I'm moving to NYC: advice on where to live

[ceczar]

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There's almost no way, even if you lived on top of a 2/3 station and considered 14th st. part of the west village, that you could get to times square in 10 minutes. More realistically it's going to be 2-3 times that.

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apologize if i wasn't clear before, but the subway rides themselves take less than 10 minutes between Union Square and Times Square. it's less than 2 miles away. but obviously door to door will be longer, though you could definitely pull a 20 min commute if you lived close to union square.

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Are you talking about Union Square or the west village?

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it doesn't matter, because it only takes 10 minutes from Sheridan Sq to Times Sq. and though it will take him to 8th ave instead of 7th, the stop at West 4th is similarly quick.

would you have disagreed with the following if i had said this first instead:
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If you live in the village (west or central), there are many subways that are quick 10 minute rides to Times Sq

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[dogdrool]

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Nice thing about working in Times Square is nearly every subway line runs through it. Bad part is you'll be hating life everyday trying to push your way through the tourists staring up at the billboards.

As far as living goes, I'd recommend the Upper West Side. Couple reasons:

1. Comparatively, $2500 - $3000 doesn't get you a lot of space downtown

2. Downtown is more competitive when finding apts, and because of this, much less dog-friendly - I tried to get a place in the West Village a few years back w/ a dog, and maybe 20% of apartments were dog-friendly (at most).

3. Central and Riverside Park are both great for dogs.

IMO, the only downside is a lack of good restaurants, but you can always hop in a cab.

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Seems like sage advice. What do you think about that budget? I could spend more, but I'm not looking for some crazy nice pad (as a rental). Does it seem like I'm in the right ballpark?

Also, should I just stick to craigslist and ignore any broker or fee-based places?

[nyc999]

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Nice thing about working in Times Square is nearly every subway line runs through it. Bad part is you'll be hating life everyday trying to push your way through the tourists staring up at the billboards.

As far as living goes, I'd recommend the Upper West Side. Couple reasons:

1. Comparatively, $2500 - $3000 doesn't get you a lot of space downtown

2. Downtown is more competitive when finding apts, and because of this, much less dog-friendly - I tried to get a place in the West Village a few years back w/ a dog, and maybe 20% of apartments were dog-friendly (at most).

3. Central and Riverside Park are both great for dogs.

IMO, the only downside is a lack of good restaurants, but you can always hop in a cab.

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Seems like sage advice. What do you think about that budget? I could spend more, but I'm not looking for some crazy nice pad (as a rental). Does it seem like I'm in the right ballpark?

Also, should I just stick to craigslist and ignore any broker or fee-based places?

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For the most part, your price range will get you a nice place uptown. Downtown, it will be decent, but not great. A broker will get you in an apartment faster than doing it on your own, but Craigslist helps, and so does walking around and asking doormen (a good way to avoid realtor fees, which will run you upwards of $5K).

Although a rare find, I had a great 1BR in a dog-friendly building on the UWS and paid $2200. New everything and a balcony that fit maybe 15-20 people. It did have a few downsides, but nothing horrible. Found it on Craigslist. The building frequently has open apartments. PM me if you want details.

[BvlyHls90210]

The absolute best dog walking service is Two Dogs and a Goat, Charlotte Reed's company.

http://twodogsandagoat.com/

I used her company for about 3 years and it was great. I've since moved away from NYC, but am happy to refer people to her.

[solids]

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I just took a job on Wall St (well, the office is in Times Sq)

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Just curious, you working at Morgan Stanley?

Typically, I would suggest finding a place in Hell's Kitchen, as the commute is usually just a 5 minute walk. But with dogs, the UWS is definitely the way to go. With your budget, you could probably get a nice place that's relatively close to the park.

[ceczar]

spend some time going through some of the new york neighborhood guides online so that you have a general idea of which areas sound like something you'd like and you really should come and spend a weekend in the city walking around all those neighborhoods.

there really is a pretty big difference between the major manhattan neighborhoods. the apartments themselves are very different accross neighborhoods; the bars and clubs can be quite different; the restaurant selection is highly variable accross neighborhoods as well; as are the demographics, and of course what your commute everyday will be like.

the differences are too great for anyone that's not you to be able to tell you what would fit your needs the best. as far as what you're asking from this forum, the most useful information that someone could give you would be to take a neighborhood and give a review of the neighborhood, or take an aspect of city life (nightlife, building quality) and try to give an overview of how that aspect varies across different neighborhoods.

i've lived in hell's kitchen for almost 3 years now (52nd & 9th), and here is what i can tell you about my experience that would be relevant for your decision (please let me know if you think i'm offbase on any of these):
*rent is cheap here relative to pretty much everything except for the upper east side (east of the fancy part) and the very downtown (wall st and battery park).
*you can't beat the commute (mine is similarly to a midtown financial firm). it's also central so easy to get to any of the other neighborhoods (only better area for subway access is union square).
*some may disagree, but the restaurant selection is probably better here than anywhere else. you have a lot of fancier restaurants oriented towards the midtown businesses, and over on 9th you have a plethora of inexpensive (but good) ethnic restaurants.
*nightlife is not so great. there are plenty of bars, but i prefer the bar scene of the lower east side, east village, village, upper east side and upper west side to what i have available around my apartment (which is why i'm looking for a new place downtown)

[The DaveR]

If you want a location that's central, I recommend a little north of Union Square, b/w 14th and 23rd, around B'way. You'll be along the NRQW which is an easy ride to work, and you'll have easy subway access everywhere. There are also a lot of places to go in the neighborhood and you're a 10-15 minute walk to both the East and West Village.

EDIT: Also, you'll be walking distance from Madison Square Park, which has the cleanest dog run I've seen in Manhattan.

[TripSearching]

If it is important for you to have space why dont you look into renting in Edgewater or Weehawken or even Hoboken or North Jersey City? You can get amazing apartments for a littles less than New York City prices and then you can take the ferry which is only about a 5 minute boat ride and offers free Shuttle service to and from Time Square as well as up and down River Road. Living in these areas will also give you more land to actually walk your dogs as well as you will not have to deal with the intense traffic of living in NYC. I live in Hackensack which is a 45 minute commute door to door to my office in midtown (about two blocks from times square) and my area is quiet, I have a 1 bedroom that is over 1000SqFt and I pay significantly less than $3000. I think you need to decide what is more important, a shorter commute or space for you and your dogs and the most value for your money.

[burningyen]

I'd start out by looking at highrises on the Upper West Side or Chelsea. There's also a few decent places in Hell's Kitchen like Worldwide Plaza and the Strand that will be walking distance. I would wait until you get sick of the city before you start looking at NJ or Brooklyn.

[Evan]

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There's almost no way, even if you lived on top of a 2/3 station and considered 14th st. part of the west village, that you could get to times square in 10 minutes. More realistically it's going to be 2-3 times that.

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apologize if i wasn't clear before, but the subway rides themselves take less than 10 minutes between Union Square and Times Square. it's less than 2 miles away. but obviously door to door will be longer, though you could definitely pull a 20 min commute if you lived close to union square.

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Are you talking about Union Square or the west village?

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it doesn't matter, because it only takes 10 minutes from Sheridan Sq to Times Sq. and though it will take him to 8th ave instead of 7th, the stop at West 4th is similarly quick.

would you have disagreed with the following if i had said this first instead:
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If you live in the village (west or central), there are many subways that are quick 10 minute rides to Times Sq

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Well, part of my issue with your west village time is that subways really only run up the east side of the west village. It's a lot harder to have a 10-15 minute walk (or even longer) to get to a subway from union square than from the west village. I also wouldn't really consider Union Square an eastward extension of the west village, I'd call that greenwich village and consider the two to be separated by 14th St.