Choosing the Suburbs Over Brooklyn
Are would-be Brooklynites flocking to the suburbs? The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times looks at how relatively cheap home prices in the suburbs are luring New Yorkers who find they can get way more bang for their buck in parts of Westchester, Connecticut and Jersey than in the city. While…
Are would-be Brooklynites flocking to the suburbs? The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times looks at how relatively cheap home prices in the suburbs are luring New Yorkers who find they can get way more bang for their buck in parts of Westchester, Connecticut and Jersey than in the city. While the article mostly focuses on the widening price gap between Manhattan and suburban properties, it notes that some people who would’ve bought in Brooklyn are also finding the suburbs cheaper:
Ludovic and Fabienne Ledein, who live and work as jewelry designers in Dumbo, visited nearly a dozen lofts in Dumbo, Red Hook and Williamsburg looking for something to buy for less than $600,000. They needed enough space to work at home and to put up friends and relatives from Europe. But what they wanted cost more than twice what they could afford…They found their answer in Westchester County, in New Rochelle. For about $600,000, they bought 1,350 square feet in the newly renovated Knickerbocker Lofts, a converted factory downtown that was built 117 years ago.
Any readers contemplating a similar move?
Cashing Out of New York City [NY Times]
Photo by uicukie.
Yes, it would seem that the majority of people posting here are either singles in their 20s, or people who can afford to buy now or bought years ago. Too bad everyone feels the need to be so self righteous and judgmental. I guess none of you really have to worry about money.
4:35, you life sounds really busy like most people like you. The one thing you interestingly left out of your, day in the life of the city, is time you spend with a loved one. Any loved one. A girl, a guy, children, not even a dog. When the poster talked about grilling in his backyard with 4 bedrooms, he/she is talking about how they to spend their downtime, relative to coming home 4am from a party only to be disturb by the 5am garbage truck.
The boy, the girl, the white picket fence, and the golden retriever. Oh, and the gas guzzling SUV for the soccer mom. There’s a taste of surburbia but it sure as hell isin’t for me! HA!
This is an interesting thread. I’d be willing to bet most of the people on it either bought in Brooklyn when the buying was good, or else don’t have kids (or have plenty of money and childcare if they do). 4:35’s description of his idyllic life in Park Slope makes me laugh. We rent in Park Slope and have 2 small children, and while I love the neighborhood, I can tell you that we do not have the time, the energy, or the financial resources to take advantage of the cultural wonders of NYC. While we don’t aspire to live in a 4000 sq. ft. house, a 2000 square foot one with a yard would certainly be far pleasanter than what we can afford in our current neighborhood. And the commute from Larchmont would be just as fast as the commute from Kensington, where we might just be able to afford a house if we wanted to stay in Brooklyn. Schools in Westchester are excellent. And we could use some of the money we save on living expenses (NY city tax + $60K tuition AFTER tax for 2 kids in NY private school, just for starters) to go into the city a few times a month to do something *cultural*. Lots of people move from Brooklyn or NYC to the suburbs and don’t turn into mindless vegetables – some of you guys need to grow up.
Weehawken sucks! C’mon Charlie, aunt Rose, Milly, uncle Phil, lets get the Weehawken bastard!
There are so many extremes in this thread–it’s the “5550 sq. ft gated community” extreme versus the “NYC is the center of the universe/ I wouldn’t live anywhere else/anything outside of NYC is bumfuck USA” extreme. Reality lies somewhere in the middle, but that’s not sensationalist enough, and wouldn’t generate 100+ comments, right?
I don’t get it. Why are people attacking the Weehawken person?? What the hell is wrong with you people? Not everyone can afford a nice space in NYC. What the hell is wrong with moving somewhere that suits you and budget? Get a life.
“a 5500sq.ft home in a gated community”
And probably believes the terrorist hate our freedom.
Oh please–5:16, you are a self-righteous ignoramus. You state you live in Brooklyn–you are lucky. I would bet my left hand that you’d never take up residence in just “any area” in Staten Island or the Bronx or Queens, simply to remain in NYC. Your smug elitism is so provincial and embarrassing. I am a born and bred New Yorker, and I can’t stand people like you who are that full of shit.