<p>cobrat, your information about Bay Ridge is out of date. While there are quiet areas, there are also very vibrant, exciting areas.</p>
<p>I should also mention that NYC is making a really nice affordable housing building in Dumbo, one of the most expensive and trendy neighborhoods in NYC (average apartment is more than $1,000,000). It is right by Pier 2 and it is right by the A and C train along with a few others. Maybe the 2 and 3 train as well.</p>
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<p>Amusing, especially considering I was out there visiting friends just a couple of months ago. Granted, they lived in the nicer sections at the end of the R line and are young families or young professionals who preferred a more quiet neighborhood than most of their peers. </p>
<p>Also, I’m not denying there’s no vibrancy and activities in the neighborhood. </p>
<p>It’s just they are not likely to appeal to folks who want to live where the center of independent original music/nightlife is in Manhattan/Brooklyn and not a place many musician friends would choose to play in due to travel logistics and not desiring to deal with cops getting called on them by young families in the neighborhood for making too much noise while playing at a venue. </p>
<p>According to my niece and her husband–she’s a professional dancer and he’s a successful DJ–a lot of the dancers and people they know who are looking for cheaper housing are now living in Queens, having been pretty much priced out of Brooklyn. S has friends who live in Washington Heights and others in Brooklyn (not sure which parts).</p>
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<p>Bushwick and parts of Ridgewood Queens bordering Bushwick is one likely bet. A lot of musician friends and performing artists looking for cheaper rents and desiring to be near common performing venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn have been moving there over the last several years. </p>
<p>Many of my D’s friends have moved to Astoria as rents are cheaper than parts of Brooklyn and the commute to the east side of Manhattan where they work is not bad.</p>
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<p>A lot of friends I know…especially those in the creative arts/musicians are moving out of Astoria because the rents have gotten too high. </p>
<p>One HS classmate made a financial killing by buying a condo in Astoria back in the late '90s from his earnings in the tech field and ended up getting a multiple return on his investment several years later. </p>
<p>To answer the OP, it would help to hear a budget for rent and also where the job is in Manhattan in terms of the subway ride. </p>
<p>My daughter has lived in Brooklyn for 6 years. She is now 25 and is a performing artist and also uses her apartment as a music studio. She has lived in Williamsburg, Crown Heights and now moved to Prospect Lefferts Gardens. She mostly works in Manhattan and the commute via the Q is very reasonable.</p>
<p>I would add that while Bushwick and Ridgewood are pretty lively neighborhoods, the trains that run through them don’t run all that frequently and run like once an hour late at night</p>
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<p>While trains do take a longer time and it’s a bit of a long commute, the trains aren’t that infrequent IME. It’s more like once every 20 minutes to half hour after midnight. And some parts of Bushwick/Ridgewood have access to the L train which tends to be more frequent during late nights. </p>
<p>I only say it because I’ve spent many a night waiting up to an hour and a twenty minutes for the J and L trains and it’s better to be forewarned that it happens with annoying regularity. When they’re good, they’re fine, but when they get messed up, they get REALLY messed up. (Also I’m totally biased towards the green lines, every 8-12 minutes, 24/7 
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<p>Sounds like my experience waiting for the R/N lines to go back home after midnight from Bay Ridge after visiting friends out there when the lines were having serious hiccups. </p>
<p>If “green lines” refers to the G, they have really improved the service on that line compared to when I was growing up. Back then, G service can be very spotty. Comparing what it was like back then to now…it’s like night and day. </p>
<p>As far as commuting into Manhattan, take into consideration whether one’s going to the east or west side and uptown, midtown, or downtown.</p>
<p>As far as affordable, it really depends on one’s budget, plus how much space and privacy the person wants.</p>
<p>Other ideas, as others know Brooklyn better than I do—</p>
<p>Large apartments tend to be in pre-war buildings, as opposed to “walk-ups,” townhouses, or tenements. More affordable buildings, which is relative particularly in Manhattan, are in Washington Heights and Inwood. In Riverdale/Kingsbridge in the Bronx one can find good values.</p>
<p>My son’s friends, upon graduation 1-3 years ago, surprisingly found places in the UES (east 90s), Murray Hill, and E Village. Others have places in Astoria. Those in Brooklyn are further out than Prospect Park. (Bear in mind these are shares, some in oddly configured apartments)</p>
<p>Another possibility is NJ, close to the Path train.</p>
<p>No NOT the G, the 4 and 5! The G is my least favorite line in the city and I avoid it at all costs :P</p>
<p>My D hates to have to go on the G train!</p>
<p>I think my daughter pretty much chose her housing by proximity to subway lines. </p>
<p>My d. did live in Washington Heights the first year after she graduated and did not like living there – she and her roommates felt very out of place in their apartment building, plus at the time she ended up with a very long subway commute, as she was actually working in Brooklyn at the time. But she’s in midtown Manhattan now, a few blocks from the Empire St. Building. </p>
<p>Again, despite high rent, cost is going to vary depending on sharing arrangements.- so that’s a major factor to take into account when deciding what is “affordable” or not. My d. certainly could not afford to live alone-- but she’s doing fine in a 2-person household. (It would drive me nuts as a her mom if she were living by herself anyway.)</p>
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<p>I don’t know if it is any consolation that what you’ve experienced is a marked improvement over my few experiences on the G train in the '80s when my school decided to take us on a bowling field trip out to Greenpoint. :D</p>
<p>Cobrat was that 30 years ago?</p>
<p>^ ^</p>
<p>Less than…more like 25-30</p>
<p>In the 80s? Must have been an elementary school trip</p>