Park Slope Versus The Burbs
New York has a reputation for being an expensive town, which of course it is. But the high housing prices and rents don’t tell the whole story. You see, New Yorkers don’t necessarily need cars. And our property taxes are pretty low. Which is why a Times story this weekend comparing the cost of living…
New York has a reputation for being an expensive town, which of course it is. But the high housing prices and rents don’t tell the whole story. You see, New Yorkers don’t necessarily need cars. And our property taxes are pretty low. Which is why a Times story this weekend comparing the cost of living in Park Slope versus Orange, NJ found that a family of four with a household income of $170,000 could actually live more inexpensively in Brooklyn than Jersey. In fact, monthly expenses were $1,285 cheaper in the County of Kings. “Specifically, each month, the suburban family needs to lay out about $5,668 to run their home and commute to work in Manhattan, compared with $3,852 for the urban family,” said The Times. “That includes most relatively static expenses — from the mortgage, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, to transportation, utility bills and, for the house, landscaping. ” The major caveat: If you want to send your kids to private school, fuhgettaboutit. You’re better off moving to the burbs.
High-Rise, or House With Yard? [NY Times]
Photo by Betty Blade
Jaysus – our firm just renewed the healthcare plan, and my family contribution is through the roof, over a grand!
How long is the commute from Camden?
We left Brooklyn two years ago. Not by choice I might add. Yes, there’s an adjustment period, but do I miss my coop in the Slope or my Victorian in Ditmas when I’m floating in my pool in Bedford on a day like today? Four acres, great schools, a generous smattering of creative types. Have to say I’m over Brooklyn, and I would have sworn I was a lifer. Sure I miss the eats, and the subway!, but you can have Red Hook pool…..
I won’t retire in either NJ or Brooklyn. Why would anyone??? I’m sitting here in Provincetown with a water view and it’s 82 but breezy. That said, because of the income taxes, my legal residence will be PA.
“Why would anyone want to live anywhere but Park Slope?”
Thats what I asked my uncle living in his beachfront in Malibu.
Kensingtonbound, how is it going? Are you in fact bound for Kensington? I also live in Bed Stuy and like you have witnessed some violent incidents.
I grew up in apartment building in the suburbs.
I don’t want people living above me, below me or next to me. I don’t want a doorman, and I don’t want to get on an elevator with neighbors. I don’t want to own a brownstone and be a landlord, and I don’t want to be a coop shareholder.
I have my paradise (a 2000sf house on a 60 x 100 lot with lots of windows and a nice patio for grilling and entertaining). I like having a car in my driveway, which gets me to Manhattan in 30 minutes and the supermarket in two minutes.
Whether I meet and know interesting people and do interesting things is totally up to me.
U have a problem with that?
PS – Park Slope is probably the most beautiful urban neighborhood in the United States.
My first time there was in a little apartment in the Recoleta. Lovely place (the owner lives in Park Slope, in fact).
I think the shrink thing is about BA in general….supposedly everyone has one. Boob jobs are also quite common…medical insurance covers them!
I want to go down right now. 🙂
11217, very fashionable. Is it true that everyone in Palermo has a shrink? So I heard. I have not been there. When I go to BA (not so much) I stay in a little apartment in Recoleta…
“I think to be fair to the discussion, you kinda have to limit yourself to the suburbs that people here (and virtually everywhere) are talking about – subdivisions of solely residential housing relatively far from any downtown/urban-like core. ”
Actually that seems very unfair. You’re stacking the deck by deciding that the suburbs are to be represented by their least attractive version. In that case Brooklyn needs to be represented by, say, Flatlands.
The original article was about South Orange, which in fact has a nice active Main Street, is economically and ethnically mixed, and is immediately adjacent to a very, very nice nature preserve.