I've spent a good deal of time looking at apartments (both listings and actual apartments) in NYC (see my list of resources here). I'm having a hard time deciding on what my price range is for my next place. And I'm not exactly sure what's most important to me.
Here is my current list of considerations:
- I want to be near the places that I go out: Walking home from a bar is far better than trying to hail a cab and then stay awake for the ride. Not to mention the cost of riding 70 blocks and the inevitability of me trying to ride the subway home one night and waking up sans valuables at a subway stop in Brooklyn. Which neighborhoods are those? I think LES, East Village/Alphabet City, West/Greenwich Village and Soho/NoLita. Almost certainly south of 34th St, ideally south of 14th.
- I want to be near a subway that gets me to work: I currently work in Midtown West, within commute-walking distance of just about every subway line (1,N,R,W,B,D,F,V,C,E; basically all local trains except the 6, which I can use to connect pretty easily on the E). So, this one shouldn't be much of an issue. It includes basically all of Manhattan, Long Island City, Brooklyn
- I want to be near a good grocery store: As you may know, I cook a lot. So, I like to have good selection of grocery stores. I was previously living near Union Square, which is probably the best grocery store situation in the City with Trader Joe's and Whole Foods within a few blocks. I think this limits me to the Union Square/East Village area or the UWS, or potentially LES. Though, I guess I could survive anywhere there's a whole foods.
- I want a good sized apartment: I'm not looking for a 900 square foot apartment. I think I could survive on 650+, but more space is obviously better. Obviously, this limits most apartments, though I found a place in Soho, which generally has the smallest apts, that would have been a good enough size for a reasonable price.
- I want a nice kitchen: So many listings are newly renovated with brand new kitchen appliances, including a gas stove and lots of counter space. I guess those are luxuries I'd be willing to part with.
So, that's what I'm looking for. Now, I think I've listed them in order of importance. But, the weighting is the hardest part. I would probably trade some space to be in a cooler location. I don't want to live in a shoebox though. I feel like I spend too much time in my apartment, so I'd like it to be pretty big. I'm not going to pretend that I could incentivize myself to go out more if it was too small.
Rents in Manhattan are absurdly high. Though word on the street is that the rental market is coming down. That said, living further away from things will cost me cab rides late at night, which are suboptimal (see above). Up until now, I had been considering anything and everything, but I think I'm not yet ready to make the move to Brooklyn (unless all of you want to come with me at the same time). The Upper West Side could work because the prices are better and even though weekend nights would involve lots of travel, weekend days wouldn't because I'd be near Central Park, where people would come to visit. Also, a few people already live up there and potentially more would move uptown as the years go by.
I still have no conclusion to where to really focus, so I'll be all over Manhattan from UWS to LES, but ignoring Midtown, UES, and Chelsea west of 7th Ave. What suggestions can you give to me? Where should I live?
[Quick postscript: I am still convinced that brokers are scumbags and due to most people's busy lives manage to not only push up prices, but charge absurd 15% commissions. But, that's a topic for another time]
