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I'm considering moving to NYC for a new job. It would be in downtown Manhattan.

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on neighborhoods either in Brooklyn or New Jersey. I'm not from NYC, and therefore really like my space and likely want to avoid living in Manhattan. So my first instinct would be Jersey City/Hoboken and I could be convinced of Brooklyn if I found something nice enough. Any suggestions on neighborhood or how to go about searching? I would like to keep rent below $2500 but have some flexibility.

Also I would prefer living alone but would be open to a roommate. Is there any way to find a non-awful roommate without resorting to Craigslist? I'm thinking of maybe law firm/school listservs but not sure if there is any other way besides reaching out to personal contacts.

If your work is relatively accessible via PATH, Hoboken/JC are good bets. You should be able to find something suitable for under $2500.

Yea, I have a 1br in Hell's Kitchen for under 3k, you should be fine with that price range.

In Brooklyn, your commute tolerance and desire to be in a hip neighborhood will greatly affect whether you can get a great apartment for that price or maybe scrape by finding something acceptable. If you don't mind a longer commute, Bay Ridge or Kensington will get you something nice. Otherwise any neighborhood west-northwest of prospect park or in Williamsburg are the usual candidates.

Quick plug for the Gowanus fringes of Park Slope. You can get a ton of space for a very reasonable (well, by NYC standards) price, and the commute to FiDi is about 25 minutes (longer to get to Midtown, obviously).

Late to this thread, but at $2500, you can probably a place in Gowanus (^^^good rec from poster above), South Park Slope/Greenwood, or Clinton Hill, all of which are great Brooklyn neighborhoods with reasonable commutes to Lower Manhattan. Also, don't rule out Astoria (Queens). It'll all feel on the small side if you're used to getting a lot of square footage per dollar, but at your price point, you won't be restricted to tiny studios.