Post: #1

I created a thread a couple of weeks ago about the SW (Vegas, LA, San Diego) etc. But I've now settled for New York City instead. Booked flight tickets and will start to look at apartments later this week. My yearly salary is currently $120,000, so while I won't be rich in NYC I should be able to live in some good areas on Manhattan.

I have budgeted $4000 per month for rent.

Where would you live for good logistics?

I have looked into Upper East Side.

Post: #2

I was living in 68th street and 3rd avenue. I was pretty happy and I was paying $3800.

Post: #3

With your budget you have plenty of options for areas with much better logistics than the Upper East Side. Check out the Lower East Side and East Village, although those areas tend to have a younger crowd.

Post: #4

Your max rent is 120k/40 = $3k a month based on income requirements for rentals in NYC. I suggest Lower East Side, Nolita, East Village, SOHO, and West Village. You can get nicer/bigger apartments uptown in UES and UWS but logistics won't be nearly as good as the downtown spots I mentioned.

Post: #5

(03-06-2017 08:59 AM)Clint Barton Wrote:  Your max rent is 120k/40 = $3k a month based on income requirements for rentals in NYC. I suggest Lower East Side, Nolita, East Village, SOHO, and West Village. You can get nicer/bigger apartments uptown in UES and UWS but logistics won't be nearly as good as the downtown spots I mentioned.

I have a higher income than $120k though, but that's what I have set aside for living expenses.

How about the Financial District? Any good?

Post: #6

(03-06-2017 10:23 AM)JayGould Wrote:  

(03-06-2017 08:59 AM)Clint Barton Wrote:  Your max rent is 120k/40 = $3k a month based on income requirements for rentals in NYC. I suggest Lower East Side, Nolita, East Village, SOHO, and West Village. You can get nicer/bigger apartments uptown in UES and UWS but logistics won't be nearly as good as the downtown spots I mentioned.

I have a higher income than $120k though, but that's what I have set aside for living expenses.

How about the Financial District? Any good?

No. You have been given the best options for logistics.

Post: #7

Don't spend 4k/mo on rent when you can spend less than that and get a good place. If you like to go out then you will need to budget for drinks and cabs, which add up. I'd look in the West Village if you're older than 25. Your ideal neighborhood may vary but downtown Manhattan is where the party is at.

Lower East is too expensive for the quality of the accommodations.

The Financial District only makes sense if you want to live close to Wall Street and never go out. It's a ghost town at party time.

Also, nobody cares how much you make and they'll give you good advice regardless. Whether you digest the advice, discard the bad parts, and use the rest as information....That's up to you.

Last thing....Don't overspend with the hope that your bonus will consistently cover your ass.

Post: #8

I'd live downtown personally. Lower East Side is the way to go if you're making 6 figures.

Post: #9

Lower East Side looks like it's full of hipsters though. But at least I know where the action is. It's all on the lower side of Manhattan. From my research Gramercy Park and Flatiron District should be relatively nice areas, they are at least relatively close to East Village, West Village etc. So maybe I will look there.

Post: #10

I'd recommend spending less than that in rent, and checking out Brooklyn - even if the "hipster" scene isn't for you. Neighborhoods like Fort Greene are close enough to lower Manhattan, and is very diverse.

Post: #11

I'd say unless Williamsburg or Bushwick is your scene avoid Brooklyn.
Logistics aren't that great, and a lot of the young people who were moving here 10-15 years ago are just that - 10-15 years older.
There are less young women around now as that crowd has aged and Brooklyn rents have become competitive with Manhattan. The Upper East Side has better ratios from what I observe.

IMHO, the vibe in Brooklyn is less friendly than the Manhattan scene as far as available women. Downtown Manhattan is probably best though if you've got that kind of money to spend on rent.

Post: #12

(03-06-2017 08:23 AM)JayGould Wrote:  I have budgeted $4000 per month for rent.

Jesus...move to Chicago and buy a very nice house.

Post: #13

Financial District is a nice value play if you like luxury highrises. There are some good building with great amenities that cost a bit less than they might in other areas of the city. Also, nearly every train runa through, logistics are great. Also walkable to Soho, Tribeca, and Chinatown.

Otherwise, I would just go with West Village, Soho, Chelsea, Union Square or Flatiron.

Post: #14

FiDi is a value play because the location sucks too much to charge the same rent as you would find in TriBeCa or SoHo.

Post: #15

This is for the people obsessing about logistics:

As long as you live in Manhattan, you have nothing to worry abt re. logistics. By the time a girl is ready to go back to your place, all you need is a quick cab ride. She won't give a fuck where you live. My buddy living in a crap apartment on the 6th floor of a walk up in Brooklyn had no trouble whatsoever re. logistics, pulling women from the LES/EV back to his place. Same for my dates - NYC ain't LA where gettin around is a pain in the ass. You can get to anywhere from anywhere in Manhattan in about 15 mins tops, if it's late at night and you're taking a chic home. Besides, there's so many options in just about every neighborhood that the smart move is to set up dates somewhere nice that's within 5 - 10 minutes walking from your place. That's how I do it and it works out quite well. There is an abundance of options - wine bars, restaurants, etc - all over Manhattan, so this is almost trivial to pull off.

In summary: don't sweat logistics in Manhattan. The vast majority of the people that go out to the Meatpacking/SoHo/EV/LES etc don't live there; it doesn't stop people at all from hooking up. Focus instead on the best value for your money, some place that's close to work and that you vibe with.

But yeah, your monthly rent budget needs to be adjusted downwards.

Post: #16

(03-06-2017 10:44 AM)polymath Wrote:  Don't spend 4k/mo on rent when you can spend less than that and get a good place. If you like to go out then you will need to budget for drinks and cabs, which add up. I'd look in the West Village if you're older than 25. Your ideal neighborhood may vary but downtown Manhattan is where the party is at.

Lower East is too expensive for the quality of the accommodations.

The Financial District only makes sense if you want to live close to Wall Street and never go out. It's a ghost town at party time.

Also, nobody cares how much you make and they'll give you good advice regardless. Whether you digest the advice, discard the bad parts, and use the rest as information....That's up to you.

Last thing....Don't overspend with the hope that your bonus will consistently cover your ass.

I agree with the not spending 4k/month part. Why not spend 3k/month and save an additional 12k/year?

Regarding cabs, why would you ever need to ever take one (not to mention they're few and far between now out in NYC)? A couple years ago before I had the Uber app and the 4/6 train was temporarily shut down, it literally took 20+ mins. to get a taxi.With this dude's budget, he's going to be living right near major bars and clubs. He can just walk with the girl back to his joint. Will take no longer than 5 minutes.

I guess if he ever were trying to pull from, say, Brooklyn, then he'd be better off taking the subway with a girl or maybe an Uber.

Post: #17

Subway sucks late night, especially in Brooklyn. Uber is often more expensive than taxis in NYC (only city where I've seen this).

Post: #18

(03-06-2017 10:33 PM)jselysianeagle Wrote:  This is for the people obsessing about logistics:

...

In summary: don't sweat logistics in Manhattan. The vast majority of the people that go out to the Meatpacking/SoHo/EV/LES etc don't live there; it doesn't stop people at all from hooking up. Focus instead on the best value for your money, some place that's close to work and that you vibe with.

But yeah, your monthly rent budget needs to be adjusted downwards.

On the basis of OP's posting, and evident desire for luxury/status, he will attract gold diggers. That's a whole other set of logistcs.

Post: #19

the beauty of manhattan is that some neighborhoods are great places to live because everything is in walking distance - bars, delis, restaurants, dry cleaner, transport, etc. this is more true of almost all areas except downtown, south of Houston.

but for such a small island, the neighborhoods are very different. you really should take the time to investigate because if you meet someone and you say you live on the Upper East Side, they picture you as a yuppie, but if you say Lower East Side they picture you very differently.

Upper East Side - towards the park its the wealthiest, boringest part of manhattan. Very far east, first ave and east, is kids straight out of college and low end beer-oriented bars.

Upper West Side - where Seinfeld lived. A lot less vanilla than the east side, better bars restaurants, etc. But still less alternative than the LES or the Villiage. More residential than downtown.

LES - if you have piercings or tats, this is for you. There are some good things about it, but it tends towards that.

W. Villiage and Chelse - used to have a reputation for gay men.

Villiage east of 6th ave - close to NYU but sort of a tourist area (in a bad way).

make sure you understand the mechanics of getting an apartment in Manhattan. Say you find a place for $4,000 a month. To move in they'll want first month's rent, a security deposit of 1 or 2 months, and if you used a broker to get the apartment a fee to the broker equal to 1.5 months. The brokerage fee is a wasted of money but the apartment owner is the one who requires the broker. Apartments that don't have a broker will be advertised as no-fee. So if you are not careful, you might need 4.5 months' rent to move in, which in your case is $18,000!

Post: #20

I would recommend not living in NYC, but if you want to get scammed on an overall mediocre city and put in lots of work to get laid, then I'd recommend either East Village, Union Square, West Village or Meat Packing District. Union Square is best if you like to day game. Meatpacking is best if you're into more high end/nightlife. With $4k budget you can get a decent place anywhere

Post: #21

(03-07-2017 10:35 AM)churros Wrote:  On the basis of OP's posting, and evident desire for luxury/status, he will attract gold diggers. That's a whole other set of logistcs.

Had OP been living in some third world country, yes, gold diggers would have been a concern. But you forget we're talking about Manhattan here. Unless you're north of $300k/year (at least), you won't even register on most gold diggers' radars, except perhaps for low end, ghetto women.

Manhattan is filled with yuppies pulling in 6 figures, and most quality women are not at all impressed by a $150k/yr salary as many women themselves are quite successful and/or come from wealth. Attractive women here have their pick of wealthy/rich guys. There's a shit ton of finance/law "bros" making loads of dough, it's really not something that will make you stand out like it would, say, in some smaller town in New Jersey.

I make a pretty decent living, solid 6 figure salary, and yet I routinely meet women making a good bit more than me.

Post: #22

(03-07-2017 05:55 PM)jselysianeagle Wrote:  Had OP been living in some third world country, yes, gold diggers would have been a concern. But you forget we're talking about Manhattan here. Unless you're north of $300k/year (at least), you won't even register on most gold diggers' radars, except perhaps for low end, ghetto women.

Fair. Personally I don't bang career women, but each to his own.

Post: #23

(03-07-2017 10:35 AM)churros Wrote:  

(03-06-2017 10:33 PM)jselysianeagle Wrote:  This is for the people obsessing about logistics:

...

In summary: don't sweat logistics in Manhattan. The vast majority of the people that go out to the Meatpacking/SoHo/EV/LES etc don't live there; it doesn't stop people at all from hooking up. Focus instead on the best value for your money, some place that's close to work and that you vibe with.

But yeah, your monthly rent budget needs to be adjusted downwards.

On the basis of OP's posting, and evident desire for luxury/status, he will attract gold diggers. That's a whole other set of logistcs.

You really have to go out of your way to find flat out gold diggers in Manhattan. It's a city where poor artistic men or government pencil pushers can date corporate ladder woman. The standard for being rich in Manhattan is too high for anyone to care, and on average more people in Manhattan care too much about their own careers to rely on gold digging.

Post: #24

I'm trying to reassign my lease to somebody else until September 30th. It's a corner penthouse unit, 5 minutes walking distance from Union Square, 10 minutes walking distance from the clubs in MPD. Hard to beat my logistics. Also the view from my window never fails to make the pussy wet. Rent is $3,335 which pretty cheap for the area. 589 sq. feet. I'm moving to Asia so I need to get out of my lease. PM me if you're interested. (Sorry if this post seems like spam).

Post: #25

Question for the NYC veterans. If someone wanted to move to the greater NYC area - would it be possible to find a place with roommates for under $1k a month that is not a crackden? How far away from the city would this be (minutes, hours, days) and what areas would you recommend?