Thinking of moving to Brooklyn, NY

[Brainonska511]

I've lived in socal my entire life. Decided to branch out (that and the best and only position I found after grad school was Columbia) so my wife and I moved to manhattan. We loved the city before we moved here. Since the day we moved in, we've hated it. It's dirty. People are fucking RETARDED. If you love the sound of falling asleep to horns blaring, or waking up to it, by all means, move to new york.....

People are retarded everywhere. It's a city, part of living in a city is having to deal with more noise. If you don't want asshole neighbors, talk to the them before signing a lease in the building, etc...

- streets are dirty as shit
- traffic 24/7, cant stand taxis
- insane blizzards/winters
- it's expensive
- can't stand graffiti
- cant really have a car, PITA to drive

-Were you going to eat off of them? They're not that dirty anyway.
-Don't drive. Take mass transit.
-You think NYC has insane winters? Better not come north of the Mason-Dixon line then. Large amounts of snow happen occasionally (on the order of once every 5-10 years). More common to have only a few inches at a time. Regardless, the winters are not "insane" by any stretch of the imagination.
-Duh. It's NYC. Living in the center of cities is expensive. The outer boroughs are cheaper. Just don't live in Eastern Queens if you want to go car-less (no subways out there; more suburban). Outside of Manhattan it isn't too bad.
-Better not go outside anywhere. You might see some graffiti 🙄 It comes with living in a city.
-So? Again, mass transit.

 

[kage69]

You think Brooklyn gets "insane blizzards"? Seriously? lol

With your apparent sensitivity to winter, I'd suggest looking at Florida, not points north of where you are now. The Rockville/SS/Bethesda area is infinitely nicer than Brooklyn IMO.

If you are in need of a locale more befitting your super deadly MMA skills, might I suggest New Orleans? All the crime of Detroit but without the freezing part.

 

[classy]

You don't sound like a good candidate to live in NY. But NYC is one of those places that grows on you. You'll never have a dull moment though.

 

[nageov3t]

find your nearest American Apparel store.
hang out in the store for an entire afternoon.
if you don't want to kill yourself by the time the store closes, by all means, move to Brooklyn.

 

[bonkers325]

- streets are dirty as shit

unless you walk with your eyes down and decide to eat off the sidewalk, its not really an issue.

- traffic 24/7, cant stand taxis

walk or take public transportation

- insane blizzards/winters

nothing you can do about abnormal weather. in general, we dont get many blizzards. every few years we get some big snow storms, but usually its pretty calm stuff.

- it's expensive

if you want to live in a decent place and eat decent stuff, then yes. you can live in a slum and survive off of instant noodles too... but living a good lifestyle will be expensive here

- can't stand graffiti

just consider it as public art.

- cant really have a car, PITA to drive

you dont need a car. and if you do, just rent a zipcar.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Haven't been there, but, these cons are pretty much universal for all densely populated areas.

It's LOUD
Lots of light pollution (may not be a con for everyone, but, I love how out in the country, in the middle of the night, the only visible light is the stars and moon.)

 

[nageov3t]

Lots of light pollution (may not be a con for everyone, but, I love how out in the country, in the middle of the night, the only visible light is the stars and moon.)

that applies to pretty much everything in-between Washington, DC and Boston.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I've lived in socal my entire life. Decided to branch out (that and the best and only position I found after grad school was Columbia) so my wife and I moved to manhattan. We loved the city before we moved here. Since the day we moved in, we've hated it. It's dirty. People are fucking RETARDED. If you love the sound of falling asleep to horns blaring, or waking up to it, by all means, move to new york.

If the thought of kicking rats out of cans when you take out your trash appeals to you, NYC is the place to be. Do you have en eclectic taste in music? Good! Cause you're going to hear your neighbors blast their shitty tunes to all hours of the night. Like paying 3 times the cost of groceries that the rest of the world pays? Welcome to the big apple. People live like rats, because rats can afford the rent, which makes the supply that much lower. It is a miserable fucking shithole of depression and seething rage, interspersed with fuckheads who think it's the best city in the world.

On our drive out here, we read this article:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/84-million-new-yorkers-suddenly-realize-new-york-c,18003/

We laughed cause it was hilarious. Now we cry because it's true.

Congratulations on your well written and informative response. I found it stimulating and could relate to your observations. Next time, try Texas. Its a hoot when its not 115F or you run into someone who is extremely pissed off that it is 115F, which sometimes is almost everyone.

 

[Taughnter]

- streets are dirty as shit
- traffic 24/7, cant stand taxis
- insane blizzards/winters
- it's expensive
- can't stand graffiti
- cant really have a car, PITA to drive

Regarding the "dirty streets" and the graffiti, I can honestly say I've never noticed it. It's a city, you're bound to see things like that if you look for it, but like a lot of things, that's going to vary even more depending on the specific neighborhood. That also applies equally to the rent/prices and the ability to have a car.

I can't really say if it's expensive or not, I know what rents in other parts of NY and NJ are and Brooklyn is pretty moderately priced, but it could be considered a terrible deal compared to other parts of the country. It's certainly not expensive compared to Manhattan. (Obviously this depends on where you live and what kind of place you live in.)

As far as the weather goes, Brooklyn is no better or worse than the surrounding area. In my entire life I've never really thought of the tri-state area as a terrible area for weather...yes they have a winter, yes it snows there sometimes...and yea this year it snowed a lot more than usual.

Last thing I'll point out on the car thing: Every single person I know who lives in Brooklyn (and Queens as well) owns a car and drives (either on weekends or to work outside of NY). You're not going to WANT to drive to work, the bar, the store, etc.. It's far too convenient to take buses and trains, but that's not going to stop you from being able to have a car to drive when you need it. Parking is going to vary a lot by neighborhood again and you may not be able to park right in front of your house, but that's the case in a lot of places.

All of the above being said, Brooklyn ican be a pretty cool place to live. There's a lot to do there, lots of good bars and restaurants, easy access to Manhattan and the rest of the city. On the other hand, I would never want to live there. I don't really enjoy living in a city, it feels too crowded for my tastes and I think for anyone it's really going to come down to your personal taste. I definitely enjoy hanging out in Brooklyn and I don't think my friends who live there made a mistake, but that's going to come down to how you want to live, not me.

 

[yllus]

I thought Manhattan was pretty awesome, but I grew up in a big city (as big as Canadian cities get anyways) and pay the premium one must pay to live a 15 minute walk from the centre of downtown. If not for the not-much-better weather I'd say that NYC would be my dream city.

 

[amdhunter]

Be careful. Brooklyn makes White people go crazy.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/...goes_on_killer_rampage_Y6MLOc4zE0uI3rgagp1RJM

 

[skim milk]

For those reasons alone you will hate Brooklyn and pretty much NYC in general. It's a fun place to visit but there's no way I could live there.

I've lived in socal my entire life. Decided to branch out (that and the best and only position I found after grad school was Columbia) so my wife and I moved to manhattan. We loved the city before we moved here. Since the day we moved in, we've hated it. It's dirty. People are fucking RETARDED. If you love the sound of falling asleep to horns blaring, or waking up to it, by all means, move to new york.

If the thought of kicking rats out of cans when you take out your trash appeals to you, NYC is the place to be. Do you have en eclectic taste in music? Good! Cause you're going to hear your neighbors blast their shitty tunes to all hours of the night. Like paying 3 times the cost of groceries that the rest of the world pays? Welcome to the big apple. People live like rats, because rats can afford the rent, which makes the supply that much lower. It is a miserable fucking shithole of depression and seething rage, interspersed with fuckheads who think it's the best city in the world.

On our drive out here, we read this article:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/84-million-new-yorkers-suddenly-realize-new-york-c,18003/

We laughed cause it was hilarious. Now we cry because it's true.

I agree with these 100%.

I lived in NYC and I moved to SF. NYC is fun to visit but my life in SF is 10x better.

 

[Axon]

Born and raised in Brooklyn, now living in Manhattan. Let me debunk some myths - essentially, you're associating a lot of what's wrong with Manhattan onto Brooklyn.

1. You absolutely can have a car in NYC, particularly in the portions of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx that are a bit further out. But commuting into work via car is ill advised; while there are a number of perfectly fine paid parking lots, they charge a fortune. You can easily park in Manhattan on the weekends or after 7 pm.

2. The subway is a great method of transportation. You don't really need a car for NYC.

3. Insane blizzards? This year was a complete anomaly. Most years it snows twice or something and it's clean by the next morning.

4. The streets are grimey compared to other cities, no denying that.

5. Definitely expensive to live here, but you can find decent deals, like an $1100 one bedroom in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, a really nice area near the water. Which, I'm sure to most, is still horrifically expensive.

6. There's barely any graffiti these days, but maybe I'm just numb to it.

7. Lots of hotties in NYC, jeeeesus christ the girls that are at seemingly every bar. Great place to be single, that's for sure. You can walk around central park - wearing a jacket on a 45 degree day - and see girls sunbathing on the lawn. God bless 'em.

 

[isekii]

Born and raised in Brooklyn, now living in Manhattan. Let me debunk some myths - essentially, you're associating a lot of what's wrong with Manhattan onto Brooklyn.

1. You absolutely can have a car in NYC, particularly in the portions of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx that are a bit further out. But commuting into work via car is ill advised; while there are a number of perfectly fine paid parking lots, they charge a fortune. You can easily park in Manhattan on the weekends or after 7 pm.

2. The subway is a great method of transportation. You don't really need a car for NYC.

3. Insane blizzards? This year was a complete anomaly. Most years it snows twice or something and it's clean by the next morning.

4. The streets are grimey compared to other cities, no denying that.

5. Definitely expensive to live here, but you can find decent deals, like an $1100 one bedroom in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, a really nice area near the water. Which, I'm sure to most, is still horrifically expensive.

6. There's barely any graffiti these days, but maybe I'm just numb to it.

7. Lots of hotties in NYC, jeeeesus christ the girls that are at seemingly every bar. Great place to be single, that's for sure. You can walk around central park - wearing a jacket on a 45 degree day - and see girls sunbathing on the lawn. God bless 'em.

I have to agree. NYC is filled with hotties. I walk to work and everywhere you look, there is eye candy.