FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: cutout on April 16, 2009, 03:50:57 PM
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This topic has probably been posted numerous times by people moving to the city....
My wife just got accepted to grad school at Columbia for writing which is thrilling, but neither of us have a clue where to live. We're both from small-town Virginia and honestly never considered living up there. I'd love any tips on neighborhoods that are ideal, price-wise, and also in proximity to the school, though she doesn't mind a long subway ride. Once we're there I'd also love to meet other FOTs for drinks if there are meetups happening...
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Hey congratulations to your wife, that's an incredibly competitive program.
My brother just started going there for engineering and he just used the off-campus housing office to find a place in Morningside Heights, nearby. Even though the Upper West Side and Harlem are totally expensive - $1200 for a closet, that sort of thing - there are pockets of affordable student-oriented housing nearby. And if you don't mind commuting you can probably find something really spacious and maybe even really beautiful in Washington Heights or in Inwood, on the northern tip of Manhantan, where they have medieval castles and eagles.
Probably not super-practical to look in the boroughs (unless you're really adventurous and want to check out the Bronx) - uptown and West Side are probably going to be your best bets. Though the other thing about NYC is that it's full of impossible bargains that people just luck into, so you never know. I lived in Williamsburg for $400 a month until 2002 (also get used to people just coming out and talking about rents).
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(also get used to people just coming out and talking about rents).
What you payin', Grote?
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Congratulations on the big move. If I moved there I would look into living on Roosevelt Island or Hoboken. Student housing at Columbia are actually just awesome apartments. Good luck.
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I agree with Jack that Hoboken is pretty awesome, but rent there can easily equal or exceed rent in Manhattan. If you can afford it, though, you've got great restaurants and bars, one of the best rock clubs in the world, and you're ten minutes from the city.
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I lived in Sunset Park in Brooklyn for quite some time. I liked it a lot.
The price is right, but the commute for your wife would be brutal.
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Thanks guys. I think my wife applied for student housing which might be a good deal, but people keep saying that neighborhood near Columbia/Morningside Heights is not so exciting in terms of proximity to fun things. My wife is somewhat opposed to living outside the city, aka Jersey, but neither of us know what we're talking about. A couple friends just moved to the lower east side - is that fun/affordable? Sorry to sound like a rube, but there's no hiding it.
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Morningside Heights is pretty boring. There's nothing to do at night and no good bars.
I lived on the far northside of Greenpoint, Brooklyn when I was going to school and was able to get to Columbia in just under an hour on the subway (walk or bike into Queens and take the 7). Rent wasn't cheap but it wasn't Manhattan prices either. We paid $1200 for a three room very clean apartment. If you went for something smaller you could do better maybe. I always felt like Brooklyn or Queens offered a better life than Manhattan could and didn't mind the commute because it meant good bars and food in my neighborhood on nights and weekends.
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My wife and I lived in Astoria for 3 years, i'd go back.
Real estate people sometimes call the part of Washington Heights below Inwood Hudson Heights. As Grote said, it's very beautiful around there.
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Hey cutout,
When I worked at Columbia, plenty of the grad students/adjuncts would get either student housing or "off campus," i.e. not university sponsored-apartments in Washington Heights, in the immediate vicinity of the medical center on 168th Street, or in Hamilton Heights, around 145th Street heading toward the West Side. If you get a place near the medical center on 168, there's a free shuttle for students/staff that runs between there and the main campus at Morningside.
There is also a shuttle service to the Upper East Side (near Cornell and Rockefeller University), but I don't know if its open to Columbia students. Upper East Side isn't so fun, though.
I agree with Jed that the boroughs can be good, but I too commuted from Greenpoint to Columbia and it was more than I could take (I did the walk to Queens, then 7 to the A train), especially in the warm months.
If you are willing to travel a little bit for fun, then consider renting in Riverdale, in the Bronx. Its a really nice neighborhood, about 30 minutes to the campus. You can get a nice 1 bedroom in a great building for $1250 or so. Just know its not a terribly exciting place to live.
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Taking a look at Riverdale neighborhood now, thanks guys.
Also, any opinions on Park Slope or Prospect Heights?
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Park Slope, you'll be at the mercy of the F train, which is the third ring of the Inferno. Getting all the way up to Columbia will be a royal pain in the ass. And you'll be priced out unless you have Doddy types of money. Be careful with both of those neighborhoods because listings for it will lie and say that something in Crown Heights is Prospect Heights. I used to work in the projects down there; Crown Heights ain't all bad but it's block by block and hard to get a sense of that without walking around
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Park Slope, you'll be at the mercy of the F train, which is the third ring of the Inferno. Getting all the way up to Columbia will be a royal pain in the ass. And you'll be priced out unless you have Doddy types of money. Be careful with both of those neighborhoods because listings for it will lie and say that something in Crown Heights is Prospect Heights. I used to work in the projects down there; Crown Heights ain't all bad but it's block by block and hard to get a sense of that without walking around
Yes, very important to keep in mind that NYC realtors are notorious for for fudging neighborhoods (since those boundaries are pretty fluid anyway). For years, they referred to Bushwick as the non-existent East Williamsburg, until Bushwick became less scary for the average hipster.
If you know anybody who lives in the city (or is familiar with it), I'd definitely have them peep any address you're interested to make sure it's a decent spot.
Anything is Brooklyn is probably gonna require a long, long subway commute to Morningside Heights. And because of the train routes, Queens is not much better either. For ease of commute, upper Manhattan or Riverdale (as JSN noted) is probably your best bet.
One glimmer of hope: rental rates have declined or flatlined in many neighborhoods, due to the crappy economy. So you may be able to get a better rate then you would have a year ago.
Good luck.
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We paid $1200 for a three room very clean apartment.
jeepers! when was this, jed? in 2009, we're paying $1350 for a small 3-bedroom in tempe, az (which i imagine is cheaper than NY).
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We paid $1200 for a three room very clean apartment.
jeepers! when was this, jed? in 2009, we're paying $1350 for a small 3-bedroom in tempe, az (which i imagine is cheaper than NY).
I think he meant 1 bedroom (3-room, bedroom being one of them), not 3-bedroom.
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We paid $1200 for a three room very clean apartment.
jeepers! when was this, jed? in 2009, we're paying $1350 for a small 3-bedroom in tempe, az (which i imagine is cheaper than NY).
I think he meant 1 bedroom (3-room, bedroom being one of them), not 3-bedroom.
i was about to have a stroke, thanks, Thomas. that's just not how we talk in the south(west).
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We paid $1200 for a three room very clean apartment.
jeepers! when was this, jed? in 2009, we're paying $1350 for a small 3-bedroom in tempe, az (which i imagine is cheaper than NY).
I think he meant 1 bedroom (3-room, bedroom being one of them), not 3-bedroom.
i was about to have a stroke, thanks, Thomas. that's just not how we talk in the south(west).
That's not how they talk anywhere.
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We paid $1200 for a three room very clean apartment.
jeepers! when was this, jed? in 2009, we're paying $1350 for a small 3-bedroom in tempe, az (which i imagine is cheaper than NY).
I think he meant 1 bedroom (3-room, bedroom being one of them), not 3-bedroom.
i was about to have a stroke, thanks, Thomas. that's just not how we talk in the south(west).
It was from 2005-2008. It was a three room apartment because you couldn't distinguish a 'bedroom' from a living or dining room. All the rooms were in a row, no hall, railroad. If some slobs would have wanted to have a bedroom in the room we used as a living room it could have been a three bedroom apartment with no living room.
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while considering a move to LA, i went to craigslist to find a roommate only to find that i would be sleeping the living room (set up as a bedroom...with a public television). needless to say, i gave up on looking for a roommate.
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while considering a move to LA, i went to craigslist to find a roommate only to find that i would be sleeping the living room (set up as a bedroom...with a public television). needless to say, i gave up on looking for a roommate.
New York is filled with similar stories -- my most recent was when I needed to find a room to rent and found a space to split on craigslist with a kindergarten teacher/grad student...who forgot to mention her coke habit. Whoops.
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while considering a move to LA, i went to craigslist to find a roommate only to find that i would be sleeping the living room (set up as a bedroom...with a public television). needless to say, i gave up on looking for a roommate.
New York is filled with similar stories -- my most recent was when I needed to find a room to rent and found a space to split on craigslist with a kindergarten teacher/grad student...who forgot to mention her coke habit. Whoops.
i had this problem when i found a room in phoenix in january with a girl in nursing school...who forgot to mention her slob habit. Gross.
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Looks like the consensus is we want to be near the express subway line so the commute from Brooklyn to Columbia is less painful. I've been looking via Google Maps at neighborhoods in the upper part of the borough like Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights, but don't yet understand subway access. Is it realistic to get a one-bedroom place for under $1400 in one of those neighborhoods? It seems to be. I just want to make sure the place is not just affordable but in a fun area. Thanks!
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Looks like the consensus is we want to be near the express subway line so the commute from Brooklyn to Columbia is less painful. I've been looking via Google Maps at neighborhoods in the upper part of the borough like Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights, but don't yet understand subway access. Is it realistic to get a one-bedroom place for under $1400 in one of those neighborhoods? It seems to be. I just want to make sure the place is not just affordable but in a fun area. Thanks!
Clinton Hill and Fort Greene - careful, parts of that neighborhood are great and parts of it (or what they will try to sell you on it) are between the highway and the projects, FAR away from public transport. But good neighborhoods, yes. Brooklyn Heights is great but you'd need a New York miracle to get a one-bedroom for that -- not impossible, just luck required.
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Looks like the consensus is we want to be near the express subway line so the commute from Brooklyn to Columbia is less painful. I've been looking via Google Maps at neighborhoods in the upper part of the borough like Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights, but don't yet understand subway access. Is it realistic to get a one-bedroom place for under $1400 in one of those neighborhoods? It seems to be. I just want to make sure the place is not just affordable but in a fun area. Thanks!
Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, possibly. Although as cutout noted, parts of these neighborhoods are either not the safest or not too close to the train (or some combination of both). If you need to walk any more than, say, 10-15 blocks to get to the nearest station, it better be a really nice place.
Brooklyn Heights is very, very expensive, so it's unlikely you'd find something at that price. But it never hurts to look.
Subways will look intimidating at first, when you're not used to taking them or transferring from one train to another. But it's something you get used to very quickly. Just by doing it every day, you'll pick it up by osmosis.
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Fort Greene rents went through the roof about 3 years ago, but they might have calmed down a little. You probably won't be able to find anything decent for under $1600, though. Clinton Hill is a little better, but also a little further out, and can be sketchy sometimes - our old upstairs neighbors moved there and tell us about shit like young teenagers throwing stuff at their 6-year-old son, or open gang brawls in the street. It does vary a lot block by block, though.
In terms of proximity to Manhattan, though, subway access matters a lot more than how close you are on the map (within reason; Coney Island or Rockaway are going to take forever to get you into Midtown, let alone 115th street). If you must live in Brooklyn, try to get something off of the A (Boerum Hill probably has some good deals, especially by the Hoyt-Schermerhorn stop) or the 2/3 (Prospect Heights and Crown Heights come to mind, though both are fairly far out).
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Just saw this today, and it might help explain the commute when checking places out: triptropnyc.com -- you can just type in "columbia university" and then starting typing in other areas. The nice part is that takes into account proximity to subway stops, etc. It's like a visual hopstop.com (which, by the way, will become your lifeblood along with the mta.info service alerts page - save yourself A LOT of trouble by just checking that out, especially on the weekends).
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Thanks senorcorazon, that's pretty awesome. It guessed correctly that the Clinton Hill area to Columbia was about 60min, which is what others have told us.
BTW, I think I erred a couple times when I said Brooklyn Heights which is no doubt expensive; what I meant was Prospect Heights.
I'm really appreciating the advice. Not to wear you guys out, but I'm also curious if any of you have lived on the lower east side. A friend just moved there and I know he only makes a middlin' salary so I'm wondering if prices there haven't dropped. I'm going to find out his exact address.
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I will second Prospect Heights and Astoria. Also, the commutes going to be a little longer on the 7 train, but check out Woodside, Queens.
I'm not a fan of Sunnyside, Queens, but it's cheap also.
Rents will be coming down a bit while the real estate market is gut-shot, so you have that working for you. Remember to look at any place and if you're skeeved by the location, follow your gut, because your realtor is a fucking liar. Go to neighborhoods and look for local weekly papers. The kind of Pennysavers you see in diners or grocery stores. There will always be local listings there. Most neighborhoods have their own.
Look me up when you get here. Always great meeting new FOT's. This board attracts some great people.
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I will second Prospect Heights and Astoria. Also, the commutes going to be a little longer on the 7 train, but check out Woodside, Queens.
I'm not a fan of Sunnyside, Queens, but it's cheap also.
Rents will be coming down a bit while the real estate market is gut-shot, so you have that working for you. Remember to look at any place and if you're skeeved by the location, follow your gut, because your realtor is a fucking liar. Go to neighborhoods and look for local weekly papers. The kind of Pennysavers you see in diners or grocery stores. There will always be local listings there. Most neighborhoods have their own.
Look me up when you get here. Always great meeting new FOT's. This board attracts some great people.
The good thing about the 7 is that, in general, it runs very well during weekdays/rush hours. Weekends are a whole other story (although that's true of pretty much every subway), but it's very reliable during the hours you'd probably need it the most. All in all, it'd probably be no longer of a commute than taking the A from somewhere in Brooklyn. Plus, if you live in/near Woodside, you can grab an Express train that'll get you to Penn Station super-fast.
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The Ditmars/Astoria Blvd/30th Ave area of Astoria has the M60 bus which goes directly to Columbia via the RFK Bridge/Harlem. The timetable says 20 minute trip (which sounds highly improbable given real world conditions). I've heard it can get pretty crowded at times with people heading to/from LaGuardia though. You'd also have the N train there but you would have to take that down to Times Square to pick up the 1 train for Columbia. You can find a good Astoria web community here: www.astorians.com
The important thing is to honestly evaluate your wants and figure out what compromises you are willing to make. You can find amazing deals for $1400 but those often require luck or lots of legwork. The Lower East Side can be fun but also crowded, expensive, and loud. If you are going out every night it might be worth it. However, if you are a person who works the 9-5 and wants a place that is quiet after 11pm Sun-Thurs it might be a hellhole. The bigger, nicer apartment in a neighborhood that is more remote/less "hip" may be worth having to take a ride on the subway a couple nights a week to go out someplace fun. All depends on your lifestyle.
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The Ditmars/Astoria Blvd/30th Ave area of Astoria has the M60 bus which goes directly to Columbia via the RFK Bridge/Harlem. The timetable says 20 minute trip (which sounds highly improbable given real world conditions). I've heard it can get pretty crowded at times with people heading to/from LaGuardia though. You'd also have the N train there but you would have to take that down to Times Square to pick up the 1 train for Columbia. You can find a good Astoria web community here: www.astorians.com
Astoria's really nice, but I've heard bad things about the local trains (can't speak from experience).
I would advise everyone to never rely on any MTA bus for anything. I live in Maspeth (Queens), which is not very far from Manhattan but also not near to any subways, thus necessitating bus travel for at least part of my daily commute. I can't tell you how many hours of my life I've already lost waiting for a bus. Or being stuck in traffic on a bus because a truck has to back into a garage. Or seeing a bus pull away from the curb just as I reach the stop. And that schedule they put up on the bus stop poles is usually just a cruel joke.
I think what I'm trying to say is, the bus sucks a lot.
Unless the M60 has figured out how to teleport itself, there's no way it's getting from Astoria to Columbia in 20 minutes.
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The Ditmars/Astoria Blvd/30th Ave area of Astoria has the M60 bus which goes directly to Columbia via the RFK Bridge/Harlem. The timetable says 20 minute trip (which sounds highly improbable given real world conditions). I've heard it can get pretty crowded at times with people heading to/from LaGuardia though. You'd also have the N train there but you would have to take that down to Times Square to pick up the 1 train for Columbia. You can find a good Astoria web community here: www.astorians.com
Having taken that bus in my lifetime, I can tell you that 20 minutes relates in no way to real life conditions.
I suggest using google.com/transit or hopstop.com for subway mapping with travel time.
I also recently discovered www.hotpads.com, which is useful for apartment searching in that it plots the available apartments on a map. You can search by city or zip code.
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So I'm definitely moving Aug 1, but some people have advised that no apartment will be available til July15th anyway so don't even bother checking. Is the buying window really that narrow?
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So I'm definitely moving Aug 1, but some people have advised that no apartment will be available til July15th anyway so don't even bother checking. Is the buying window really that narrow?
I'm not sure who would say that, or why, but it never hurts to try. It's definitely a renter's market right now.
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The latter half of the month is a busy time for apartment listings for the following month, so I see why someone might say that.
However, there are plenty of apartments listed further in advance too. On craigslist for NYC just make "august" one of your search terms and you'll get a bunch of results.
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I also recommend Astoria! You can get a nice 1 bedroom for $1000-$1300.
It is a kind of long commute to Columbia (closer than Brooklyn though) but there is that bus that was already mentioned. I used to take the same bus to East Harlem for student teaching. About the trains near here (I'm near Ditmars Blvd., a great neighborhood!) - they are pretty good, especially during peak times as far as reliability and wait time. It's after 11pm that they get slow. And as for the bus, never had a problem. If you are into commuting by bike it is a very nice ride across the Triboro bridge straight into Harlem!
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FWIW, I'm finally settled into a place on Pitt St, just south of Houston. I love it. Thanks for all the help and tips.
Any other FOTs in the vicinity?
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I'm not sure about lower Manhattan, but we treat the whole place as our stomping ground. I'm down there an awful lot.
Eh?
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I'm not sure about lower Manhattan, but we treat the whole place as our stomping ground. I'm down there an awful lot.
Eh?
From lower Manhattan, it's a 10 minute drunken cab ride to my door in Brooklyn.
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FWIW, I'm finally settled into a place on Pitt St, just south of Houston. I love it. Thanks for all the help and tips.
Any other FOTs in the vicinity?
Houston's not in New York, you Boroughadummy, it's in Texas.
Haven't you noticed how hot it is?