!!!! One guy I work with who is absolutely lovely told me in hushed tones that he is from Staten Island and no one is to know. The southern part of Staten Island is nice but it's a long way from the ferry. The parts close to the ferry are very tough areas. It's ripe for regeneration but that's one I will leave for others to invade first.

We are protective of our hoods. I get some really funny looks when people find out we are raising our family in Hoboken. It's very European here in terms of walkability and cosmopolitan. The diversity of nationalities is amazing. Very few families are plain vanilla Americans. Most are DC first generation immigrants. There is a lot of entrepreneurial spirit here too. It's cheaper here so more attractive to this group.

The Staten Island thing made me laugh! There be dragons indeed, if that's where the Trump supporters are!

It's a permanent move in the sense of DH having a perm US contract but not permanent as in forever. My best guess 4-5 Years.

We have be given 2 days with a relocation firm. @MakeItStopNeville how did that work for you? I would love to know which firm it was as well, if you can say.

I have no ill feelings towards NJ or the 'burgs in general but with no kids we'd rather pay to keep the commute down as much as possible.

Hmm shortest commute to Bryant Park is from uptown Hoboken taking the ferry between 7:30-9am or bus outside of those hours. The shipyard building is good and no fee.

@Acrossthesea We used Intrepid New Yorker. www.intrepidrelo.com They were great in helping us find the right area. 2 days, when you’re based in the city itself, should be fine.