Info on Relocating From 'burbs to Brooklyn
I am looking to relocate to Brooklyn from conservative Lancaster Co, PA. I would prefer to do this after my daughter graduates in about 4 years. As a single person I know this will be financially difficult given the cost of living is so much higher and the lifestyle is different than living in the…
I am looking to relocate to Brooklyn from conservative Lancaster Co, PA. I would prefer to do this after my daughter graduates in about 4 years. As a single person I know this will be financially difficult given the cost of living is so much higher and the lifestyle is different than living in the suburbs where I am now. I really need to plan well for this life changing move and needed advice from locals on how to proceed. I do not have a degree and would need to look for an entry-mid level clerical/accounting job and would like to know to the best sites/classifieds/places to find work. In addition I only have explored the Park Slope and Ft Greene neighborhoods but know they are more expensive than others. Can anyone give me any insight into the different neighborhoods, vibes, lifestyles, and cultures? As a newcomer is it better to keep my car or rely on public transportation? Is street parking readily available and safe? As you can tell I have a lot of questions on lifestyle changes. Any advice is appreciated.
>Be aware that if you plan to work in Manhattan, carfare home late at night to an outlying area will be $30 or $40. So that’s a tradeoff
IF you live in Park Slope or Cobble Hill there’s little issue taking the subway at night even up to midnight, usually lots of people around.
Well, as a former blue county PA kid myself, I wish you the best of luck.
My advice:
start coming to brooklyn now, every chance you get, craigslist, house sit, cat sit make sure every one you know that knows anyone in brooklyn knows that you are interested and people will keep you posted.
reading blogs is a good start, read the gossip and complaining and you’ll get a feel for life here.
cars are for people with disposable income so prob not you…
and remember, that brooklyn may not end up being for you, but visit as much as possible, and in the end, the worst that will happpen is that you’ll be telling stories about the fun few years when you actually considered moving to this hell on earth 🙂
quote:
do not have a degree and would need to look for an entry-mid level clerical/accounting job
youll be competing with 100s of peoples for those same entry level jobs who DO have degrees tho… and some of them are willing to work for peanuts because they get parental support. good luck tho
*rob*
Agree with all here. I came to Brooklyn from NYC after cat sitting for a friend in Brooklyn Heights. It is hard at first to get a handle on the neighborhoods, and even within a neighborhood there are desirable areas and not so desirable areas. I finally ended up in Fort Greene, but that was after I spent a few days there on foot. I literally walked around and wrote down the names and block numbers of the streets I would want to live on. This made my online searches much more focused.
I think the suggestion of spending some time in each neighborhood is a great one and Brooklynites (natives or adoptees) love to show off their ‘hoods. I even bet if you posted here, people would offer you a couch for a night or so. Maybe it could be a contest – see who can convince suburban PA to choose their neighborhood!
>As a newcomer is it better to keep my car or rely on public transportation? Is street parking readily available and safe?
If you have to ask ;)…Seriously, keeping a car in inner Brooklyn or Manhattan is expensive, short-sighted and almost mostly unnecessary. Buy a bike.
Short term stays are a good way to get to know neighborhoods. Walk around a lot at different times.
Do you have a budget? While 4 years is a very long time to predict prices, it might help in the selection.
Yes, explore as much as you can in the time you have with the awareness that things are in a constant flux. There are a large variety of neighborhoods each with its trade-offs of price, activity level, vibe, stores and shops, transportation convenience, housing stock types, parking availability, etc. It really helps to be there in person to get a sense for what balance makes sense for you.
Sounds like a great plan. If you are looking for a room with roommates, Park Slope is actually not that expensive compared with other neighborhoods. You can get a very pretty floor-through one-bedroom apartment in the best part of Bed Stuy for $1200-$1400. There are many other nice places too.
Be aware that if you plan to work in Manhattan, carfare home late at night to an outlying area will be $30 or $40. So that’s a tradeoff.
You won’t need a car in the city, but you might want one to visit home or other places in the summer. Parking is next to impossible in certain areas such as Fort Greene and Park Slope, but very easy in other areas such as Bed Stuy. Keeping a car in NYC is expensive (insurance, parking tickets). If you work in Manhattan, you will also have to pay for subway tickets.
I’d try something like vrbo.com or homeaway.com or roomorama.com and find weekend rental apartments in various neighborhoods. I wouldn’t overlook Queens, either. There are a lot of areas in Queens which are inexpensive, lovely and convenient. They might not have the hipster shininess easily found in Ft. Greene or Park Slope, but they’re nice. And if you’re looking for alternative lifestyle-friendly, you’ll find NYers as a whole are pretty tolerant, as long as you’re not slowing them down, taking their parking place or planning a new bike lane.
Agree with all of the above. You can read up on Brownstoner and other neighborhood blogs that are linked here, which will give you some sense of the different parts of Brooklyn, which as the above notes, is huge and very diverse; but if you have such a lead time, I would strongly suggest visiting as much as you can to get a feel for different neighborhoods and what it might be like to reside in them. See if you can stay in an apartment (from Craigs list, e.g.) rather than a hotel, so you know what it’s like to shop, get around on trains, etc. Brooklyn has everything from small neighborhoods and larger ones of frame houses and grand brownstones to industrial areas with an entirely different vibe. Some have lots of nightlife, some quiet and more residential. Even when moving from just across the river from Manhattan years ago, I spent a LOT of time exploring different neighborhoods. It was worth it, as I learned a lot.