Anyone moved from Brooklyn to Staten island and is not happy

amother

Maroon

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:01 am

I recently moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island and I would move back anytime. It's a totally different lifestyle. If you drive and have access to a car then you'll be fine but if you don't drive like me then it's a massive expense.
Yes you can get a car ride but most of the time you gotta keep asking on the ride groups.
Finally there's a shuttle but it's $10 each way.
Bussing for the kids is a headache
There are so many expenses we didn't take into account because noone was honest about how expensive things get very quickly: bills and little things I took for granted that I had a variety of in Brooklyn I don't have here.

I will sum it up this way:
If we knew then when we moved what we know now, we would've stayed in Brooklyn. Not worth this big headache.

On the plus side:
No parking issues, kids have tons of friends. It definitely feels like a community where everyone knows everyone.

If I would be given the opportunity to go back to Brooklyn I would take it and not look back.

amother

Jade

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:17 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

Can u pm me? Or give me more specifics? Im looking into si as well and want to hear more. I heard abt all the bussing expenses..what others are u referring to?
Besides for the travel situation what else are you finding so tough?

amother

Jetblack

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:29 am

I am very happy having moved 2 years ago from bp to staten island. The neighborhood is quiet. I have a spacious house with a yard, deck and basement. My house also includes a small apartment that I rent out for $1000 a month. My kids have more friends/neighbors than in bp. I do drive and have a car to use so that is a big plus. Travel time to bp is about 25 minutes. Kids transportation costs about 110 per month per child. The money I spend on housing goes towards my house, not a landlords pocket.

amother

Bronze

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:34 am

Moved here about 4 years ago and I definitely would NEVER move back to Brooklyn! My kids got breathing space here and space to play. Yeah transportation is tough at first but at this point majority of BP schools provide transportation. And about the rides we only have one car so it can get tricky some times but if u buy a shuttle card then it’s way cheaper then $10 a way and posting on the group isn’t that big of a deal people are willing to help. You just can’t move to SI expecting everyone to cater exactly to ur needs especially when wanting rides from ppl.
My kids wouldn’t move back to bp if I pay them going to bp for shabbos once in a while is torture for them they hate it.

Anyway moving was the best decision ever we’re Bh really loving it here.
But remember all beginnings are hard!! Good luck

amother

Maroon

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:55 am

You all make good points.
For me personally this move was hard because I lost my independence. Transportation is a big monthly expense. We didn't know it would become even more expensive.

Let's take the shuttle issue:
A membership is $150 a month per card or $400 a family with a minimum of 4 or 5 cards. This extra $150 is hard to come by when only 3 kids need to use it.

Bussing for my kids who aren't old enough to use the shuttle is $140 per kid

In bp transportation was free and I didn't need to use any bus to get anywhere because all major avenues were nearby.

Also a major hangup I was mad about, Nobody bothered telling us that the school bus doesn't go into Westerleigh. We were specifically looking there because houses were more or less in the price range we could afford. By chance someone mentioned that the buses don't go past South Gannon. So we did end up davka looking in Willowbrook so the little ones wouldn't have to walk too far for their bus.

Owning a home is a massive expense. We were not totally prepared for the expenses that come along with it, heating, cooling, etc etc.

My advice to anyone looking to move here is do your homework. Keep checking the numbers if you can make it work. If you plan on buying a home, ask the owners if you can see their heating and cooling and water bills to see if you can afford it.

Good luck to all!

Amother, I cant pm you if both of us are anonymous Laugh

Edited to add:
The grocery here is expensive and they don't always carry what you need. The major bp grocery stores deliver but I find it a hassle. Gourmet glatt delivers late at night
Breadberry delivers at a reasonable hour but they're mighty expensive
KRM does not honor their specials if you don't shop in store as opposed to calling or emailing order
Goldberg's and Mega53 also deliver

amother

Brunette

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 11:02 am

I live in SI about 2 years.
Love the grass, serenity, community, kids friends, cheaper rent.

Hate the inconvenience and expense of constant travel, for myself and kids.
Also don’t like that this will never be a real city. We’ll always rely on Brooklyn for shopping and school.

My kids love it here but absolutely despise leaving to school so early, (missing a bus is a whole issue), and traveling a lot.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 11:10 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

Owning a home is a massive expense. We were not totally prepared for the expenses that come along with it, heating, cooling, etc etc.

My advice to anyone looking to move here is do your homework. Keep checking the numbers if you can make it work. If you plan on buying a home, ask the owners if you can see their heating and cooling and water bills to see if you can afford it.

Owning a house and all the expenses that come along will be the same issue where ever you move...

I find that people that dont drive have a harder adjustment moving to staten island then those that drive and generally are happy from the beginning.. moving here you need to know that nothing is down your block if you dont have a car youll be walking alot..

Transportation for kids is a huge expense, no transportation break if you have 3,4,5 or more kids.. you pay same price per kid.

But if you know about the transportation expense and you drive theres no reason for you not to be happy here.

amother

Brown

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 11:14 am

amother [ Brunette ] wrote:

There's a great school on the island, and online shopping Smile

First time homeowners will always have many unexpected expenses, no matter where.
Mortgage, utilities, homeowner taxes, maintenance & repairs, etc.

amother

Purple

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 11:21 am

amother [ Wine ] wrote:

I am not from Brooklyn or Staten Island, so maybe I'm missing something?

Why are you bussing your kids to BP for school? Why are you shopping in BP? If you move to a community, why don't you utilize the community schools and resources?

SI doesn’t gave chaddish schools and has (always had) limited shopping

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:17 pm

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

It is not close to where any of the Jews live. It’s a city bus ride, but a long one. There’s a city bus to the SI mall too

It takes me about 45 minutes to get from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan by train. How long would it take you to get to the SI mall and Ferry mall from your house using the bus?

amother

Purple

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:21 pm

amother [ Goldenrod ] wrote:

It takes me about 45 minutes to get from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan by train. How long would it take you to get to the SI mall and Ferry mall from your house using the bus?

Not sure I understand the line of questioning but a bus would take 30-60 minutes depending on traffic

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:32 pm

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Not sure I understand the line of questioning but a bus would take 30-60 minutes depending on traffic

So shopping is not an issue as you can get to the SI mall and the ferry mall within an hour. Plus, you can always take the ferry to Manhattan so you are very close to shopping there as well. This would be no different than living in Monsey and taking the bus into the city. The only difficult thing would be the schooling, if the kids have to go to Brooklyn schools then that would be an issue. Are there not enough families to start a (chasidish) school in SI? Has anyone tried it already and if so, what happened to it?
It also seems like a big store like Bingo or KRM would benefit from opening up there as well and bring more competitive prices to the neighborhood. Has anyone reached out to them and asked them if its feasible?

amother

Purple

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 12:45 pm

amother [ Goldenrod ] wrote:

We seem to be talking about different things. Shopping in Macy’s or Nordstrom rack is not an issue. Same for Sephora or old navy. Mall stores. People don’t typically need these stores in a weekly basis though. And SI is Nothing like monsey. Monsey has huge chassidish infrastructure. Numerous tremendous kosher food stores. Monsey has also become a place where people travel to from outside the area for their food stores and restaurants. SI has tiny kosher food stores that will be laughable to those coming from Brooklyn and used to Kollel or bingo. Fact is sI has always been a satellite of Brooklyn and I don’t think that will ever change. I don’t think there’s enough business for a mega store: there just aren’t the numbers.