<p>People who are familiar with Brooklyn- where would be a comfortable, safe, relatively affordable location for recent college graduates ( around age 22) working in Manhattan. Obviously they cannot afford where they work. Is Brooklyn the ‘in’ place or are there other ideas? Looking at roommates, couple alone, and sites to check out.</p>
<p>What’s the budget of the recent college grad and where in Manhattan would they be working? </p>
<p>What kind of neighborhood atmosphere is he/she looking for?</p>
<p>My d. is in Brooklyn in Bed-Stuy near Crown Heights & Prospect Heights. She’s right on the subway line - takes the A into her job in midtown Manhattan. A lot of her friends from college live in the area, the area is gentrifying, lots of cafes & restaurants so plenty of places for young people to hang out on evenings and weekends. She has lived there 3 years and is really happy – I enjoy visiting her because her shared apartment is large enough so that there is plenty of space for me when I stay. </p>
<p>I don’t know how she found her place, but padmapper gives a good sense of what’s available. Her neighborhood has a walk score of 95.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the gentrification means that the rents have gone up in general since my d. moved in. Her landlord lives in the building and has been very reasonable – only a very slight rent increase over the years - but it will be harder for a new renter to find a the same value. But obviously still significantly less for rent than living in Manhattan. </p>
<p>^ ^</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, the level of gentrification in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights is such a lot of renters who cannot afford those areas and yet, want to be close to the centers of music/nightlife in Brooklyn are moving into Bushwick and areas of Ridgewood Queens bordering Bushwick. </p>
<p>A lot of friends in the performing arts/music have been living in or are moving to that area. </p>
<p>Relatively cheap apartments can be found in Kensington and Ditmas Park. Not much farther than Bed Stuy but lots of decent apartment buildings. Follow the Q and B lines. Bed Stuy, Crown Heights, Bushwick and Williamsburg are relatively overpriced by comparison. Also Bay Ridge, which is a lot of stops from Manhattan on the subway but well-served with express buses. Ridgewood is also pretty far.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Very nice neighborhood. </p>
<p>However, the travel time even to lower Manhattan can be horrendous IME from visiting friends living there…including some living in some nice homes at the end of the R line. And if there’s construction on the R/N lines in Brooklyn, it gets worse. </p>
<p>This was one major factor in why one friend moved out Bay Ridge despite having a nice 1 bedroom apartment at a low rental price. And he was on the northern end of Bay Ridge where rents and apartments are cheaper whereas the further south one goes…the nicer the homes/apartments seem to get. </p>
<p>Another issue is if someone desires being around a lot of young college students/twenty-somethings and within convenient distance by subway/bus to the nightlife music/bar scenes in Brooklyn, I wouldn’t recommend Bay Ridge. It’s a bit too far and is more a neighborhood to consider if one’s considering a neighborhood to settle down to have a young family. </p>
<p>I guess a question for the OP is how much the kids can afford-- people’s notions of what is reasonable and affordable can be very different. </p>
<p>Cobrat, there is definitely a young-people-music scene in Bay Ridge, complete with clubs and places to dance. Mostly for people closer to my daughter’s age (18) than yours and certainly than mine. Also express buses get to and from Manhattan A LOT faster than the subway with express HOV lanes on the BQE.</p>
<p>I live in the same part of Bed Stuy as calmom’s daughter. Prices are rising crazy-fast to rent or to buy.</p>
<p>D and her fiance have a lovely apartment in Bay Ridge. It is a long haul from Manhattan, but she commutes by express bus, which is not bad (her fiance works in Bay Ridge and walks to work). They just renewed their lease. D’s 2 best friends from college live a few blocks away and they know others from work, etc so they really don’t feel “out of it”. </p>
<p>It really depends on where your college grad is going to be commuting to for work in Manhattan and how long of a commute they can tolerate. Many of the Brooklyn trains are not as reliable as Manhattan trains which can add to commute time. Many young people my D knows live further uptown in Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights because they have great subway availability to get to their jobs. Rents in these areas are comparable to many areas of Brooklyn where younger people are living. My D can get to her job in the West Village in about 35 minutes from Hamilton Heights.</p>
<p>The commute from Bed Stuy to midtown is on the same A train as from Hamilton Heights and about the same distance and time to midtown, much shorter to downtown, 20 minutes to the Village. Much depends on which train line and how far a walk to the subway. Brooklyn is huge, much bigger than Manhattan. </p>
<p>One of my sons lives in Clinton Hill (on the C) and the other in Ditmas Park (on the Q). Both work in the financial district, so the locations work for them. The son who takes the Q transfers at the Barclay Center to the 1,2,3, I think. Where your grad is working will be key to determining where is most convenient to live, and if I were them,I would take a good look at the upcoming subway construction schedules. My kids HATE the G, though I think that’s the most convenient line for Crown Heights/Bed Stuy. Rents are crazy…I lived in Brooklyn Heights back in the dark ages and when I see what young people are paying in neighborhoods I wouldn’t have gone near 30 years ago I am amazed. My son who lives in Clinton Hill is sharing a 4BR fourth floor walk-up and has a very reasonable rent. My niece just rented an apartment in Ditmas Park, and while the price is “reasonable” by NY standards, I was surprised at how much rents are that much further out. She did get more space than you would get further in though.
I think your grad needs to decide how much time they will be out in Manhattan in the evening, either working late or for social purposes. Distance home, subway reliability, and other available transportation options should be considered when deciding where to live, as well as accessibility to work. </p>
<p>My kid lives in a nice place sort of in Downtown, short walk from Jay St. station and another. It’s all about the subway. As to reasonableness, with roommates yes.</p>
<p>If your child is renting with others and does not mind sharing space (girls sometimes are ok with sharing a BR), then I would also do a little research in Manhattan. BPC and FIDI are two areas where it might come out comparable to Brooklyn if they are sharing. They are very safe areas and it might be an easier commute depending on where they are working. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have friends in Indie bands, some of whom do play dance clubs. </p>
<p>However, the few times Bay Ridge came up as a venue for consideration, it was always nixed on the grounds of travel logistics and not desiring to deal with cops called on them by dominant young families desiring a quiet neighborhood. </p>
<p>Especially considering some of them moved out of Bay Ridge because they were getting harassed by neighbors* for even being seen with their instruments…despite the fact they never practiced amplified in their apartments* as they left their amps in a rehearsal space. </p>
<ul>
<li>They practice unamplified in their apartments due to noise considerations and due to the fact the apartment layout/space meant even having a small practice amp would have taken up too much space and/or elicit further harassment from neighbors even during hours when it is allowed (7 am to 11 pm before 2007…10 pm afterwards).<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Bay Ridge is where my son goes to school and it definitely has a younger vibe nowadays and, as usual, I don’t believe cobrat’s story. Bay Ridge has become very vibrantly Arab in recent years, which has contributed to excellent restaurants and culture. Definitely not all young families by any stretch, however, the commute is difficult and parts of it are very, very expensive. Dyker Heights has recently become a hot area for young law firm professionals. I can’t tell you how many young lawyers/staff members I know who have recently moved into that area.</p>
<p>I live in Crown Heights on the 3/4 lines, and I have a huge place for a great price. My area of Crown Heights isn’t the most exciting, but there is a lot of stuff happening one stop away on the express train, and the trains are really reliable
Edit: I found my place using Myspace NYC. They are a no-fee group, and were really flexible with our budget limits and the kinds of places we wanted. I think they operate exclusively in Brooklyn</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>IME working with law firm professionals and family members who are lawyers, most tend to prefer more quiet settled neighborhoods due to long stressful working hours and have funds/firm provided car services available to put up with the commute. In that context, Bay Ridge fits the bill quite nicely. </p>
<p>The few exceptions I know are either unusually energetic and into the eclectic and varied music/nightlife scenes or in the case of one HS friend, grew up in one of those neighborhoods and is used to the high levels of noise one would expect from the greater numbers of college/young professionals congregating at the large numbers of noisy bars and musical performance venues. </p>
<p>A lot of young people have found occupancy in these houses. I am not exactly sure what their policy is for recent graduates, but you can request more information. </p>
<p><a href=“NYC Student Housing Locations | Student & Intern Housing in NYC: EHS Educational Services”>NYC Student Housing Locations | Student & Intern Housing in NYC: EHS Educational Services;