I will be working in Manhattan for exactly one year - where to live?

What's your budget? What's your situation - just a single dude? Are you definitely right in times square? No offense but your city geography needs some work if you think central park is downtown.

Live in Queens, save your money. Live near Flushing meadow park or forest park. You'll only be 35 minutes from Times Square

Camp in that park.

Find a gym near work

Divide the number of miles you would like to run each day by 2

Find a place that is that many miles away

yeah sorry I don't know New York terminology. Looked up my work location and it's between Greenwhich village and Times Square.

For budget I mean I could technically afford over 3k/month but obviously rather spend less unless commuting is too painful. Looking for one-bedroom only no roommates no studio.

Pretty happy to run to work if there are decent routes.

Thanks everyone so far

Don't rule out Queens. Astoria, Long Island City are in demand, they're near your work but within your budget. Forest Hills is further away, quiet, safe, but cheaper. You could get lucky with a 1 year sublet in Manhattan but the commute could actually be worse.

I lived in Manhattan for about 6 years...though this was almost 10 years ago now. Unless things have changed you might struggle to find a nice 1 bedroom for under 3k a month in Manhattan. Maybe look in Brooklyn or Hoboken? I was on the UES a few blocks from the Park in a 1 bedroom, doorman building and paid mid-2K at that time. I can’t imagine prices have gone down. Good luck.

Become an urban street runner Astoria to Chelsea is a 5 or 6 mile run to work Add a loop in Central Park on the way home and you have a 25Km day. Nice 400m track at Ditmars and the East River near Astoria Park.

http://www.hrronline.org/

bet the club can point you to an affordable $12ooo-18ooo 1 BR in a prewar high ceiling building with BR rooms 15x18 or larger

105 mpw wrote:

I am taking a one-year gig in New York right by Times Square.

I want to run twice most days. I'm 30ish. Want to enjoy NYC a little but not too much. Could afford to live in Manhattan but saving some dough and being near good running would not be bad either.

Advice on where to live? Should I live downtown by the Hudson and Central park? New Jersey somewhere? or what?

If you can find a place very close to Central Park within your price range, take it.

Otherwise somewhere along the river close to your place of work.

It's probably worth walking 20 minutes to avoid taking the subway every day.

Though, you will probably find a much nicer place in Brooklyn 1 subway stop from downtown

Queens sucks, don’t listen to those people. If you’re really running 105mpw you should try to live on the Upper West Side because then you’ll have easy access to both Central Park and the Hudson River greenway. It’s a very convenient and clean neighborhood with an early 30s vibe.

If you’re younger maybe the east village would be a better bet. Further from Central Park but still just 15-20 minute subway from there, close to the east river park, and the east river track will be opening back up again in August/September.

And look, you’re going to be living in NYC for one year only, make the most of it. It’s an amazing city and you want to get the full experience, so don’t live in queens.

105 mpw wrote:

yeah sorry I don't know New York terminology. Looked up my work location and it's between Greenwhich village and Times Square.

For budget I mean I could technically afford over 3k/month but obviously rather spend less unless commuting is too painful. Looking for one-bedroom only no roommates no studio.

Pretty happy to run to work if there are decent routes.

Thanks everyone so far

Between Greenwich village and times square is a pretty large area. Chelsea? Herald Square? Give us a subway stop at least? This will help.

Living in the cobble hill/carroll gardens area, you would be a mile or so from the red hook track, a mile and half from prospect park, and right near Brooklyn bridge park, and the manhattan and brooklyn bridge. If you plan on doing a bunch of nyrr races it could be a pain getting to central park on the weekends. You can run to work over brooklyn bridge and up the west side. Running home you would want to use the manhattan bridge. Run to work would be 5-7 miles.

If you live on upperwest side, you could be right near central park and the west side. You could run to work down the hudson. And use the park. Also the track up near riverside park and the armory for an indoor track during the winter. Close enough to van cortlandt park to go up there once in a while for a cross country race or change of scenery. Also can run with CPTC people up there.

I think those are your best options without knowing more about where you are working.

If you have a bunch of friends in manhattan, you should live in manhattan if you want them to ever come see you (even if brooklyn or queens is closer to where they live).

Again, you still need to be more specific about where you are working - it makes life a lot easier to not have to change trains on your commute with how much the mta has been sucking lately. Also minimizing the walk from the train station to your apartment/work is a bigger deal than you think - walking a few extra blocks may not seem like a big deal, but in the rain when you're dressed up for work it absolutely sucks.

But as the last two posters said, the UWS is a great neighborhood. Blocks from both central park and the hudson river greenway (besides being a ~14 mile traffic-free path up the whole west side of manhattan, if you you do any cycling this is your path to the GWB and out of town for longer rides). Being convenient to NYRR on 58th is always helpful too if you're going to be doing any of the near weekly races in the park.

Not the trendiest neighborhood, but a great residential neighborhood with plenty of food/shopping/transit options. In a brownstown on a quiet street it won't feel at all like the hectic nyc people see in movies. Hundreds of options on seamless for food delivery (which you'll need if you're in an affordable apartment in a brownstown with a "kitchen" that has about 2 feet of counter space).

One more warning - you said you can technically afford 3k/month - most landlords require you to make 40 times the monthly rent in gross income. Since you post on LR, I'm sure you make at least 120k, if not 250k, but it's something to be aware of if you're not used to NY.

There are places outside NY- Warwick Valley for example- that are practically out in the country and only 30 minutes away.

You could take a train to work.

If you want to run (say right from your front door) look into one of these.

Warwick Valley has one of their schools with mowed trails- they serve as their XC course but you could get more mileage out of them- and the streets are safe.

105 mpw wrote:

yeah sorry I don't know New York terminology. Looked up my work location and it's between Greenwhich village and Times Square.

For budget I mean I could technically afford over 3k/month but obviously rather spend less unless commuting is too painful. Looking for one-bedroom only no roommates no studio.

Pretty happy to run to work if there are decent routes.

Thanks everyone so far

3k/month? that's a studio in Manhattan, and not a very good one. for 1brm at that price you'd need to commute. the problem is, if you move to BK or Queens, you'd have to use subway and subway sucks. too crowded, too slow, too dirty and not reliable at all. I would rent in White Plains, actually. close to the train station. and then you get a nice, clean and very reliable train every 30min to Grand Central. so commute is really not that unpleasant. in White Plains you have a ton of options to run, and the air is clean too. running on a lunch break in Manhattan is a challenge. your best option is treadmill, really. I seriously hope you do not mind treadmill. Central Park is too far, so getting there and then back to work is just not realistic. there is a narrow bike/jog path that goes around Manhattan (east river and hudson), but running there is not fun at all. too many cars too close to you, too many bicycles, and you have to stop all the time, and there is construction going on, etc etc it is just impossible to relax and run at a steady pace

runn wrote:

There are places outside NY- Warwick Valley for example- that are practically out in the country and only 30 minutes away.

You could take a train to work.

If you want to run (say right from your front door) look into one of these.

Warwick Valley has one of their schools with mowed trails- they serve as their XC course but you could get more mileage out of them- and the streets are safe.

Door to door with public transportation or a car it will be a much longer commute from Warwick valley or areas near it.

Another poster said Queens sucks, still look into into Astoria and Long Island City and areas further away closest to parks if you don't wasnt to suspend your pay check on rent. I can't figure out why people feel they need to live like a sardine in the middle of the action for 3,500 a month when they can live in a bigger safer area with cheaper rent and food 30 minutes away. If you want to live in Manhattan look into Battery Park City along the West side.

None of this is true. 3k a month can get you a decent 1br in a good neighborhood in Manhattan. It's a renter's market right now. The subway has its problems, but it's reliable during the weekdays.

Living up in Westchester or somewhere else north of the city, as two posters have now suggested, is by far the worst idea in here. You'll have zero social life, and if you're under 40 people will find it supremely weird that you'd choose to do that.

Central Park is a great palce to run and is accessible easily from basically any neighborhood in Manhattan. I do most of my long runs on the bridal path in the park, which is a 5 mile hilly and mostly dirt loop. There's also a 6 mile paved loop that's even a bit more hilly. The hudson river is actually awesome for running, don't know why this person thinks you have to stop all the time. I do a lot of workouts and longer intervals on the hudson and never have to stop while running at a sub 6 pace. East river isn't quite as nice but it's still solid and has long uninterrupted stretches, I do most of my easy runs there.

Ultimately you need to decide if you want to save a bit more money and live in a neighborhood with limited social options that nobody will visit, or live in Manhattan or northern Brooklyn where you'll probably pay 2500-3k for a livable 1br but actually be able to experience what NYC can offer you. I'd strongly suggest the latter, as it's such a great city and unique in the US.

This advice is terrible! I've lived in the Upper East Side for the past six years. It's half a mile from Central Park. If you want to run twice a day, then you HAVE to live near Central Park. It's a Godsend. And you can find a place in the Upper East Side that's just as nice -- and just as affordable -- as moving out to Queens, Jersey, Westchester, etc.

I live in a one-bedroom for $2,400. It's a very nice spot. Look at the listings here:

Entirely misinformed individual, this one. My favorite part is avoid the subway, but take the train to grand central where you will still be 2 miles from work from what it sounds like.

If you're only living a place for a year, enjoy it. Don't spend your time commuting.

here's a place for you

As the other poster said, you may have difficulty finding someone to rent to you, especially if this is a new job where you don't have proof of having earned 40x rent at your current employer for over the last year. Best bet may be finding a roommate or a place where the owner is renting it out and not a management company.

Jersey City or Hoboken are the "best kept secrets" in my opinion.