Can we live in Manhattan with an income of 160K?

amother

Oak

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 9:02 am

DH is considering a relocation to NYC, and I'm wondering if it's feasible for us.
We're MO, with a 3 yr old (which we'd want to send to some sort of Jewish preschool) and a baby (who needs some sort of daycare, doesn't have to be Jewish, just trustworthy and loving).

We'd both be working in the city and hate long commutes, we were thinking that Washington Heights might be a good fit for us as far as location and community are concerned.
We're pretty simple people, we're not really into designer clothes or eating out. We're happy for homecooked meals and clothes from Walmart (as an Israeli it's funny to me that TCP and carters stuff is seen as cheap. Here it's high quality from the golden medina Smile

).

Would we be able to make it with a combined salary of about 160K a year? Or are we off our rocker and we'll have to make due with living farther out and longer commutes?

Jeanette

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 9:11 am

You need to find out what rents are for an apartment in the area you'd like to live, and what the tuition will be for the schools you want to send to. I think you could make it work depending on what your priorities are in other areas. If you are going to move here you should also have an exit strategy if living in a tiny apartment with no outdoor space and no money for extras gets stifling after a while.

amother

Peach

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 9:16 am

Sure you can. But why not live in a community where you can live comfortably and save some money too. There are plenty of places in New Jersey that will be much cheaper and will meet your needs. Transportation may be easier than a subway from Washington heights to midtown or Wall Street area. Day car and school may be cheaper and housing costs may be better.

amother

Lime

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 10:34 am

I live in Washington Heights with children your kids' ages, and a household income closer to $100,000. We make do and save a decent amount. You could definitely do the same. But so much of budgeting has to do with what expenditures you consider normal. We're frugal people.

I'm not sure that you would stretch your money so much more effectively in the suburbs. That depends on whether you were planning to have a car in the city at all (a zipcar membership or something might make more sense if you both work in Manhattan) and just how much a commute from the suburbs would dampen your quality of life.

amother

Dodgerblue

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 10:36 am

I think it depends which area you would consider. I think lets say a 2 bedroom on UWS and paying nanny/tuition prices u would probably be VERY tight and not able to save. But Washington heights is not nearly as expensive as UWS and that income is probably fine for a 2 bedroom there.

amother

Oak

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 1:01 pm

Thanks ladies!

A few follow up points and questions:

- Yup, we certainly don't intend on having a car. If we want to go on a trip now and then we'll rent (thanks for the zipcar tip amother lime). We're generally pretty frugal people.

- We don't need to get into top schools or anything, and we'd consider any area that has decent subway connections. We're only planning on staying for a couple of years so DH can do some career advancement. So as long as a preschool is Jewish and has enough hours so we can both get to work it's fine with us. What areas in Manhattan are most likely to have decently priced childcare? We can build around that.

- amother peach - what communities in NJ would be cheaper and have an easier commute? I'm totally open to suggestions.

- tichellady - Why wouldn't we like Washington Heights?

Amarante

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 1:21 pm

Not sure what a poster has against Washington Heights. It's at the very tip of Manhattan so somewhat more reasonable than more southern parts of Manhattan. The subway line makes it more convenient for west side Manhattan locations but it's not horrendous in terms of a commute.

It's become quite gentrified in the past few years as extremely high prices and rents in Manhattan have forced people into the area. It's obviously very diverse but all of Manhattan is diverse and therefore assuming OP is not looking for an insular community.

There are theoretically commutable areas in Brooklyn and Queens that would be affordable as well. It really depends on where in Manhattan you need to be since the midtown east Manhattan is close to parts of Queens and obviously Wall Street/lower Manhattan can be a short commute from Brooklyn.

tichellady

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 1:33 pm

I have no idea if you would like Washington heights or not. Here are the pros and cons as I see them ( obviously different people have different experiences)

Pros:
1. Jewish community is not very materialistic
2. Living is quite affordable ( for New York)
3. Can get around easily with public transportation ( although I hate the 1 train station at 181 because of the elevators)

Cons
1. Typically very loud at all hours of day/night
2. Very transient orthodox community- people are always moving in and out
3. I think it could be hard to make friends if you are not from the yu/stern community.

Go visit and see what you think.

amother

Oak

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 1:43 pm

No I haven't been to Washington Heights, that's why I'm asking. I looked it up on google maps, it doesn't exactly look like a pretty place to live, but I don't know much beyond that. Besides the large ugly buildings, what are we talking about here? Are there any parks we can take the kids to? Is it dangerous to walk around there? I'm not playing dumb or anything, I seriously want to know what I should be looking out for. I don't know anyone that lives there that I can talk to.

Amarante

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 2:54 pm

😀😀😀 architecturally charming areas in NYC don't look that charming to most people although parts of Greenwich Village or the Upper East Side can have charming blocks with the original brownstones.

Not sure what you are looking for. People choose to live in Manhattan because they like the convenience and enjoy urban living.

There are parts of the outer boroughs in Queens, Brooklyn or Riverdale in Mirthern Bronx which are quieter but the trade off is that the commute is longer and a car is highly desirable even if not a complete necessity.

Your initial question was solely whether you could afford to live in Manhattan and literally you can. However, if you want charm, probably not. 😀😀

ETA Washington Heights is not a particularly dangerous area and as I posted originally is becoming more and more gentrified. Like any place, one needs to use common sense but it is extremely unlikely one would be a victim of a crime going about your business during normal hours.

When I lived in Manhattan, I felt safe so long as there were people around. If I was coming home late and it was deserted, I would spring for a cab. I was never a victim of street crime.

Last edited by Amarante on Sun, Sep 04 2016, 3:01 pm; edited 1 time in total

tichellady

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 2:58 pm

amother wrote:

It is not pretty at all although life there is not boring or dull. There are many immigrants from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic there and a German Jewish community as well as many YU students and a large community of modern orthodox singles and some YU kollel families. I felt safe during the day but didn't feel particularly safe walking at night ( although felt fine with my husband with me). I didn't have children living there, so am not sure how that would have been. There is crime- we had a number of people who were robbed in our building and I saw drugs being sold all the time- but I generally didn't feel unsafe. The noise level was hard for me. I'm sure some apartments are better/worse than others but there is just a lot of street noise at all hours.

Fort Tyron is a nice park but was not walking Distance from where I lived. There are some small parks that are ok that I think YU families go to during the day.

We definitely had fun times there. We also had some challenges- our building had a huge mice problem and we didn't have laundry in the building which would probably be hard for a family with children ( you can investigate that before you move).

tichellady

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 3:54 pm

amother wrote:

Tichellady did you live on the YU side or the Bennett side? The Bennett side is much nicer especially on the other side of ft Washington. Cabrini is beautiful. As amarante said it has majorly gentrified. I lived on the uws and there was crime there too.

There's crime everywhere. I am just answering OPs question about whether there is crime there. I know both sides well. Just to be clear I'm not anti- Washington heights- just want to make sure Op knows what to expect.

amother

Linen

Sun, Sep 04 2016, 4:11 pm

OP has never been to WH and I think it's pretty unfair to keep focusing on the fact that it's becoming gentrified and gloss over the fact that people in your building have gotten robbed. While not the worst, WH is one of the more unsafe places in the city (hence why it's so affordable). That being said, there is a great Jewish community there. Trade offs....