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We are moving to New York next month. My husband will be working in the financial district and I will be going to school around central park (I believe this is the area the school is in). The address is 915 Broadway. We have been told to look at Battery Park, in the finical district and Hoboken NJ, as they are all easy for my husband to get to work. I am hoping to find a place to rent for about 2500 a month. Any other ideas? I want to find a family area with good schools for my girls to go to (When they get to that age, they are toddlers now). What area would you live in if this was your situation? And would you choose to live in NJ over NY?
Hoboken is a great town, lots of walking, great restaurant and bar scene, an amazing number of parks for a town of only one square mile, all, I think, with playground equipment.
The Hoboken Charter School is quite good, as is the Mustard Seed School. But the public schools there are not good. I lived in Hoboken for 11 years and loved every minute of it. I used to take my son to the fantastic playground at Columbus Park but when my wife got pregnant for the second time we wanted more space so we moved to Red Bank, another great town, with direct access to NYC via Penn Station. But nowhere has the wonderful commute possibilities of Hoboken. For $2500 you should be able to get a decent two bedroom in a new building with an elevator (Curling Club is one example, the newer towers along lower Hudson Street are another).
Battery Park City is beautiful but I think it gets too quiet on the weekends, not much going on, though they've made the waterfront there gorgeous and there are a couple of restaurants and a grocery store there. Not sure about the schools in that neighborhood, though Stuveysant is there and it's famous...
I would love to stay in NY if I could, but unfortunately we can't afford it...and will be moving to NJ.
As far as where in NY, it is a matter of lifestyle. Some people like to live and work in the same area, some like them to be separate. The financial district is easy to get to from any area...so I wouldn't live down there. It's dead, not that cozy and not family oriented.
With $2,500 for rent, you could get a 1-bedroom in most areas, but since you have 2 girls I would image you would want something with at least 2-bdrms.
915 broadway is in the Flatiron district, which is a good central location (but not near central park).
Here are my suggestions that I think would suit you:
Upper Westside: Very good school, very family oriented...it has that neighborhood feel, tons of stuff for kids and Central Park is your backyard.
Tribeca: Again very good schools, very pretty (old NY feel mixed with new condos), but a very pricey neighborhood.
West Village: Not sure of the schools in the neighborhood, but the area is just lovely. Very quaint, but also very hard to find an apt in here, mostly families who've past them onto their relatives.
But to live comfortably, I would imagine you could get more space in Hoboken or Jersey City. The path train takes you right to the financial district and your school. But not sure of the schools.
I think Hoboken is a fantastic town but I wouldn't recommend any public or charter schools there for various reasons...which I can give you more details about if you wish. If you can afford private schools...that would be your best bet in Hoboken. But otherwise it's a great town. You could probably find a 2 bed/2 bath in your price range. There are other towns further away from the river that have train service into the city that have better schools...like Rutherford for example...you should be able to find something in your price range there as well.
We have friends that live in Metuchen and work in NY. They love it. Small town charm with a nice Main Street with shops and pretty homes. Most in that area work in NY, can catch a bus or train easily. great schools and safe neigborhood.
ok, please tell me im wrong people. i work in the financial district at 80 pine street. i have 2 toddlers. my wife is an eye doctor. our rent is 3000 a month, in NJ, in a 2 bedroom apt complex in secaucus. THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD, AND I MEAN IN THE WORLD, THAT THE OP CAN DO HOBOKEN ON A 2500 PER MONTH BUDGET. or in jersey city at newport. no way.
what am i missing? call newport and ask how much a 2 bedroom is. call today--they are open. they are starting around 2800 and they are a dump. go and have a look at the room. the square footage is unbelievably small--around 1100 i believe. its nasty inside (appliances and even the floor layout).
dont toddlers, at all, need an area to crawl? additionally, i would not subject them to the city. not only is it ridiculously expensive, but its ridiculously difficult to get anywhere or anything done. try going to the doctors office for an appt. its an all-day excursion. your $$ will evaporate like water.
the only place i would say that is possibly, possibly feasible is Stuyvesant around 14th Ave. But its too much money now. Around 4k / month.
Battery Park apts are imaginably tiny! 1000 square feet, at best, for 3000 per month, plus who knows what radiants and particles are still in the air.
the bottom line: you need space, and NJ offers some of that. def. more than manhattan.
one of the problems is that the ne coast of nj is designed for commuters. that implies , negatively, they are not built for suburban familes. and this is evident when you look at the # of bedrooms offered and square footage or architecture of the building. Take Clifton Commons for instance. Its stacked at 3 floors, but each floor is tiny. They dissuade adding more kids to their already overpacked school district.
As i said b4, i commute into manhattan to the financial district, and its a 1 hr commute door to door. To secaucus junction...to hoboken...the the wtc area...and finally hoof it to Pine. about an 13 minute excursion per incident.
2500 will clearly get you a 2 bedroom apt in NJ, but i cannot see how it will get you space for your toddlers to run and play unless you move more south and west. we live in secaucus, and are out of room.
i would go--and am going--more south and west to edison around march. not for me, though, but for the children.
i just cant understand how people can possibly and realistically recommend hoboken as a place that falls within a 2500 budget for a family with 2 babies. i would like to know where. the prerequisite for toddlers is space.
edgewater, where there are a string of new apts, is also out of the question, not b/c of the 2500 monthly (which does eliminate it, btw, since tehy are now going for over 3000), but b/c they are too tiny.
in my opinion, you will need at a minimum 1700 square feet. and since they are toddlers, not babies, you may need more. this is the minimum. plus how about an area outside for them to play? like a park, etc.? take 1 step outside of JC and you may not find it to be the best place (outside of Newport that is).
are you planning on putting them in daycare? nj is a better option...just get a place to rent along the transit line, probably no more south than edison, and you will be ok.
For that amount you could be paying your own mortgage
There are a lot of nice area's along the ne corridor train line in jersey
with easy commutes into the city
You could check out Rahway ,Clark,Woodbridge,Edison,Metuchen to name a few ,i would think you would want a place with your own yard and space
for the little ones to play and grow
Do a google on any area to learn more about them
also you can go to njtransit.com to find out schedules and fares on both bus and train lines
We are moving to New York next month. My husband will be working in the financial district and I will be going to school around central park (I believe this is the area the school is in). The address is 915 Broadway. We have been told to look at Battery Park, in the finical district and Hoboken NJ, as they are all easy for my husband to get to work. I am hoping to find a place to rent for about 2500 a month. Any other ideas? I want to find a family area with good schools for my girls to go to (When they get to that age, they are toddlers now). What area would you live in if this was your situation? And would you choose to live in NJ over NY?
How many sqft, bedrooms, bathrooms, commuting time, and other specifics would you guys like to have?
Regardless of what one of the previous posters said...and since you are asking for our opinions...I still believe you can find an apt in your price range in Hoboken...a kid friendly urban neighborhood super close to the city. Since you initially mentioned that you were considering urban settings with a minimal commute...I assumed you wanted a very short commute and you knew you weren't going to find sprawling apts with tons of sqft. If that is not the case...then you would need to consider a longer commute to get an apt with more sqft.
If you want a larger apt, don't mind a longer commute, and want better schools...there are many other options to consider...either south, west, or north of Hoboken...for example Rutherford, Nutley, or Montclair to the west. Good luck!
ok, please tell me im wrong people. i work in the financial district at 80 pine street. i have 2 toddlers. my wife is an eye doctor. our rent is 3000 a month, in NJ, in a 2 bedroom apt complex in secaucus. THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD, AND I MEAN IN THE WORLD, THAT THE OP CAN DO HOBOKEN ON A 2500 PER MONTH BUDGET. or in jersey city at newport. no way.
what am i missing? call newport and ask how much a 2 bedroom is. call today--they are open. they are starting around 2800 and they are a dump. go and have a look at the room. the square footage is unbelievably small--around 1100 i believe. its nasty inside (appliances and even the floor layout).
dont toddlers, at all, need an area to crawl? additionally, i would not subject them to the city. not only is it ridiculously expensive, but its ridiculously difficult to get anywhere or anything done. try going to the doctors office for an appt. its an all-day excursion. your $$ will evaporate like water.
the only place i would say that is possibly, possibly feasible is Stuyvesant around 14th Ave. But its too much money now. Around 4k / month.
Battery Park apts are imaginably tiny! 1000 square feet, at best, for 3000 per month, plus who knows what radiants and particles are still in the air.
the bottom line: you need space, and NJ offers some of that. def. more than manhattan.
one of the problems is that the ne coast of nj is designed for commuters. that implies , negatively, they are not built for suburban familes. and this is evident when you look at the # of bedrooms offered and square footage or architecture of the building. Take Clifton Commons for instance. Its stacked at 3 floors, but each floor is tiny. They dissuade adding more kids to their already overpacked school district.
As i said b4, i commute into manhattan to the financial district, and its a 1 hr commute door to door. To secaucus junction...to hoboken...the the wtc area...and finally hoof it to Pine. about an 13 minute excursion per incident.
2500 will clearly get you a 2 bedroom apt in NJ, but i cannot see how it will get you space for your toddlers to run and play unless you move more south and west. we live in secaucus, and are out of room.
i would go--and am going--more south and west to edison around march. not for me, though, but for the children.
i just cant understand how people can possibly and realistically recommend hoboken as a place that falls within a 2500 budget for a family with 2 babies. i would like to know where. the prerequisite for toddlers is space.
edgewater, where there are a string of new apts, is also out of the question, not b/c of the 2500 monthly (which does eliminate it, btw, since tehy are now going for over 3000), but b/c they are too tiny.
in my opinion, you will need at a minimum 1700 square feet. and since they are toddlers, not babies, you may need more. this is the minimum. plus how about an area outside for them to play? like a park, etc.? take 1 step outside of JC and you may not find it to be the best place (outside of Newport that is).
are you planning on putting them in daycare? nj is a better option...just get a place to rent along the transit line, probably no more south than edison, and you will be ok.
Very true. one of the neighbors at Edison Hollow South just moved from Newport saying he moved because his 1br at Avalon jump from $2700 to $3000 and with month to month lease was even $500 more!!!
His neighbor and colleague, also neighbor, end up bought a 2br condo at The Commons, less than $300k and moved down can walk to Edison Train Stn.
Another Avelon neighbors bought a 3br townhouse at Edison Manor, Victoria Park and Starpoint.
My brother-in-law had a colleague at Citibank Weehawken living at Hoboken with daughter going to Catholic school end up rent out their Hoboken condo and bought a house at Piscataway area because she said was too hassel has to get bike rack and drove kids to Liberty State Park biking every weekend and Piscataway has 26 brand new parks that she bought one newly built house two blocks away from Irishtown Park so they can bike around and went to park much easier. One of the kid got French competition #1 state wide. Her husband is professor at Stevens Univ.
Thank you for all your post..... Well thankfully my husbands company will be putting us in corporate housing for at least 30 days so I will have time to search on my own. It is nice to have a start from all of these ideas.
Ideally I would like to have a house over an apartment. This is what we have now here in Florida. I am just unsure how realistic it is for us. We have a 3 bedroom with about 2000 sq feet and it is plenty of room for us.
I was told recently that no matter where we choose to live count on an hour commute; even from Hoboken. I have looked on Craig’s list at what apartments/houses are going for and it seems Hoboken is at about 3000 a month. We can afford it but think it is a big waste of money to spend more then 2500 a month on rent. A mortgage on our OWN home is a different story. I also have noticed that Jersey City (another town from advice) is almost half of what I would pay in Hoboken. I have research a little on this city and it seems to be not so hot.
To clarify my questions and situation:
My husband's biggest concern is his commute. He is asking that we live with in 30 minutes commute of his office on Wall Street. (This is why we are considering the finical district or Battery Park).
My biggest concern of course is my children’s needs. I would like to find a family area with parks, schools, shopping. And like another member had said a place for my kids to grow.
I know we are not going to find the lifestyle we are used to there. We live on the water and walking distance to the beach about 2 blocks away. It is going to be a big change for us.
As far as schools go, I am only looking for preschools at this point. My daughters are 2 1/2 and 14 months. I pay now for my oldest daughter to go to preschool 3 days a week 3 hours a day almost $5000 a year. I am not really concern about finding a daycare for them as I will hopefully find a part time nanny for them while I attend my classes.
My new questions are
What is the deal with the double taxes I have read on other post? They say if you work in NY and live in New Jersey then you have to pay double taxes.
Also what about Fairfield, Harrison and Weehawken? From what I have seen on line Weehawken looks nice. How far is this town from the city? And is it easy to commute?
What is the monthly cost to commute from NJ to the city?
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