Moving to and through NYC

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 3:36am

So I've lived in the Chicagoland area all of my life and have never had to worry about packing my things up for a move hundreds to thousands of miles away, until now. Just curious as to what services those of you who have done this before use? I'm not planning to bring the contents of a house (as of now, I don't even have a bed worth keeping) but I figure a U-Haul would be difficult to park in the city and also a pain in the butt to drive such a long distance with relatively little in it. On the other hand, I have a wee bit more than what I could carry in my arms or probably ship through airport baggage. What are the most affordable options? Moreover, what is commonly used for moving internally through this city known for its bad parking?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 3:50am

I've only used a moving van once - and from my experience (and from what I've witnessed with others), they're quite lenient about leaving moving trucks parked in front of your building for a reasonable amount of time.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 4:06am

Thanks for this.

Another related question: Is Door to Door (a moving service where you put your things in a big storage box and then have that moved to your new location) used often in NYC?

(Basically, I'm hoping to avoid having to rent and drive a truck from Chicago to NYC just to move my essentials.... which are basically clothes, some books, A LOT of media, a microwave and possibly a TV unless it somehow makes more sense to just replace that. I suppose I could just load my things into a friend's UHaul but that's another story.)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 4:08am

Personally, I'd go with the uhaul if you're not planning on hiring moovers.
However, with you're done with the truck, will you then have to drive it BACK to Ill?

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 4:38am

Issues, issues!

Yeah, I'm not really averse to hiring movers. Just trying to assess (months in advance) how much I really have to move. It might be a little insane to rent a truck just for the TV, the microwave a few boxes of books and DVDs and what few clothes I have.

ETA: I am looking around my apartment at full boxes that are still sitting exactly where they were when I moved in here in October. Ultimately, I might be able to leave enough behind at my mother's house that moving wouldn't require much more than getting on an airplane with my luggage and shipping my necessities (mostly media) via UPS or baggage claim. It would be nice if apartments were furnished with beds. Updated On: 3/18/06 at 04:38 AM

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 7:58am

Call 1-800-Mattres (leave off the last "s" for savings) when you get here, and you'll have your bed in less than 24 hours. Or buy an Aero bed in Chicago and bring it with you. You can use it while you shop for the bed of your dreams, and it'll always come in handy when out of town guests come to visit.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 9:03am

Love that last tip. I definitely want my apartment to be hospitable to guests, but not so much that I would have to spend a fortune decorating it. (I don't even know how long I'll be living there.)

1-800-Mattres delivers, right?

I would obviously like to do NO driving in NYC if possible!

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 9:16am

Yup. 1-800-Mattres delivers right to your door within 24 hours of placing your order. If the order is placed early enough, they'll even deliver same day. You might want to check out their website in advance of your move to get an idea of size, brand, and prices.

http://1800mattres.com/

But the Aero Bed is also a great option. They're really comfortable, easy to transport (they come in their own duffel bag) and, like I said, they really come in handy.

ps. You can get just about anything delivered to your door in Manhattan.

Updated On: 3/18/06 at 09:16 AM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 10:15am

Evelyn, when I moved from detroit to San Francisco, I used a u-haul. No problem, no problem parking...remember you'll move hopefully WITH an apartment already, park, unload and then go turn it in.

Also, you'll find UPS can be as expensive as a truck......my uhaul from Detroit to SF (actually it was a Ryder) was $700.....to UPS would have been far more. And they do make smaller trucks

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 5:41pm

The circumstances for my move are sort of up in the air. It may be for school, in which case I would have the luxury of living in a dorm while I search for an apartment, or I may just take my savings and go.

Thanks for the affirmation that UHauls can indeed be used with little trouble. But I think I'm going to save myself a few hundred dollars by just not dragging all of my possessions with me. It is pretty silly that I have a box full of medication from 2002.

[Anakela]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 9:03pm

fyi, when I moved from CA to NY this is what I did:
- Ship all media (books, dvds, cds, etc) via usps 'media mail' rate. Takes stuff about three weeks to arrive or so, but with all of the other packing/unpacking I had to do I didn't mind being w/out my books for a few days. Plus it's the cheapest way to send your heavy stuff like books.
- Ship other stuff via UPS. I sent about 20 boxes of various sizes/weights this way. One did arrive damaged, but get that UPS insurance- it's totally worth it. You have to keep on them to get your insurance $$ back, but I (eventually) did, and it's enough to replace what was damaged in the move, Every other box arrived just fine.
- ship as much ahead of time to your new address as possible- the less stuff you have in the way while you're trying to pack up your old apartment, the easier it will be to pack up your old apt.
- Donated most stuff that was too big and/or not cost effective to move cross country: bed, desk, tv, etc. Your mileage may vary here- I didn't have any family heirloom or any type furniture, so for me it was more 'worth it' to donate that $30 microwave and $50 tv and whatnot, rather than having to spend that much (or maybe more than that) to pack it up and move it cross country. Also donate all of that 'extra' stuff (for example that bathroom cabinet of bottles of unused shampoo, etc. that one tends to have collected). I made four Goodwill trips, and had one Salvation Army pickup for stuff that was too large for me to take over to Goodwill, when I was packing up to move.
- KEEP RECEIPTS from your donations, keep receipts from your moving expenses (shipping, storage, etc.), for your taxes.
- When flying to your new city use the maximum size suitcases that you're allowed to check. And it might be cheaper to check in another suitcase or two for like $25 or $50 or whatever your airline charges, than to ship them via UPS.
- every place in NY delivers. Loved 1-800-mattres, used them for my new bed.

[TheOneAndOnly]

Posted: 3/20/06 at 12:43pm

One caveat about mattress deliveries in Manhattan. Most mattress services also pick-up your old mattress (if you have one), which means that your NEW mattress might have spent a few hours in the truck with someone elses OLD mattress. These days in Manhattan, bed bugs are reaching epidemic proportions, and what better reason to get rid of an old mattress than if it has bed bugs? I'd be wary of mattress delivery servicees for this very reason.

I have a platform bed frame from Ikea, and use a $40 air mattress (not an Aero, they are INCREDIBLY overpriced and all marketing hype, they aren't made well at all) with a mattress pad over it. This is more comfortable than a regular mattress, most people don't even realize that it's an air bed, and to top it off, when I do move, I won't have a bulky mattress and box spring to worry about. Bada bing!
Updated On: 3/20/06 at 12:43 PM

[liotte]

Posted: 3/20/06 at 12:48pm

Instead of renting a Uhaul, I rented a minivan (which Uhaul also has) to drive my stuff when I moved from IL to NY. It wasn't very expensive and since I wasn't moving big furniture, everything fit and it was a nice car to drive. FYI, Sandusky OH is halfway between Chicago and NY if you want to stop at Cedar Point on the way! The total drive was about 11-12 hours if you want to do it in a day.