What's life like in New York..(or New England in general)

[jayx8318x]

Sorry I didn't want to barge in the middle of the socializing going on in the current NY thread, and since I just have some general questions I started a new thread.

Anyways, I'm thinking about moving to NYC, or maybe even Boston after I graduate this December, and was wondering if the people in that area can tell me something about it.

1. Do you need a car? If not, is it even practical to have one?
I'm from Texas where everything is far away from each other, so we drive everywhere. I've never used public transportation in my life except the old yellow schoolbus when I was young. If I move to NYC will I just travel by Taxi/Subway everywhere, isn't that expensive after a while?

2. How do you buy groceries? :wacko: OK I know it sounds like a stupid question, but q's like this have been running through my mind. I mean everytime I go shopping, I have loads of bags, if you live on the 30th story of some apartment, and have to use Taxis to get around, how do you get those 20 bags of groceries up to your apartment? Or do you guys just buy a little at a time throughout the week?

3. Is it really fast paced lifestyle?
Actually the fast paced part is what really hooked me, I find Texas slow and boring. People are always stopping to "smell the roses" and wasting time is how I feel. When I go to shopping malls I get annoyed when the people in front of me just stand on the escalator instead of walking up it. (yeah I know it's an escalator, but come on! I don't have all day...)

4. Does it feel like the people are generally cold and rude?
In Texas, when people are walking down the street (and yes slowly :dry:) complete strangers will look you in the eye and greet you and stuff. So it's a pretty "warm" society. The stereotype is that NYC is nothing like that.

5. Is everything really that expensive?
I get the impression that unless you're filthly rich to begin with or have high power jobs, it will be hard to live within your means if you've just graduated college. Say if your minimum salary starting out is $40-50K. Will you have enough to pay your bills and still have plenty disposible income for the fun stuff like clothes, entertainment, etc.?

6. What's outside of NYC like? I mean like in the suburbs or something, if I didn't want to live right smack in the city. Are the apartments there still as expensive? Is it feasible to live outside the city and still work there?

Those are all I can think of now...actually one more, that's kind of an open one.

7. If you didn't grow up in NYC all your life, what was it like when you first got there? I'm more interested in those that went there for college or something similar. I mean how did you get by your first couple of months, was it hard?

Thanks for your help guys!

[roche]

haha karen.....i was in new york for college, and now i'm in boston :-)
*note: i'll be speaking from a POV of a student...

1. Do you need a car? If not, is it even practical to have one?
I'm assuming you're moving to manhattan? In manhattan you definitely don't need a car...
the subway runs 24/7 (though its very infrequent during late nights), $2 each time you enter...regardless of whether it's one stop of fifty.
and the cabs are pretty cheap in nyc too....as compared to boston.
when i first got here, i have having heart palpitations when i saw the meter jumping.

2. How do you buy groceries?
one thing about manhattan (i lived in the upper west side while i was at college, and midtown east side during the past summer) is that there aren't HUGE supermarkets that you find elsewhere in the US...(they exist in boston :-) )
i don't know if you're big on cooking, but i hardly ever cooked....so i never had to really buy groceries in bulk. there're lotsa cheap chinese take-out places (but those tend to be really greasy....) and in general there are places to get relatively cheap food. (i was eating a lot of subway sandwiches in summer) I know places like D'Agostino delivers your groceries if you spend over a certain amount...you just gotta tip the delivery boy. there might be a delivery charge too...not too sure.

3. Is it really fast paced lifestyle?
err....this is quite subjective, no?
i mean, you can definitely find people just relaxing in central park and all...
but i'm sure if u're walking around the business districts people have less time to "stop and smell roses"

4. Does it feel like the people are generally cold and rude?
Well, i think the attitude is more of a "mind your own business" kinda feel....
i don't feel like people are intentionally rude, its just that people are just doing their own thing...

5. Is everything really that expensive?
i think prices of even simple things like groceries differ from area that you're in...
i remember that the groceries from d'agostino's in the upper west side (near harlem, haha) were cheaper than in midtown east....
and my friend from dartmouth whom i was living with over summer kept complaining about the prices of some chocolate fudge popsicles....something about them being 2 whole bucks more than in dartmouth (that's prob almost double)
but i think that's an extreme case though...

Drinks in manhattan are horrendously expensive. especially if you go to the decent clubs and bars...
average cost of a drink (say cosmopolitan or say cranberry vodka ) is perhaps $10-$12? (boston's about $6-$8....but then again, i haven't been to that many places here yet)
there's usually a cover (say $10-$20?) for a club, unless you open a bottle (a bottle's like 200-300 bucks)
oh and you usually need to open a bottle to get a table.

movies are relatively expensive....$10 for most places....(in boston its about $8)

wow, too many things to say. let me know if you've got specifics?

6. What's outside of NYC like?
i assume you're meaning the other boroughs? outside of manhattan?
i'm not really too sure...but i know that while i was living in manhattan i never really ventured to the other boroughs :angel:
i have friends though, who live in jersey city, NJ and commute to work in downtown manhattan (financial district) everyday....
the rents are apparently much cheaper, and you pay jersey taxes which are substantially lower as well..

7. If you didn't grow up in NYC all your life, what was it like when you first got there?
its hard to compare college life and working life.
in college, as a freshman you have a ton of other freshmen who are like yourself, and are interested in making friends....
i'm guess that if you move there alone it'll be a completely different ballgame altogether....

i was interning over summer, but i shared an apartment with friends, and so i never had the "alone" feel....

well, i'm not too sure how helpful i was... :angel:
good luck!

[nycgirls]

Other than New Heaven, Boston and New York, I will warn you about transportation in every other New England Town... transportation is a dead link here... well, I don't mean that you won't be able to cruise around, but just not as convinient as in Boston and New York... so get a car if you are not going to a metro area...
Since your topic leans more toward to New York, I guess you will enjoy every bits of it... I've missed New York right now, though my college is 3 hours away from it... but it is located in the middle of no where!! >.< :cry: I hate Peter Pan Buses!

[tvbaddict]

1. Do you need a car? If not, is it even practical to have one?
well, you seriously dont need a car nowadays if you live in NYC, you could always take the bus or train, get the monthy metro cards....you could use it anytime of the day for as many times as you like and its just 1 price.

2. How do you buy groceries?
my family buys groceries whenever they feel like they need it, i live in brooklyn (but my family members work/go to manhattan all the time - chinatown). in brooklyn you could get groceries all over the place, no need to worry about that. and if you live in an apartment in manhattan, there are always elevators.

3. Is it really fast paced lifestyle?
well if you hit manhattan, things are usually fast cuz its always busy there. but other places, it depends are where you are, and what you wanna do.

4. Does it feel like the people are generally cold and rude?
well it depends, there are all kinds of people here. some are nice some are not.
but most people here definitely dont go up to a complete stranger and greet them. lol

5. Is everything really that expensive?
if you shop in the city, and nothings arent on sale then it is. lol...but other than that, things arent that expensive.

6. What's outside of NYC like?
you're talking about other boroughs? well i dont live in manhattan, i live in brooklyn, the rents here are getting crazily ridiculous. thank god my family dont need to pay rent!


7. If you didn't grow up in NYC all your life, what was it like when you first got there?
i was born/grew up in NYC. :P

[illusionanqel]

1. Do you need a car? If not, is it even practical to have one?
You definitely do not need a car if you live in NYC. You can get monthly passes for the subway / bus and it's a LOT cheaper than having to fill up for gas. Plus, parking in NYC is hell lol so it's more practical to NOT have one ^^;

2. How do you buy groceries? My family just buys them whenever we need them, sometimes we go buy a lot on the weekend but mostly we just buy a little at a time, whatever is needed. As for apartments, elevators

3. Is it really fast paced lifestyle? I think it is, I mean, when I go to other countries I'm always walking faster than the people there :P That's what us NYers are know for. But, I don't know, I love it. It's like, everything is there and it's open late and it's.. I can't put it in words, it might be just a feeling.

4. Does it feel like the people are generally cold and rude? Hm, I think the people here aren't ALL like that, I think some people might feel that way because people are so busy and in a rush to get to where they're going. But NYers aren't all cold and icy, some are nice and if you flash a smile, they'll return it.

5. Is everything really that expensive? I think the key is you have to know where to shop. I mean, sure, there are those swanky Fifth Avenue stores that are crazy expensive but then there are stores like H&M {my savior!} where things are of good quality but inexpensive.

6. What's outside of NYC like? A lot of people who don't live in the city work in the city. They just travel by train {like the Long Island Rail Road or the PATH train}. It's foresty, quiet, rich {for the most part}, and white.


7. If you didn't grow up in NYC all your life, what was it like when you first got there? I lived in NYC when I was a baby but moved upstate New York {suburbs} until I was about eight, and it was a bit of an adjustment from forests to apartment buildings, crickets to car alarms, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's not hard to adjust to, really, you learn to love it really quickly because life here is so... exciting and diverse.

If you need any more questions answered don't hesitate! ^^

[c_c_]

1. Do you need a car? If not, is it even practical to have one?

Depends on where you're moving I guess. if it's in NYC or another such big city, you really don't, but if it's to someplace like my oh so beloved East Brunswick, there is no survival without a car.

2. How do you buy groceries?

Costco and Shoprite for American food and Hong Kong Supermarket for Chinese food!
Well, considering that I live in a suburb, we just drive the car into our driveway/garage and carry them in. In the city, I'm guessing that those really high apartments have elevators.

3. Is it really fast paced lifestyle?

well, we do tend to walk up elevators ... ^^; but life here is not as fast-paced as life in an actual city like NYC so I find our trips to NY extremely exciting. We're in between, I think ... hurried where it matters (getting to class on time) and not hurried when it's time to stop and smell the roses ^_^

4. Does it feel like the people are generally cold and rude?

NYC people aren't the most greeting-ish people, I don't think (at least from my experiences) but if you find the right people to talk to, they're willing enough to help with directions etc.

Where I live, we say hi to a lot of random people in the neighborhood too. But that's probably limited to a small town like EB

5. Is everything really that expensive?

NYC is pretty expensive from what I hear as far as housing is concerned, but shopping and stuff can be okay cheap. a lot of our neighbors do their grocery shopping down at Flushing over the weekends because the stuff is so much cheaper and fresher

6. What's outside of NYC like? I mean like in the suburbs or something, if I didn't want to live right smack in the city. Are the apartments there still as expensive? Is it feasible to live outside the city and still work there?

It depends on where you choose, yet again. in a neighborhood like EB, just the property tax alone is enough to rent an apartment in NYC. But in places with poorer educational systems, the cost of an apartment should be fairly low. It's completely feasible to live outside the city and still work there. in fact, a lot of people do it. there are many subway and train systems in NJ that lead into NYC for the daily commuters.

7. If you didn't grow up in NYC all your life, what was it like when you first got there? I'm more interested in those that went there for college or something similar. I mean how did you get by your first couple of months, was it hard?

I'm sure you'll succeed!