![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So. Facts re: emigration to NYC:
- I'm young, I'm fairly presentable, I'm adaptable, I'm bilingual, I have a European high school diploma. I have a good chance of finding a decent job.
- It is quite possibly cheaper to have my stuff shipped over there, so I don't have to worry about buying furniture. (Will, however, need new tv and video. But that's okay.)
- While living inside the city is expensive, the suburbs are supposedly not that expensive. It's not like I've not been commuting all my life anyway.
- If worst comes to worst, there are a number of people in/near NYC I could crash with.
- I will need to contact the US embassy this week to find out how soon I would be able to get a visa.
- I will need to cut down on all expenses and save money. Lots.
- I am quite possibly insane. AUGUST?
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
From:
Re:
From:
no subject
From:
OR
insane? no, I doubt it. altho things are different between you and I and where I moved from/to, but I found an apartment mid- November and moved a month later - had my horse shipped and everything!
From:
OK.
Anyway.
Suburbs? Not terribly cheap, unless you get REALLY far out into the ass-end of Queens and certain undesireable parts of New Jersey. You can expect to pay no less than $1300 a month (US)for livable space in Manhattan, decent areas of the boroughs, and so on. Your best bet is to contact some kind of association for people from your country, and see if there are folks who need roommates. That probably won't cost more than $700 a month, though you may not get great space.
The job market right now? Bad. Very bad. I advise you to lock down a position before you come, if you can. Sometimes companies will help with relocation expenses as well.
You probably don't want to ship your furniture. It will be MUCH cheaper to either buy new or get a sublet on a furnished apartment. Also, shipping delivery is bad in NY, unless you have some means by which to move the furniture yourself once it arrives. Otherwise, your bureau etc. will remain sitting outside your door.
So. Come! Please! But be sure you're really solid before you do, because as wonderful and gorgeous and fabulous as NYC is, it's not terribly merciful.
:-)
Pet
From:
Re: OK.
:D
From:
no!
All I'm sayin' is that it's a bit of a pain. TOTALLY worth it, though.
Don't you steal her away!
*grin*
From:
Re: no!
From:
Re: OK.
From:
Re: OK.
The exit! LOL! :D
From:
Re: OK.
Locking down a position won't be easy considering I can't really afford to go there on interview-"vacation", but yes, making sure I at least have some highly probable prospects was part of the plan.
As for shipping, I've decided to cross that bridge when I come to it. If I ship, it'll be mostly because it's cheaper, because all I really want to take with me would be my clothes (one suitcase worth's), my computer, and my cat.
And trust me, I know NYC (and the States) wouldn't/won't be merciful for the jobless. Especially compared to my nivce, safe, socialist Belgium. Lack of social/medical security is one of the (big) downsides to this.
From:
actually, as for living in boroughs goes....
Pelham Bay in the Bronx is no more than a half hour commute to mid-town on the 6 train (which nearly ALWAYS runs cause it's the only one that goes out there!!!) and rents vary but you can get a studio or a one-bedroom fairly affordably - furnished or unfurnished. The Bronx is not the dangeorus place everyone says it is as long as you stay in the nice areas. I lived in Pelham Bay for 12 years before moving to Long Island - I like Pelham Bay better by far!!!!!
You may have to get a roomie in near Queens or near Brooklyn (don't go to Staten Island - the commute sucks!!!!!) and in Queens you want to be near the subway or LIRR cause express bus fares are HIGH and it's a big place with not enuf surface transit.
Just a word to the wise though - street savvy in any of the boroughs is a MUST.
The reason I liked that part of the Bronx was the fact that on the weekends I was close to City Island (good fish! pretty town!), Orchard Beach (beach!!!), lots of parks and horses (two barns!), and the Bronx zoo. I had the subway and express bus lines, and it's a fairly nice place to walk too. I still know one or two people up there so... you know (just ask).
If you want to live in Manhattan, you'll have to find a roomie or five and live in a box not big enuf for you, but some of the neighborhoods in the burbs have very nice pockets to live in.
Pet's idea of going thru a foreign agency to find a roomie or recommendations is a good idea too.
I'm spouting. Tell me to shut up.....
From:
Re: actually, as for living in boroughs goes....
Re: surface transport, how safe is it to bike in NYC? "Safe" both in the will-I-be-hit-by-a-car sense and in the will-my-bike-be-stolen sense.
From:
biking
people do bike in NYC and in the borroughs too. if you're a bike messenger you need to have a license on your bike; I'm not sure how it is with regular bikists - but I do remember soemthing about a license for bikes on the LIRR and there are certain times bikes are allowed and some that they aren't. same with the subway. rush hour is NOT a good time to take your bike in the subway.
what you see a lot of is ten speeds with the back wheel taken off and locked to a street sign together with the front wheel and rest of the bike. a lot of major companies and buildings have bike racks out front; still it's best to take the back wheel off and attach it with the front part so the back wheel isn't stolen.
I believe (but am not certain) that there are bike paths along the two rivers that flank the city (one on the far east side next to the river and one on the far west side next to the river - am currently blanking on the river names).
I know the city has bus lanes on all the major avenues but I'm not terribly sure yet whether they've put bike lanes in. I know most of the European countries have bike lanes but I can't remember about NY.
From:
Re: biking
I'm sure I'll fit in fine. ^_^
Ahahahaha! Bike lanes? In Antwerp? Surely thou jesteth. No, I'm afraid most actual cities here don't believe in bike lanes, either.
From:
Re: biking
I think you and your bike will fit in fine in NYC too.
From:
Re: biking
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
Re:
*EEK*
okay. good enough justification for me.
go forth and be a fine and noble citizen, young femgeek.
From:
Re:
They also v. much play into people's feelings of unsafety -- and when I say "feelings" of unsafety, I mean it. They've been gaining an aweful lot of ground in areas where people are rich and safe and really have no reason to be displeased with the government (which is why a lot of others vote for them).
So, yeah. They scare me. They get about 10-15% of the votes (25% in my city) and they're still gaining ground. They'll never be in power, I don't think (thanks to the "cordon sanitaire", which basically means no other party will allege with them), but the fact that so many people vote for them is frightening.