Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with newyorkcity and housing

Is $1350 a month reasonable for an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan?

oldlies — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:50:10 -0800

Is $1350/mo reasonable rent for an apartment on W 107th St. & Broadway (Upper West Side of Manhattan)? One bedroom, ground level, furnished, clean, utilities and cable included. Can you tell me anything about the W 107th & Broadway area? Nice? Stuff to do? Safe? If I had to pay for utilities + cable in Manhattan, approx. how much would that be per month?

Where should we live in Washington, D.C., with two kids?

hhc5 — Sun, 21 May 2006 20:36:54 -0800

Which Washington, D.C. neighborhood is right for my interracial, liberal, priced-out-of New York, two-child family? My wife and I are about 30, and together make a good salary (about $200K/year), but between childcare for our two kids, NYC rent, student loans, paying down credit card debt from my law-school days, and the modest enjoyment of the Yuppie lifestyle (and believe me, we're more frugal than most of our friends), we're saving nothing. We're also facing the prospect of about $20,000 per year per child in private school tuition, though for now, our older kid is going to a public elementary school. Unlike most everyone we know who's bought a home in New York City, our parents are unable to help us with either a down payment or private school tuition, if we decide to go that way. Thus, at this point, homeownership and financial security seem like an unreachable dream as long as we stay in New York.

Our proposed solution: we move where housing costs are lower than in New York, where the public schools are better than in New York, but where the salaries are not much less than in New York. We're thinking about Washington D.C. This probably describes other cities, but for several reasons, we think D.C.'s the place.

My question: where do we move? Where in the D.C. area can we find good public schools, a good political and racial vibe, and decent housing (keep in mind we'd probably rent for a little while, save up some money, and then buy)?

What do I need to know to live in NYC for the summer?

Alterscape — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 14:17:45 -0800

MovingToNYCFilter: I'm soon to be a college grad, and I'm in the running for a 6-week internship in NYC that may become long-term employment. Please help me figure out what I need to know to live in the big city. I assume that for the time frame I'm looking at, I'll need to either rent a room from someone, or short-term sublet all or part of someone's apartment. I don't know where exactly in the city I'll be, but I know I'll be working long hours (6am-9pm .. ish) five or six days a week, and I'll need access to my car.

I've never rented alone, or an apartment -- for the past three years, I've been renting various houses in my small college town, with a close-knit group of relatively like-minded friends.

Where can I look to find out about commute times, distances, etc so when I find out where I'll need to be, I can have some idea of where I want to be looking for housing around there? Besides Craigslist, where should I be looking? I hope I'll know within about a month if I get the gig, and where I'll be working; theoretically the internship begins the week before July 4th, and runs through the middle of August.

What other questions am I not asking that I should be, and what are some possible answers?

I feel pretty overwhelmed with everything right now, but I know I need to take this internship to get my foot in the door in my industry of choice, and I want to avoid looking like an idiot and not making it to work on the first day or something crazy like that.

Shiny, tiny new apartment in Manhattan or affordable charm in Brooklyn?

hsoltz — Wed, 19 May 2004 09:25:02 -0800

Another NYC Real Estate Question: the SO and I, who have always lived in charming smallish walk-ups with leaky tubs/peeling paint in Queens-like proximity to 'the big city,' have been seduced by the siren song of new construction downtown. With their pre-opening rent breaks, brand-new appliances, and convenience to both work and play, these "luxury buildings" appear to offer a whole new standard of living at an attractive price. However, ... [mi] ...we're slightly paralyzed by the thought that the same rent, or less, could land us a spacious yet locationally-challenged loft in Brooklyn. (Everything we're seen is far from a subway.) So which sounds better to you: "location, location, location," or the ability to inhabit opposite ends of an apartment without being able to hear each other?