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.
12:16 – But no kids I expect. It looks like you were out 10 times in the past month. Imagine getting and paying for a babysitter 10 in one month. Have enough trouble lining up one night.
“Why do you think anyone who can afford it leaves the city every chance they get?”
ummmm…the city is MORE expensive than nearly anywhere outside of it.
that is the whole point of the article.
the suburbs are cheaper.
less demand = cheaper.
do you know how to read?
5:07pm
I guess you’ve never been to the beach
NYC is at sea level. What do you think is going to happen to all that newly melted polar ice? The MTA can’t even run the subway when it rains.
Anyone who thinks NYC is paradise on earth needs to do some travelling. Why do you think anyone who can afford it leaves the city every chance they get?
“Central Park and Prospect Park are only considered “nature” by people who are otherwise surrouded by pavement and pollution.”
I’m curious what areas you find to be more nature-filled in the close in suburbs of new jersey and new york?
I’ve been to both areas and never seen an area of open space as beautiful as central park.
An hour outside the city, sure.
But certainly not in the burbs.
Unless it’s Portland, Oregon.
You have an idealized vision of the suburbs that is fast becoming outdated.
New York City is the #1 Terrorist target for a reason. People like it here because it represents what America stands for. Freedom and diversity.
Those that want to do it harm only show us how much we should embrace what we have here, not run from it like a little 12 year old girl.
Have fun in Montclair!!!!
If you like noise, stay in the city. If you like peace and quiet, move to the suburbs.
Central Park and Prospect Park are only considered “nature” by people who are otherwise surrouded by pavement and pollution.
I live in BK and am looking forward to moving north in a few years. The next 10-20 years of crumbling infrastructure mixed with the threat of terrorism (anyone think NYC is not still target #1?) should make it very “exciting” to live in the city.
you made zero sense, 4:20.
zero.
gas prices most certainly do affect these issues.
and the average price of a gallon of gas right now is $3.20.
it was about a dollar in 1999.
an extra couple or few thousand dollars EVERY YEAR adds up. that extra 2 thousand (which i think is unreasonably low) is 60K over the course of a 30 year mortgage. for 2 cars, that’s 120K a year over 30 years.
Not even counting the cost of the cars, and then we are talking another 50-80K every 5-7 years or so. So in 30 years, one will probably spend approximately 350K for 2 cars living in the suburbs on $4 gas.
Stay in your bubble though.
We need more forward thinking people in the city anyway.
1st of all gas isnt close to $4 a gallon gas (try $3)and even if it was, it is a tiny expense when considering housing costs.
If you figure today’s gas is $2 a gallon more then “cheap” (pro suburban gas was) and the average suburban driver (who uses LIRR/Metro North/NJ Transit for work) drives 20k mi a year as a family in a 20mpg car(s) then the total cost is an extra $2000 (or $4000 a yr if you assume that the urban person drives ZERO miles in an auto)
Sorry but 2-4k is a drip in an ocean when you are comparing the costs of a 3br apartment in (a desirable and transit convenient part of NYC) to a 3br house in a convenient commuting suburb.
If the price of the suburbs continue to decline (or NYC housing prices continue to increase) then it is simply a fact that many formerly “urban people” will move to the suburbs given that economics is a huge factor in housing decisions and gas prices are even at current levels infinitesimal % wise to total costs.
8:52 am, you wrote:
“What 9:36 described of Manhattan life for a teen, how is that different from the suburbs? I grew up in a wealthy, upscale small community, not a large urban city, and that’s exactly how many teens spent all their time too. Bad parenting is bad parenting wherever you live.”
I spent my high school years in Darien, CT. A stunningly high number of my high school classmates died in car accidents, almost all involving alcohol, my drunken classmates behind the wheel. Drunk driving was a sport in those years.
I’ve been out of high school for a long time. Things may have improved in that department, but I lost a lot of friends, acquaintances and classmates along the way. Meanwhile, I lost only a few friends to drug use. As much as both are problematic, I see less risk to life and limb among city kids using SOME drugs compared with suburban teens drinking and driving.