Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?- Page 2
Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
#25re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 12:25amHow come I get blamed??? Just cuz I have met practically everyone from BWW doesn't mean I know collectively what everyone thinks!! :)
#26re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 5:15am
I agree with a lot of the people here, especially about looking at other boroughs besides Manhattan, I plan to move out of Manhattan soon, but if you're not too poor I'd recommend the East Village, which is a personal favorite area of mine; I like the busy nightlife without the overload and tourists of midtown...I have lived in the east village, union square, and the financial district, and all have felt extremely safe...I have felt slightly unsafe in Spanish Harlem and way up in Washington Heights at nighttime when by myself (a female), but for the most part throughout Manhattan I usually feel safe, and that also counts for most of the areas I've been to in Brooklyn and Queens.
I live in the financial district now, and while everything closes very early, there's a grocery store, a McDonald's, and a Dunkin Donuts that are always open, and that's enough for me :0) You can get anything you need in the city pretty much at any time, getting around is easy and essential places like grocery and drug stores are everywhere.
I love NYC. It never fails to disappoint. I'm more grateful everyday.
#27re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 9:15am
I live right outside the city in NJ. Without traffic I can be in times square in 20 minutes driving. An hour if you drive and park in Hoboken/Jersey City and take the Path in. I have many friends that commute in everyday or weekend to enjoy or work. They all swear by it!
I have just begun experiencing the city (yes I know, sheltered life I guess...well more like lazy) and it is addicting. Yeah TS was glitzy the first few times, but then you see all there is to offer away from that. I think I have a 2 page list of things I want to do, see, places to eat, etc. I better get cracking!
Whether you are moving to NYC or some remote area somewhere, logic still applys. Research the areas, make sure the apartment is legal and clean, and that you are comfortable.
BroadwayBoobs: I'll give all of you who weren't there a hint of who took the pictures ...it rhymes with shameless
SOMMS: I knew it was Tink!
#28re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 1:44pm
Don't try to live in the city right away--it's not that big of a deal and the money you save on rent will enable you to spend more on leisure and accessories.
Don't bring your car.
Jobs are pretty easy to find as long as you're not an idiot and speak English.
It is the best place I'v lived, but it ain't perfect and I think it's VERY hard on the women. It's great for the gay boys tho!
#29re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 1:49pmYEEHAW GAY BOYS!
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#30re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 2:16pmAnd it's not hard to find a connection....
#31re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 2:57pmI am trying to move up towards the NJ/Philly area. Does anyone have any suggestions of apartment complexes in NJ (close to NYC) that are not god awful expensive? I was just looking at Walnut Park Apartments in East Orange, NJ. Any idea how safe that area is?
#32re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 2:59pmEast Orange isn't exactly close to Philadelphia. You won't be having to commute there, will you?
#33re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:02pm
Oh, no! Right now I am just looking into places to move. . . THEN I am going to start looking for jobs. Do you know if East Orange is a safe area?
colleen_lee
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/05
#34re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:08pmAll y'all bastards are giving me the itch to move again. Dammit, I want to be in that city so f***ing badly.
#35re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:10pmGod, me too Colleen. I have wanted to move for years, but getting fired from my job has kind of jump started everything. i am planning to move up north around June. That will give me some time to save money and go job hunting.
colleen_lee
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/05
#36re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:13pm
I've been trying to to move for two years, but I just can't get out from under my student loan debt. I keep trying to put some money away, but even with my four jobs I don't make enough to cover all my bills let alone save.
And it's making me completely crazy. I am very tired of Minneapolis, I want out.
I hate all of you.
#37re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:14pm
All I know about East Orange is the train station. 
It's not far from Millburn (a very lovely little town), where Paper Mill is. Then again, it's also not very far from Newark...
#38re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:56pmIf you like broadway, Hell's Kitchen/Midtown West is the place to be. There are some great deals out there on Craigslist for rooms, and it is possible to find a nice apartment that isn't super expensive. The place I live now is fantastic.
#39re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 3:59pmBe ready, though. Without a job, you're probably going to need a guarantor to get an apartment -- and the general rule for a guarantor is an annual salary of 80 times the monthly rent. No small feat!
#40re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 4:00pmIt's 80 times the rent in the tri state area, I think it's 120 or 160 times the rent if it is out of state. Harsh!
#41re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 4:01pmYeah, that's what my ex and his new husband had to do--i live close to where justme lives and I pay $450 plus 1/3 of the elec. We have a 3 BR apt on the top floor of a 3-family home--huge and quiet. If you dont mind livin in da hood...
#42re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 4:06pm
I used my dad as a guarantor, but as a retiree, his income (now just returns on his investments and his pension) was just a few thousand below the 80-times requirement. As a compromise, they took two months' rent as a deposit instead of one.
They had no problem with him being an out-of-state (Texas) guarantor. However, some other places I looked out were downright refusing out-of-state guarantors regardless. It's just a matter of luck.
eta: Also, most places will let you have multiple guarantors in which the cumulative salary of all would count toward the requirement. That's a lot of pain-in-the-ass paperwork, though.
Updated On: 1/11/07 at 04:06 PM
#44re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 4:24pm1990???? Sheesh! Time for a revisit! And I live in NYC and don't hear those stories!
#45re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 4:28pmI hear more stories like that from the whiteytighty areas now a days.....
BroadwayBoobs: I'll give all of you who weren't there a hint of who took the pictures ...it rhymes with shameless
SOMMS: I knew it was Tink!
#46re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 4:31pmIsn't it a little early for Valentine's, Amanda?
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
#48re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 5:13pm
Amanda, your post has inspired me to venture outside of my 80s sitcom safety zone of "Designing Women" and "The Golden Girls."
Grandpa Huxtable: I've already been to Europe, and I didn't care for it much.
Cliff: Yes, but it was 1943, and you were running alongside a tank.
#49re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 5:20pmIt's really not like that amanda--it's not like TAXI DRIVER or WELCOME BACK KOTTER anymore
#50re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 5:25pm
No, I am not going to move there first and get a job. I am going to try to find an area to live . . . .
look for a job there . . . get a job . . . then get an apartment. Right now, I am just looking.
Here's the thing I don't understand about craigslist. It gives you the city and the price, but does not tell you the name of the apartment complex. I look at apartments and then go to www.apartmentratings.com and see how people like living there.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#51re: Living in NYC - all it's cracked up to be?
Posted: 1/11/07 at 5:32pm
"It's really not like that amanda--it's not like TAXI DRIVER or WELCOME BACK KOTTER anymore"
Nor is it like Sex & the City or Seinfeld. How did Carrie afford all those outfits (not to mention cigarettes) writing a column?
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