Oh yeah, I always forget about Staten Island. You can probably do well and find people who rent out of their houses if you go there. Go Iowa;) Mullet, it's great that you are asking for advice and you know what you are getting yourself into and have realistic expectations. So many people don't really know how difficult it is to just live in NYC and move here and find that out the hard way. Are you working for a social work-type agency? I always get excited when I find out there are other SW's or people in human services on these boards. You can also check out the ethnic papers too. That's another way to find out about lower cost apartments. One of my sister's found her apartment in Bensonhurst, Bklyn in an Italian newspaper and me and another sister found past apartments in one of the Irish newspapers. If you need to move right away, you could also sublet or rent out a room with someone for short-term so you have time to learn NY and the boros and also bide more time to find a better deal that way (I think I/we said that though). Again, be prepared for sketchy roommates though even if they seem nice;) I moved in once with a girl for 2 months who was really cool then she got a dog and left him alone for days on end and never returned to the apartment. I also lived in a studio with a sister once and that didn't work after she started having sex with her boyfriend out in the open in front of me. I think the roommate horror stories are for another thread though LOL:D

Now we're getting somewhere. Sounds like its on, or West of 8th Avenue. That means the A,C or E train.

First, I recomend that you completely forget about Staten Island. Its beyond boring, and the commute is loooooooong. You would first have to commute to the ferry terminal. Then you would have a half-hour boat ride. Then you would board the 1 train, or the N or W train. Neither have transfers to the A,C or E south of 59th Street. I could go on, but you're looking at a nightmare commute. Probably 1 1/2 to 2 hours per direction each day. And when you get home, you're in Stranded, I mean Staten Island. With nothing to do. Not fun.

The easiest commute will be near the A,C or E lines, or where you can walk across a platform for a transfer, like the F or G trains. The L train also offers an easy transfer, and it serves up and coming neighborhoods in North Brooklyn, where you'll find a lot of college educated people close to your age. The B,D, F and V trains offer an easy transfer at W. 4th Street. The 1 train offers a bizarre transfer at 168th Street, but it works.

To make your life easy, here are neighborhoods that I recomend by borough:

The Bronx:
Kings Bridge
Riverdale
Spuyten Duyvel

Brooklyn:
Bushwick
Clinton Hill
Fort Greene
Greenpoint
Park Slope (might be too pricey)
Prospect Heights
Williamsburg

Manhattan:
Inwood or Washington Heights WEST of Broadway
Lower East Side (if you can find a place, you'll have a blast)

Queens:
Jackson Heights
Woodside

I think that you'll be happiest in Brooklyn or Manhattan. You'll find more things to do.

I wouldn't live in Jackson Heights or Woodside if you paid me. And some of the parts of Brooklyn you mentioned are not that safe although they've cleaned up. Jackson Heights is great if you're looking for Indian food.

Anyone saying to live in Staten Island knows nothing about NYC. It's boring, it's not that great, unworthy commute, and it will forever be a trash dump with smelly people.

Check Forest Hills Mullet. There will be a good commute for you and also it's got a young crowd that moved there. But again you can find a place for 1K easy in a high rise if you live with like a few people.

-Rudey

I wouldn't live anywhere in Queens, but I thought that she might want the boring option.

All of the neighborhoods that I mentioned in Brooklyn have really turned around. Bushwick is still sketchy, but rising fast.

How about DUMBO in Brooklyn? That seems to be very trendy right now, but not as expensive as Manhattan.

Umm, Queens is not boring. It's not Manhattan, but it's not boring. Also Forest Hills is not really what I would call cheap. Jackson Heights is not really a safe safe neighborhood and Woodside is going downhill. I live in Sunnyside, it is a good neighborhood but not exactly cheap either and is kind of going downhill also if you ask me.

The food is better in Queens.
There are still cool areas in Queens.
There are houses still in Queens.
The girls are easier in Queens.

Actually mullet check out Astoria and Forrest Hills in Queens. Both are cool neighborhoods that are also getting cooler but their property values haven't sky rocketed like Brooklyn's has due to gentrification.

-Rudey

Sunnyside is filled with little Irish and Mexican thugs.

-Rudey

Astoria is still pretty high as well. Manhattan prices and you aren't in Manhattan.

DUMBO is very trendy, and has been for ten years. I doubt that she'll be able to find anything in her price range, but if she does, she ahould grab it.

For those who live over there, DUMBO is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Its more traditional name is Fulton Ferry. It is loaded with highrise warehouses, many of which have been converted to loft apartments. It would be an easy commute to 34th and 8th in Manhattan (F train at York, and transfer to the A, C or E at W. 4th.)

Nothing compares to Manhattan. Just comparing Brooklyn to Queens, Brooklyn has much more to do. Its loaded with educated and artsy people who have elevated it to the point where Brooklyn now has more culture than almost all American cities. It has great restaurants. Queens has greater diversity in its ethnic restaurants, but Brooklyn blows Queens away with cool trendy restaurants. If you love Italian food, there is also no contest. Brooklyn wins.

Just to really make everyone jealous, I live in a TriBeCa studio for $500/month. :cool:
I win. :p

It might have more trendy food spots but who the hell is going to go out to Brooklyn to see and be seen? And really the Italian food is questionable.

OK and your building must have some problems because that's way too cheap.

Queens also has an art scene (the MoMa even has a temp spot in LIC). The reason why Brooklyn has more is only because it rapidly got gentrified. In the last 10 years the most awful neighborhoods became expensive as people left and newer wealthier whites moved in. In Queens that doesn't seem to have happened and I personally think it's because the last 20-30 years have strengthened those immigrant communities pretty well there.

-Rudey

No problems with my building. Its a Mitchell-Lama complex. I got in 6 years ago, after being on a waiting list for almost 3. I got lucky.

Brooklyn
 

Here's a very good article on developments in Brooklyn:
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/...288/index.html

Queens has educated and artistic people, too. Queens also has MOMA, P.S.1, American Museum of the Moving Image, Noguchi Garden Museum, Silvercup Studios, Kaufman Astoria Studios, and the Socrates Sculpture Park.

The fact of the matter is you're lucky if you can find an apartment for under $1,000 in almost any neighborhood in New York City and the suburbs. It is an expensive city. I grew up in Astoria and rents have almost doubled in about six or seven years. A two bedroom apartment that rented for $750/month in 1998 now rents for $1,500. People are thrilled when they find a place for $1000.

Here is an article about Queens. http://www.newyorkmetro.com/realesta...astorialic.htm If you look to the left hand side, you can click and read about different neighborhoods in New York.

mullet, I think that you should probably stick to Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn because of the location of your office.