cotiger wrote:erik the viking wrote:Those maps are amazing. Where to live is the top thing on my mind too, now that I've been accepted.
I grew up in the city (Williamsburg) and am now moving back for NYU law after 5 years in the wilderness. Rents are crazy. The lack of options on the poll makes me sad. Has anyone ever heard of students living in Staten Island. Maybe something in New Brighton, right by the ferry station. The ferry ride seems like the best of all worlds to me. Plus, If you bike to and from the terminal you don't have to pay for the subway. That's basically like $100 off rent if you factor expenses that way (forgive me, I don't know how much a monthly card is these days).
Look forward to meeting you all.
edit: google maps shows 46 min from new brighton to WSP by bike/ferry. It's a nice bike ride too, 90% on bike paths, right by the WTC park and the water.
I wouldn't recommend this. First of all, 46 minutes given by Google Maps for the whole distance does not seem to be accurate. I see 15 min bike ride from New Brighton to the terminal, say a 5 min wait, 25 min for the ferry, and 18 min bike ride from Whitehall to WSP. That's more like an hour. Also, because of the ferry, you're always going to be pretty stuck either far from home or far from where you want to be. And it's Staten Island.. just truly not somewhere you'd want to live. All of this and you wouldn't really be saving much money vs similarly distant options.
It seems like you're looking for a super cheap option ~45-50 min bike ride away, with a low value placed on surrounding neighborhood. In that case, I'd probably look in the eastern part of Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Ridgewood, or Crown Heights. You can find a room in those areas for ~$650/mo. If you're not picky about housing quality, though, it is possible to go lower.
Thanks for the tip. I might have gone that route under different circumstances, but I probably should have mentioned that I have a wife and a daughter on the way. SI seems like a good compromise for someone with a family.
I've taken the ferry a few times and it's always struck me as one of New York's best kept secrets, a wonderful way to commute. You can read and study easily in the morning and watch the Statue of Liberty go by in the evening (with a beer in hand incidentally, if that's your thing).
There's not as much nightlife in SI, but there are nice parks and good, middle class, yet diverse, communities. Shopping and restaurants tend to be cheaper too.
I would have thought it anathema when I was right out of college too, but for students that have families, don't care as much about nightlife, or are just over the hipster thing, it could be ideal. That's why I thought to mention it. (Secretly, I want to convince all the non trad students to move there too so we can kick it on the ferry ride home.