6 ms·

I'm not from the area so forgive my ignorance but, is it really that bad or are these just very in demand areas? Can you work in the area albeit with a longer c

by bko 11y ago

I'm not from the area so forgive my ignorance but, is it really that bad or are these just very in demand areas? Can you work in the area albeit with a longer commute for a reasonable price? I'm from New York and people complain about real estate prices here as well. It is undoubtedly very expensive in Manhattan (small 1-br for $4k in nice building) but that's only in Manhattan. You can easily find rent for less than $2k if you're willing to increase your commute from ~30-40 minutes to ~60-75 minutes. I know people living in suburbs of New Jersey (Pal Park, Fort Lee) as well as suburbs of Queens or Bronx for even less than that.

yummyfajitas 11y ago
It's also not that as expensive in Manhattan as you suggest. I looked earlier this year, east village studios might run from $2000-2500. Half that for a 2bhk in Bed Stuy. NYC has a huge problem with exclusionary zoning, but it's not quite as crazy as SF yet. [edit: I was wrong on Astoria, my info is apparently a year out of date.]
- santaclause33 11y ago
  2 bedrooms in Astoria are 2000+
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  We just rented a 1 bedroom in a nice building on the upper west side for $2500 a month. Sure, there are 1brs for $4k; there are also 1brs for $1k and 1brs for $10k.
jwmerrill 11y ago
If you value your time at $50 per hour, a 60 minute commute twice a day costs $1900 per month (assuming you commute 230 days a year). And this doesn't count the direct monetary cost of the commute. Different people value their time differently, but it's worth doing this calculation consciously.
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  Not all commutes are created equally; I would rather ride the subway for 45 minutes than spend 20 minutes in stop-and-go traffic.
- ryanmonroe 11y ago
  >a 60 minute commute twice a day costs $1900 per month Only if you're comparing it to a 0 minute commute, which isn't realistic.
  - Tycho 11y ago
    You could have a five minute commute on foot, in which case it's more just much needed fresh air and daylight.
- bko 11y ago
  That's a fair point but most people are on a fixed salary and don't think of their time value as marginal. So for instance, if you're earning $50 an hour, you're earning 100k per year, and if you're on a salary, you may think of having a budget of 8.3k, pre-tax, or a little over 5k post-tax. So if you're spending an extra 1.9k on an apartment that cuts down your commute by 2 hours a day, that's money you're not spending on other quality of life things, including saving and paying down any debt. In this light, spending an extra 2k, despite it saving you 2 hours, doesn't seem as feasible.

by bko 11y ago

yummyfajitas 11y ago

It's also not that as expensive in Manhattan as you suggest. I looked earlier this year, east village studios might run from $2000-2500. Half that for a 2bhk in Bed Stuy. NYC has a huge problem with exclusionary zoning, but it's not quite as crazy as SF yet. [edit: I was wrong on Astoria, my info is apparently a year out of date.]

santaclause33 11y ago
2 bedrooms in Astoria are 2000+
pavel_lishin 11y ago
We just rented a 1 bedroom in a nice building on the upper west side for $2500 a month. Sure, there are 1brs for $4k; there are also 1brs for $1k and 1brs for $10k.

jwmerrill 11y ago

If you value your time at $50 per hour, a 60 minute commute twice a day costs $1900 per month (assuming you commute 230 days a year). And this doesn't count the direct monetary cost of the commute. Different people value their time differently, but it's worth doing this calculation consciously.

pavel_lishin 11y ago
Not all commutes are created equally; I would rather ride the subway for 45 minutes than spend 20 minutes in stop-and-go traffic.
ryanmonroe 11y ago
>a 60 minute commute twice a day costs $1900 per month Only if you're comparing it to a 0 minute commute, which isn't realistic.
- Tycho 11y ago
  You could have a five minute commute on foot, in which case it's more just much needed fresh air and daylight.
bko 11y ago
That's a fair point but most people are on a fixed salary and don't think of their time value as marginal. So for instance, if you're earning $50 an hour, you're earning 100k per year, and if you're on a salary, you may think of having a budget of 8.3k, pre-tax, or a little over 5k post-tax. So if you're spending an extra 1.9k on an apartment that cuts down your commute by 2 hours a day, that's money you're not spending on other quality of life things, including saving and paying down any debt. In this light, spending an extra 2k, despite it saving you 2 hours, doesn't seem as feasible.